The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has tapped KSA’s Acwa Power to construct and operate a solar-powered desalination project in Hassyan, Wam reported last week. The AED 3.4 bn (USD 914 mn) 681.4k cbm per day facility is set to be one of the largest sea water reverse osmosis plants powered by solar energy and will begin commissioning in 2026. Acwa Power had submitted the lowest bid received by Dewa so far, with a selling price of around USD 0.34 per cbm of desalinated water produced.

No dice for UAE’s Taqa: Dewa also received a bid from the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) in May, but the UAE company did not make the cut given Acwa Power’s competitive offer, according to Wam. Last week, Acwa Power surpassed Taqa as world's largest water developer outside of China with 3.2 mn cbm per day of net capacity compared to Taqa’s 2.7 mn cbm per day.

More renewables-powered desalination on the way? “By 2030, Dewa aims to produce 100% of desalinated water by a mix of clean energy and waste heat,” CEO Saeed Al Tayer said in the statement. 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.

ALSO FROM ACWA- The company’s portfolio in KSA now surpasses 12 GW of combined PV capacity following the addition of the in development Al Shuaibah 1 and Al Shuaibah 2 PV projects, according to a statement. The USD 2.4 bn project — developed by Acwa Power, Public Investment Fund subsidiary Badeel and Aramco subsidiary Sapco — will have a total capacity of 2.6 GW, and commercial operations will begin in 2025.