TAQA and FEWA to build UAE water desalination plant

International energy and water company TAQA and Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA) have agreed to develop a standalone seawater desalination plant in Al Zawra, Ajman, UAE.

The Al Zawra independent water project (IWP) will use reverse osmosis to treat a maximum of 30 million gallons a day, producing enough water to supply 250,000 people in the northern emirates with clean drinking water.

The plant will be jointly owned by FEWA and TAQA through a long-term water purchase agreement. Construction is expected to start in early 2015, with commercial operations slated to begin in 2017.

FEWA chairman of the board of directors and the UAE minister of energy Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei said: "The Al Zawra project demonstrates the UAE’s determination to develop and apply new technologies that will protect the security of water supply while actively working towards greater energy efficiency."

TAQA chairman of the board of directors Hamad Al-Hurr Al-Suwaidi said: "At a time of strong demographic and economic growth across the UAE, and particularly in the northern emirates, this project will ensure that sufficient water infrastructure is in place to meet increasing demand."

FEWA director general Mohammed Mohammed Saleh said: "The northern emirates are developing at an increasing pace and the demand for water will continue to grow. FEWA has allocated significant funds for developing water and electricity projects there over the coming three years. Al Zawra is a crucial element in that strategy."

Reverse osmosis removes salt and impurities from water by pushing it through a semi-permeable membrane. FEWA has reverse osmosis desalination plants in Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain with a total production capacity of 50 million gallons a day.