Billed as region’s most sustainable desal project, the Hassyan project has achieved major construction environmental permit and engineering milestones.

Utico, a leading private utility company in the UAE, said work is moving at a steady pace on Hassyan Sea Water Reverse Osmosis project which is slated for 50 per cent completion by mid-2022.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is the project shareholder along with Utico and 100 per cent offtaker of the water from the largest Independent Water Project (IWP) in the emirate.

The 120-million-gallons-per-day Phase One project being built includes facilities for expansion to double capacity, Utico said.

The project, billed as the ‘most Sustainable Desal Project’ in the region, and pathbreaking for its design, power consumption and sustainability, has seen dry financial closing and has achieved major milestones for construction environmental permit, engineering, with contractors working hard to meet project progress schedules. It also boasts the world’s lowest water tariff.

According to Utico, the $450-million project overall, includes a 600-million-gallons-per-day seawater intake system for the first two phases, two 132-kV substations, 120 million gallons of potable storage tanks, dissolved air flotation systems, multi media filters, self-cleaning filters and sustainability aspects such as solar photovoltaic system and economisers along with one- of-its-kind re-use and low chemicals use system.

Utico said the project has committed to install the region’s only state-of-the-art marine research centre.