Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that 29 major developer/developer consortiums have expressed their interests for the first phase of the 120-million-gallons-per-day (mgpd) Hassyan Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant.

This is the first project implemented by Dewa using the independent water project (IWP) model, which will run in phases during 2025 and 2026.

A consortium of companies, including Deloitte, WSP and Addleshaw Goddard, have been signed up to provide consultancy services for the Hassyan desalination project.

“We use clean solar power to desalinate seawater using the latest reverse osmosis (RO) technologies, which consume less energy. This supports the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036,” remarked Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the Managing Director and CEO of Dewa.

“According to our plans, 100 per cent of desalinated water will be produced by a mix of clean energy that uses both renewable energy and waste heat. This will allow Dubai to exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water,” said Al Tayer.

Increasing the operational efficiency in decoupling desalination from electricity production will save around AED13 billion ($3.5 billion) and reduce carbon emissions by 2030,” he added.