Jubail 3A desalination plant goes live: Saudi renewables giant Acwa Power, Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC), and Al Bawani Water and Power Company (AWP) have inaugurated the Jubail 3A independent water desalination plant, according to a statement. The companies received the commercial operation certificate from Saudi Water Partnership Co. (SWPC) to begin operations at the kingdom’s first solar-powered desalination project.

What we know: The USD 650 mn project is the first Independent Water Project in the kingdom’s eastern region with a production capacity of 600k cubic meters (cbm) of desalinated water per day to meet growing water demand. It includes a 45.5 MW solar PV power generation facility, which accounts for 20% of the plant’s total energy consumption, and is set to provide clean water to 3 mn people with a “record-breaking” tariff of 0.41 USD/cbm using reverse osmosis technology.

Who owns what: The Jazlah company project was delivered through a development consortium comprising Acwa Power with 40.2%, GIC with 40%, and AWP at 19.8%. The project was implemented by the Engineering, Procurement and Construction consortium of Power China, Sepco III, Lantania, and Abengoa, while SWPC is the offtaker.