DEWA’s desalinated water production at Jebel Ali increases to 490m imperial gallons daily

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has increased its production of desalinated water to 490 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD).

The increased production is a result of adding new units at DEWA’s Jebel Ali Power Plant and Desalination Complex which uses Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) technology, said a statement issued by Dubai Media Office.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and and CEO of DEWA said that DEWA has 43 Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) water desalination units, with a total production capacity of 427 MIGD of water at the D-, E-, G-, K-, L, and M Stations. It also has 2 SWRO plants with a production capacity of 63 MIGD.

DEWA’s total production capacity of desalinated water at the Jebel Ali Power Plant and Desalination Complex is therefore 490 MIGD.

He said that DEWA aims to increase its SWRO production capacity to 303 MIGD by 2030, reaching 42 per cent, instead of its current share of 13 per cent. The desalinated water production capacity will reach 730 MIGD in 2030.

SWRO desalination plants require less energy than MSF plants. One of DEWA’s latest projects using this technology is at the Jebel Ali K-Station, which has a production capacity of 40 MIGD and investments of Dhs897m. The two-pass reverse osmosis system used in this project guarantees high quality potable water.

The SWRO plant is equipped with recovery devices that provide 96 per cent efficiency, which utilise high pressure from the first pass brine/reject stream and transfers it to a portion of the feed water stream to the first pass inlet. This significantly reduces electricity consumption in the high pressure pump, thus enhancing the efficiency of the desalination process.

“We work in line with the vision of the wise leadership to develop a world-class infrastructure to keep pace with the growing demand for energy and water and provide excellent services for over a million customers in Dubai. This is supported by assets worth more than Dhs182bn owned by DEWA and its subsidiaries, as well as investments of up to Dhs86bn over five years in the energy and water sectors,” noted Al Tayer.

Earlier this month, DEWA confirmed that its installed capacity of electricity has reached 12,900 megawatts (MW).

Read: Dubai’s electricity capacity reaches 12,900MW

When Dubai Electricity Company merged with the Dubai Water Department to form DEWA in 1990s, 60 MIGD of desalinated water was produced, increasing over eight times to the current levels.