Yokogawa Saudi Arabia has received an order to supply control systems and other solutions for the One Million Project, which will introduce seawater reverse osmosis (RO) technology at Al Jubail desalination (desal) plant.

 

For this project, Yokogawa will provide control systems, safety instrumented systems, production management systems, operator training simulators, and cybersecurity solutions. 

 

Installation is set to be completed by January 2024, and the new facilities are expected to be fully operational by December 2024. Yokogawa has been involved in over 100 desalination plant projects worldwide, including the supply of control systems for desalination plants in Saudi Arabia, and also monitoring systems for pipelines that transport desalinated water to urban areas.

 

Construction contractor

The construction contractor for the project, a world-scale facility with a water production capacity of 1 million cu m per day, is a consortium between Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works Company and Metito Saudi Arabia. The order came from the Saline Water Conversion Corporation.

 

The project will replace the existing multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) facilities with RO facilities. Extending the life of the existing plant is seen to be a more environment-friendly approach than constructing an all-new plant. 

 

This project is part of Saudi Arabia’s Net Zero Vision 2060 initiative, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and achieve net zero emissions by 2060.

 

RO technology

In the Middle East, the use of fossil fuel-intensive desalination processes was once the mainstream. However, with the advances in membrane filtration techniques that have been achieved in recent years, more and more plants are now turning to the use of the RO technology, which emits less CO2 and produces water using less energy. 

 

Kunimasa Shigeno, President & CEO of Yokogawa Saudi Arabia, commented, “Saudi Arabia relies on seawater desalination for the majority of its drinking water, and demand for it is increasing as the population grows. With our experience working with the water infrastructure sectors in countries around the world and our expertise in the use of digital technology to improve efficiency in plant operations, Yokogawa will contribute not only to providing a stable supply of drinking water but also to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”-- TradeArabia News Service