Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has awarded an engineering and design consultancy contract for the Jeddah 4 desalination plant to the US-headquartered Black & Veatch (B&V).
B&V will be responsible for studies of the site and adjacent sea conditions, conceptual process and engineering design, and preparation of tender documents. In addition, the company will support SWCC during the tendering and award of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
“SWCC, through critical infrastructure projects such as Jeddah 4, has proved highly effective in addressing the kingdom’s water requirements,” says Mazen Alami, managing director for the Middle East at Black & Veatch.
“Our experience with large-scale desalination projects around the world will help the corporation serve the needs of Jeddah’s growing population.”
The 400,000 m3/day Jeddah 4 desalination plant, which will replace an existing 60,000 m3/day desalination plant, will meet potable water requirements of Jeddah, a city of five million and Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city.
Unlike the majority of the desalination plants in the Kingdom, Jeddah 4 will be based on reverse-osmosis membrane technology and will be one of the largest desalination plants of its kind in the Gulf region.
SWCC’s 27 desalination plants provide more than 70% of the water used in Saudi Arabia. The government-owned corporation is planning to expand desalination production from around 3.5m m3/day to more than 4.5m m3/day this year.
