PROJECT UPDATE- Dewa is buying water from Acwa Power’s Hassyan plant: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has signed a 30-year water purchase agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power to buy water from phase 1 of its solar-powered Hassyan desalination plant, according to a company statement. Dewa will purchase the desalinated water at a price of around USD 0.365 per cbm — the lowest bid the UAE company received. The agreement was signed by Dewa CEO Saeed Al Tayer, and Acwa Power Chairman and Founder Mohammad Abunayyan.

Project details: The facility has a capacity of 681.4k cbm per day and is set to be one of the largest sea water reverse osmosis plants powered by solar energy. Phase 1 will begin commissioning in 2026. The project is Dewa’s first to be carried out under an Independent Water Producer (IWP) model, and is part of its efforts to increase its water desalination capacity to 730 mn imperial gallons per day by 2030, up from the current 490. Once completed, Dewa will have an output of 670 mn imperial gallons per day.

What they said: “This project supports UAE’s vision to produce 100% of desalinated water by a mix of clean energy and waste heat by 2030,” Al Tayer said, according to the statement.

REMEMBER: Acwa Power was selected to construct and operate the Hassyan plant last month: Dewa tapped Acwa Power in August to construct and operate the AED 3.4 bn (USD 914 mn) solar-powered desalination project in Hassyan. Acwa Power beat the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) bid at the time.

Not the first solar-powered desal plant for Acwa Power: The company inaugurated KSA’s first solar-powered desalination facility last June, the USD 650 mn Jubail 3A independent water desalination plant, which has a production capacity of 600k cbm per day.