Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction succeeded in bagging an order for an KRW 780 billion (nearly $700 million) seawater desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.
Doosan announced on January 25 that it had signed a contract to construct the Yanbu4 seawater desalination plant with an Engie-led development consortium, consisting of the French energy company, Engie, with its Saudi partners, Mowah and Nesma.
The Yanbu 4 seawater desalination plant will be constructed in Ar Rayyis located about 260 km north of Jeddah with application of the reverse osmosis (RO) process, which is a water purification process that removes salt from seawater by using pressure to force water molecules through a semipermeable membrane.
Doosan plans to construct the Yanbu 4 seawater RO desalination plant on an EPC basis, taking on the responsibilities of engineering, procurement and construction. Once constructed, the plant will supply 450,000 tons of potable water daily, enough for 1.5 million people in the Ar Rayyis region in the western part of Saudi Arabia.
“This order shows that Doosan’s capability and competitiveness have once again received recognition in the Middle East, where we expect to see more seawater RO desalination plants to be steadily constructed in the upcoming years. We plan to penetrate the Middle East’s seawater RO desalination market, as it is forecast to reach a value of USD 2.8 billion by 2025,” said Inwon Park, CEO of Doosan Heavy’s Plant EPC BG.
Following the Doha Phase 1 RO project in Kuwait in 2016, Shoaiba 4 RO project in Saudi Arabia in 2017, and Sharqiyah seawater desalination RO project in Oman in 2018, Doosan continues its winning streak in the Middle East’s seawater RO desalination market by signing this contract for the Yanbu4 Seawater RO Desalination Plant.
Upon the request from Engie, the French company acting as project developer, Korea Eximbank has provided project financing amounting to KRW 260 billion and strong support on winning this project. It is the first time that Korea Eximbank has ever provided financial support for a seawater RO desalination project. Korea Eximbank is said to have plans to expand financing for projects in this sector.
