Western Asia

Spanish-Chinese consortium lands $700mln deal for UAE desalination plant – UAE

Spain’s Abengoa announced on Monday that it has received an order, as part of a consortium with Chinese EPC contractor Sepco III, to start work on a 909,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day) desalination plant in Taweelah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In a stock exchange filing, the Spanish engineering and construction firm said the desalination project is valued at more than $700 million, with the company’s share being approximately $243 million over the next three years.

In November last year, a Reuters report, quoting a statement by Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, said the department was studying tenders for developing the Taweelah desalination plant.

Dubai completes $3.18bn M-Station expansion project – Dubai

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced the completion of the M-Station expansion project in Jebel Ali, the largest power generation and water desalination plant in the UAE, at a total investment of Dh11.7 billion ($3.18 billion) in co-ordination with German technology major Siemens.

It was inaugurated by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance, and President of Dewa, in the presence of senior Dewa officials including its managing director and chief executive officer Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.

ACWA Power Signs Strategic Agreements With Three Chinese Entities During the Second Belt and Road Forum – Saudi Arabia

ACWA Power, a leading developer, owner, and operator of power generation and water desalination plants has signed strategic agreements with three renowned Chinese entities on the sidelines of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).

The agreements with PowerChina, China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) and Bank of China will lay the ground for collaboration in key investments and further involve Chinese expertise in manufacturing power generation and desalinated water production plants that ACWA Power develops and operates.

Qatar- Kahramaa, Umm Al Houl Power sign pact to increase water desalination capacity

Under the patronage, and in the presence of H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, the General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) and Umm Al Houl Power Company signed an amendment to their agreement on the provision of electricity and water.

The amendment will increase water desalination capacity by 61.5 million gallons per day (about 280,000 cubic meters), which enhances Kahramaa’s capabilities for a sustainable supply of high quality water and electricity in Qatar.

The agreement was signed by Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, Kahramaa President, and Fahad Hamad Al Muhannadi, the Chairman of Umm Al Houl Power.

Gulf Consortium Signs Solar PV Power Project Agreements in Oman – Oman

A consortium composed of Saudi Arabia-based utility developer ACWA Power, Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and Alternative Energy Projects Company (AEPCo) signed a contract and agreements with the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) to develop a 500-megawatt solar PV power plant in Ibri, Oman.

It will be developed on a BOO (build, own, operate) basis, which includes the development, finance, construction and operation of the solar power plant.

The project, dubbed Ibri-2 Independent Power Producer (IPP), will be the first utility-scale solar power project in Oman and will utilize Solar PV technology to yield 500MWac of power.

Dubai’s M-Station extension project with capacity of 2.8GW and 140MIPD – Dubai

The M-Station extension project in Jebel Ali, the largest power and water desalination plant in the UAE, has been inaugurated.

The Dh1.527bn extension project added new generating units with a capacity of 700MW.

The project brings the total production capacity of the plant to 2,885 megawatts (MW) and 140 million gallons of desalinated water per day with the total cost of M-station reaching Dh11.669bn.

Why Saudi Aramco sees shale gas as next energy bonanza – Saudi Arabia

The world’s biggest oil exporter is ramping up efforts to develop natural gas with plans for a 15-fold boost in output from unconventional deposits of the fuel.

Saudi Aramco is building facilities to tap shale gas in the kingdom’s oil-rich eastern region and is making “a lot of progress” toward this goal, CEO Amin Nasser told reporters in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Plans include a plant to desalinate seawater that Aramco can then inject underground to frack for gas.

“We are looking to take our unconventional gas within the next 10 years to 3 billion standard cubic feet a day of sales gas,” Nasser said on Sunday.

Aramco currently produces more than 190 million cubic feet of unconventional gas daily, all of it in the remote north.

Kuwait, South Korea trade volume totals USD 14 billion in 2018

The trade volume between Kuwait and South Korea has totaled USD 14 billion in 2018, up by 33 percent, compared to 2017’s, which was divided between USD 12.7 billion as Kuwaiti exports and USD 1.3 billion as South Korean imports.

Kuwaiti exports of crude oil and its derivatives enjoyed the lion’s share of trade exchange with South Korea, especially since the GCC-member state is Seoul’s second-largest energy supplier after Saudi Arabia, said South Korean Embassy in Kuwait on Saturday.

Meanwhile, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon is scheduled to make a four-day official visit to Kuwait on April 30, during which he will meet top officials.

Israel startup aims to save the planet from thirst using algae – Israel

Imagine if showering was a luxury, washing your floors a dirty secret, and shampooing the dog was illegal. It isn’t unthinkable that within our lifetimes, bath will be a dirty word as the world grows ever shorter of water — to drink, to wash and crucially, to irrigate crops.

Enter the Israeli startup Aqwind, which has taken the lowest life-forms in the world, bacteria and algae, and harnessed them to a low-cost way to clean dirty water enough for irrigation.

Manure is great as fertilizer, but irrigating with raw human sewage will just produce fruit & veg chock full of goodness, and intestinal bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

Gaza’s energy pioneer keeps Palestinian lights on with affordable solar – Gaza

Having no extra money to take a taxi or ride a bus has never stopped Samar from getting her child to the hospital – it was a matter of keeping her son alive.

Walking under Gaza’s blaring sun or having to contend with stormy weather was just what she had to do.

Because of a lung condition, Samar’s son, aged nine, had to undergo daily oxygen treatments. Doing them at home was risky, as the electricity was too unreliable to trust it with a matter of life and death.

Then Majd Mashharawi, a Palestinian energy entrepreneur, installed a prototype of the solar power system she has pioneered into Qahman’s home.

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