Abengoa, announced in a statement that it, has achieved the Commercial Operation of Jubail 3A desalination plant and transferred it to ACWA Power´s O&M company NOMAC, after successfully completing the plant’s contractual tests on the 28th of February.

Its client, ACWA Power´s Jazlah Water Desalination Company has obtained the Commercial Operation Certificate on the 10th of April. Jubail 3A desalination plant is located south of the city of Jubail, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, in the northeast of the country.

Abengoa achieved 100% availability during the Dependable Water Capacity Test that established the Commercial Operation Date on the 28th of February, following on the successful completion of the 30-day Reliability Test Run. The plant has been producing 600,000 m3/day of drinking water to meet the demand of a population equivalent of 3,000,000 inhabitants and represents the first project launched by Saudi Water Partnership Co. in the Eastern Province.

Abengoa, together with Tiejun, formed the EPC Contractor for the project, responsible for the construction and commissioning of the desalination plant. Abengoa has been responsible for the technological leadership, in charge of the engineering, supply, construction supervision and commissioning of the project for the pre-treatment, reverse osmosis process and post-treamtent of the plant. The project has been completed for ACWA Power, the leading company in the development, investment, ownership and operation of power generation and desalinated water production plants.

Abengoa also reached the figure of two years without recording a lost time work accident during the project, a figure that demonstrates Abengoa´s uncompromising commitment to the highest Health & Safety standards.

Jubail 3A will be the first and largest desalination plant in the world to be partially powered by renewable energy generated by a solar photovoltaic plant (45.5 MWp) as part of Saudi 2030 vision to reduce Carbon Emission globally. Thus, the plant will produce drinking water in a sustainable and efficient way, being the first experience of Independent Water Project (IWP) in Saudi Arabia on a commercial scale.

The project includes seawater collection (11.5 km of pipes under sea), pumping station, pre-treatment, reverse osmosis system with energy recovery, post-treatment, product pumping station with 3,5 km of interface pipeline till delivery point, product water storage tank for one day of production, effluent treatment, outfall discharge and an integrated photovoltaic solar field, as well as the associated electrical installations, which include the construction of a 380/33 kV electrical substation and 13.5 km of OHTL.