The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has invited companies to apply for expression of interest (EOIs) for the Hassyan Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) project. The deadline to apply for the EOI is July 9.

The 120-million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) project is the utility firm’s first IWP project. According to DEWA, the invitation is for competent companies that work based on the Independent Water Producer (IWP) model to enter the project.

The utility firm is said to have opted for the IWP system for the Hassyan desalination plant following the success of the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

“We are currently building production plants based on reverse osmosis (RO) system that demands less energy than plants based on multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), making it a more sustainable choice for water desalination,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

In May 2018, DEWA appointed Ernst & Young (E&Y), CMS, and WSP as advisors on the project.

“DEWA is currently desalinating water through the joint production of energy and water by using efficient MSF distillation technology, which depends on waste heat created by the production of electricity for water desalination. DEWA also uses RO to desalinate water, a proven technology that is also used around the world, to absorb a considerable amount of generated power through clean energy,” added Al Tayer.