• GS Inima, together with its partner TAQA, has signed with EWEC the Water Purchase Agreement (WPA) for the seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant, Shuweihat 4 RO IWP for the 70 million imperial gallons per day seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant.
• GS Inima, TAQA and EWEC also announced the financial closing for the Seawater Desalination Plant Project, for a total value of USD 444 million.
• This is the first project that GS Inima has won in the UAE and significantly, the largest desalination project awarded to the company.

EWEC (Emirates Water and Electricity Company), a leading company in the comprehensive coordination of planning, purchasing and supply of water and electricity in the United Arab Emirates, has awarded to GS Inima, in consortium with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), one of the largest integrated utilities companies listed in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Build – Own – Operate (BOO) contract for the Shuweihat 4 Reverse Osmosis Independent Water Project (IWP) (S4 RO) in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The S4 RO project will be located within the Shuweihat Power and Water Complex and will involve the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of the stand-alone seawater desalination plant. The plant will desalinate seawater using low-carbon reverse osmosis technology and supply up to 70 million imperial gallons per day of drinking water, equivalent to 318,225 cubic meters per day, thus improving the security of water supply in the region. from Al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi.

GS Inima, together with TAQA and EWEC, has announced the successful financial close of AED 1.6 million (USD 444 million). The project is primarily funded (71%) through debt financing. The transaction involved both local and international banks, including Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH (KFW) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM). The S4 RO financial closing comes after TAQA and GS Inima signed the water purchase agreement with EWEC in August 2023.

The Scheduled Project Commercial Operation Date is expected in Q2 2026. The S4 RO project will be 60 per cent owned by TAQA, while the remaining 40 percent will be owned by GS Inima. Both companies will also be responsible for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the plant, with GS Inima having a 60 percent stake in the O&M company and TAQA maintaining the remaining 40 percent. EWEC will procure water supplied by the plant for 30 years.

“The financial closing of the Shuweihat 4 RO Plant, with these prominent institutions, was possible thanks to our cooperation and the joint efforts of our client, partner, financial entities and GS Inima. . It demonstrates our agility, resilience, and unwavering commitment to creating a sustainable future and achieving UAE’s net-zero targets, positioning Abu Dhabi as a low-carbon desalination hub” Marta Verde, CEO, GS Inima.

“TAQA, has established itself as the UAE’s leading utility company in the ownership and operation of large-scale reverse osmosis water desalination plants. S4 RO will further enhance our existing portfolio and strong slate of RO projects, bringing us closer to achieving our 2030 goal of deploying efficient RO technology across our water generation portfolio. TAQA’s water generation capacity is just over 1,250 MIGD, making us a major player in water desalination.”

Additionally, reverse osmosis plants play a key role in supporting our 2030 ESG goals, with the decoupling of energy and water production, allowing us to significantly reduce the overall carbon footprint of our water plants, driving the UAE’s net targets and positioning Abu Dhabi as a leader in low-carbon desalination.” Farid Al Awlaqi, Executive Director of Generation at the TAQA group.

“We are pleased to announce that we have reached financial close with our partners at S4 RO. It is our second strategically important, world-class reverse osmosis project to reach this important milestone in 2023. S4 RO will increase EWEC’s reverse osmosis production capacity and strengthen security of supply, becoming our sixth reverse osmosis project. .

No other entity in the region is accelerating the energy transition to clean, renewable sources at the scale or speed of EWEC. We are strategically decoupling water and power generation, and forecast that nearly 90 percent of our water production capacity will be through reverse osmosis technology by 2030, resulting in a 492 percent increase in our osmosis capacity. reverse compared to 2020, and a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

Complemented by our plans for a 600 percent increase in solar power generation capacity by 2030, we are actively driving the achievement of Abu Dhabi’s Clean Energy 2035 goals and the UAE’s strategic initiative to achieve net neutrality. carbon by 2050”Othman Al Ali, EWEC Executive Director.

The plant has been designed to produce the requested capacity of drinking water with the highest standard of quality and sufficient flexibility to easily adapt to raw seawater conditions. The proposed design is based on industry best practices and cutting-edge technologies. It has been designed for average annual high availability during the operational period.

“This new joint project with EWEC and TAQA confirms the position of GS Inima as a global player in the development of large-scale RO desalination and marks the company’s entry into the UAE. Working with EWEC and TAQA for the first time is a great achievement and at the same time a great challenge to achieve common goals through innovative and reliable solutions to support the UAE’s sustainable water desalination initiatives” Marta Verde, CEO, GS Inima.

GS Inima and TAQA will develop the Shuweihat 4 RO IWP project with a clear premise of reducing the carbon footprint in the country, implementing sustainable construction methods and considering safety as an absolute priority.

A reference in long-term contracts

GS Inima is a world benchmark in the water sector with a current RO desalination treatment capacity of more than 1.800.000 m3/day. . With this new contract, GS Inima reinforces its position as a key player in the development of sustainable water solutions in the Middle East region.

This new contract is a thirty-year concession, so it joins the list of references of concessions that GS Inima manages all over the world. The Group currently manages 25 long-term water concessional projects, including: Mostaganem IWP in Algeria, Ensenada IWP in Mexico, Taunton River IWP in the USA, Barka V and Ghubrah IWP in Oman , and Riberão Prieto and Aquapolo in Brazil.”

“The award of this contract represents the long-term trust that EWEC has placed in us. This concession will allow us to undertake facility improvement projects, as well as implement efficiency measures and systems that we are currently developing in other projects that we currently manage, thus demonstrating the financial strength of GS Inima” Diego de Vera Molero, Global Business Development Director, GS Inima.