Sembcorp Industries finishes US$200m expansion to UAE plant

UTILITIES group Sembcorp Industries has completed an approximately US$200 million expansion to a water and power plant in the United Arab Emirates and begun its commercial operation, it said in a press release on Tuesday.

The expansion has boosted the plant's total seawater desalination capacity by 30 per cent to 130 million imperial gallons per day, the group said. One imperial gallon is about 4.55 litres, slightly more than a US gallon.

The plant is now one of the largest reverse osmosis desalination facilities in the Middle East.

Sembcorp said it would sell the 30 million extra gallons of desalinated seawater to state-owned Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Company, a unit of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority. This water sale agreement will last for 20 years and will bring extra income to the plant, it added.

The group said it had bought a stake in the plant, called Fujairah 1 Independent Water and Power Plant, in 2006.