Shaping water production in the region

ENGIE is one of the leading Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) developers and producers in the world, with a strong regional footprint in the GCC dating back 30 years.

Discussions at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week earlier this year centred around ENGIE’s proven world class capabilities and experience in water production, with a view to understanding the main themes and technological trends that will impact and shape water production in the region in the coming years.

With a total gross portfolio of generating more than 30 GW of power and over 5.7 million cubic meters of desalinated water production in operation per day, in line with their commitment to enhancing their investments in the region, ENGIE are aiming to increase their asset portfolio, with a strong focus on the more energy efficient process of Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO).

Historically thermal desalination has been a fundamental part of many power and water projects in the region. More recently however, SWRO has been added to either enhance thermal desalination or replace it entirely, providing the ability to “decouple” the production of water from power generation assets and thereby carefully synchronising with each very specific demand cycle.

This has the benefit of reducing the challenges of having ‘must run’ cogeneration to produce water during the lowest periods of electricity demand. In addition, the use of reverse osmosis (RO) has been proven to be more energy efficient thereby reducing costs and the impact on the environment.

Consequently, the region is witnessing a great deal of interest in medium sized and large SWRO desalination projects. The UAE is at the forefront of this transition and has already launched large scaleRO projects, such as Mirfa IWPP, which includes a 30 MIGD SWRO desalination component as well as Fujairah F2 where 30 MIGD of the 130 MIGD total desalination capacity is based on reverse osmosis, both of which have been successfully developed by ENGIE, as global leader in the technology in partnership with the local authorities and are currently in operation.

World standard expertise and experience in developing and operating large scale RO projects, are key to being able to contribute and assist the relevant authorities in the region to transition towards a more efficient water production future. ENGIE is at the forefront of working with and developing the latest water production technology and benefits from extensive in-house operating experience, including partnerships with first class contractors and can negotiate with financing institutions to secure the best available procurement and financing terms. As demonstrated by a proven track record in Abu Dhabi, in delivering the most cost-effective yet efficient and reliable power and water production in the Emirate.

Leading in-house operations, engineering excellence and maintenance expertise is absolutely vital to operate both reverse osmosis and thermal desalination plants in parallel, which must be backed up with very high efficiency in order to lower the carbon footprint.

Above all, key providers in the water generation and power industry must be fundamentally committed to delivering best-in-class solutions that minimise the impact on the environment, by implementing action plans to avoid, reduce and if necessary, compensate them while optimally managing the resources at its disposal. ENGIE for example is most focussed on providing technical solutions to mitigate the environmental impact in the following areas:

• Climate change, leading to the global warming of the atmosphere and oceans, but also the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events caused by the increase in emissions of greenhouse gases due to the consumption of fossil fuels.
• The management of water resources whether it is fresh, drinkable or wastewater treatment.
• Biodiversity management in different environments or territories potentially impacted by human activities.
• The management of air quality and the issue of green mobility.
• The more general challenge of intelligent management of all resources consumed and the waste produced to propagate a circular and sustainable economy.
  
  

By Sébastien Arbola / Chief Executive Officer of ENGIE Middle East, South & Central Asia and Turkey Business Unit