The Middle East is home to some of the largest desalination plants in the world, both in the number of plants and capacity. In the Magtaa desalination plant located in the western Oran region of Algeria, ABB supplied a turnkey electrical solution to power that was, during the construction time, the world’s largest membrane-based RO seawater desalination plant. This plant has a designated capacity of 500,000m3 per day of drinking water to serve about five million people. The project is part of the Algerian government’s efforts to ensure the provision of clean drinking water to its growing population.
ABB was responsible for the design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the electrical plant system, which included constructing a 220kV outdoor substation to provide power to the facility and supply products, such as power transformers, medium-voltage drives and a range of medium and low-voltage switchgear.
ABB’s role extended beyond the plant’s commissioning. The company’s team of experts were involved throughout the various phases of the project, helping to maximise operational efficiency by minimising downtime and optimising energy efficiency through ABB’s service offering, including ABB Ability digital solutions.
An example of ABB’s solutions for the complete water cycle is at the Jeddah Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant Phase 1 in Saudi Arabia. This seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant has a capacity of 48,848m3 per day and was initially commissioned 20 years ago. When the existing obsolete distributed control system needed to be upgraded, a solution was delivered based on ABB Ability Symphony Plus, ABB’s flagship automation system for water and power. This was seamless integrated with the existing plant management system. In addition, ABB’s team minimised downtime and ensured a short delivery and commissioning time, with the plant only shut down for 10 days.
In Saudi Arabia, ABB has supplied a distributed control system (DCS) using ABB’s digital technology for the Yanbu Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant RO-1. The seawater RO plant is made up of six trains of about 2.2 MGD capacity each and consists of five major components: a seawater supply system, a feedwater pre-treatment system, high-pressure pumping, RO modules and permeate post-treatment system.
Just across the border, in Oman, ABB helped develop one of the largest RO plants in the Gulf. Oman is a region that has 80% of its landmass as desert, and with a growing population, had an increasing demand for drinking water. The Al Ghubra plant has a potable water production capacity of 191,000m3 per day, equivalent to supplying a population of 800,000 people using RO. Within a year of starting operation, plant operators were on track to meet the increasing demand for drinking water, which is currently at around 827,000m3 per day. This figure is expected to increase at an average rate of 6% annually in the coming years.
Another project in ABB’s portfolio is the Taweelah project. Approximately 45km north of Abu Dhabi city, this project houses one of the world’s largest desalination plant with a capacity of 909,200m3 per day. ABB’s technology will be powering the plant with its energy-efficiency products and solutions. Upon completion, the plant will be able to meet demand from more than 350,00 households.