Desalination & Reuse Handbook - Flipbook - Page 38
IDA
WATER SECURITY
HANDBOOK
MIRFA IWPP, ABU DHABI, UAE.
The 52.5 MIGD (238,665 m3/d) Mirfa desalination plant in Abu
Dhabi represented a step-change for seawater reverse osmosis
(SWRO) in the Gulf region. The facility’s 30 MIGD (136,000 m3/d)
SWRO system showed the ability for membrane desalination to work
at scale in the most hostile of feedwater conditions in the Arabian
Gulf. Including a 1,600 MW power station in addition to desalination
capacity, at the time of commissioining the facility had the capacity to
generate 10% of Abu Dhabi’s power requirements, and represented
over 5% of the emirate’s water generation capacity.
Mirfa
Barka
UAE
Oman
The $1.5 billion Mirfa independent water and power
project (IWPP) was carried out by an EPC consortium
of Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Ansaldo
Energia. Suez and Fisia Italimpianti supplied the
desalination plant’s 30 MIGD RO system and legacy
22.5 MIGD (102,000 m3/d) multi-stage flash (MSF)
systems respectively.
The Mirfa IWPP has been subject to multiple Global
Water Awards, with the project itself winning Water
Deal of the Year in 2015 following financial close,
and Municipal Desalination Plant of the Year in 2018
following its commissioning. The commissioning of
the plant also contributed to Suez winning Desalination
Company of the Year in 2018. Construction of the
desalination element of the IWPP was particularly
challenging due to the three pre-existing multi-stage
flash (MSF) units already at the site, which had to be
integrated into the new reverse osmosis desalination
plant. The complexity of the project garnered
international attention from the desalination industry.
The plant’s SWRO system has a recovery rate of 38.8%,
handling some of the world’s most saline seawater with
TDS levels of 47,800 ppm. Seawater undergoes DAF
and media pressure filter pretreatment before entering
the two-pass RO system, which uses Hydranautics
membranes in a 10+3 configuration and an ERIsupplied energy recovery device.
At the time of procurement, GdF Suez (now ENGIE)
took a 20% stake in the $1.5 billion project, with the
offtaker – Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority
(ADWEA) – holding the remaining 80%. A consortium
of 13 local and international lenders provided financing
for the projects, with First Gulf Bank, National Bank
of Abu Dhabi, Union National Bank and Abu Dhabi
Commercial Bank lending a total of $500 million
between them. At the time of commissioning, the
facility was 60% owned by ADWEA, 20% by ENGIE,
and 20% by Abu Dhabi Financial Group.
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