Dubai Electricity and Water Authority increases its capacity of desalinated water to 490 million imperial gallons per day

Dubai: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that its capacity of desalinated water production has increased to 490 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) after adding new advanced units at its Jebel Ali Power Plant and Desalination Complex using Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) technology. This is part of its efforts to keep pace with the continuous growth in Dubai and meet the growing demand for electricity and water in the emirate.

“We work in line with the vision of the wise leadership to develop a world-class infrastructure to keep pace with the growing demand for energy and water. This is supported by assets worth more than Dh182 billion owned by Dewa and its subsidiaries as well as investments of up to Dh86 billion over five years in the energy and water sectors,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa.

Dewa currently has 43 Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) water desalination units with a total production capacity of 427 MIGD of water at the D-, E-, G-, K-, L, and M Stations. It also has 2 SWRO plants with a production capacity of 63 MIGD. Dewa’s total production capacity of desalinated water is 490 MIGD at the Jebel Ali Power Plant and Desalination Complex.

Al Tayer noted that Dewa aims to increase its SWRO production capacity to 303 MIGD by 2030; reaching 42 per cent instead of its current share of 13 per cent. The desalinated water production capacity will reach 730 MIGD in 2030. SWRO desalination plants require less energy than MSF plants. One of Dewa’s latest projects using this technology is at the Jebel Ali K-Station, which has a production capacity of 40 MIGD and investments worth Dh897 million.

Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation Division at Dewa, said that Dewa adopts smart technologies that allow effective desalination plant control and monitoring, thus enhancing availability and reliability.