Sharjah: Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and chairman of the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa), signed two contracts worth Dh561.4 million for implementation of Desalination Plant Project - Phase 1 at Hamriyah Station of 20 million gallons per day and installation of a new gas turbine of 50 megawatts at Khor Fakkan.

The signing of the contracts comes as per the instructions of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and in line with Shaikh Sultan's vision to meet the commercial and industrial demand for electricity, water and gas demands.

The signing ceremony took place at the Ruler's Office on Thursday.

The first contract signed by the Crown Prince and the director general of Aqua Engineering GmbH - Austria. It will cover the development of desalination plant at Hamriyah Power Station at a cost of Dh446.1 million.

This cost covers the desalination systems and equipment, civil works, supply, installation and commissioning of the new desalination plant.

The plant is scheduled to be complete by the third quarter of 2009 and commissioned by the second quarter of 2010.

Aqua Engineering GmbH has extensive experience in installation of desalination plants in the UAE.

The second contract signed between the Crown Prince and the vice-president of Pratt and Whitney Power Systems Inc USA will cover supply, installation and commissioning of Aero Derivative Gas Turbine of 50 megawatts at a cost of Dh115.4 million ($31.4 million). This includes costs of civil work at Khor Fakkan Power Station. The new unit is expected to be commissioned by summer 2009. The Gas Turbine of Aero Derivative is featured by the flexible and easy operation, particularly in emergency cases and low running cost. Pratt and Whitney Power Systems Inc is a leading supplier of advanced power and jet gas turbines as well as power systems.

Continued support

The Crown Prince expressed thanks and appreciation to His Highness Shaikh Sultan for his continues support to development projects to render better services to both national and residents..

Eng Waleed said that the Generation and Desalination Expansion Projects will provide capacities of 140 million gallons of drinking water and 2,580 megawatts of electricity to cover the additional water and power requirements of the Emirate till 2018