Ayesa seal of approval to the Jubail 2 desalination plant: Water security for Saudí Arabia

Desalination is essential in water management plans for the 21st century especially in arid, dry regions around the world. The water crisis is a significant challenge for Saudi Arabia, where authorities have turned to desalination to help the growing urban centres of Damman, Chobar, and Riyadh meet the interconnected challenges of population growth, climate change and water scarcity.

The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) is the Saudi Arabian government organization responsible for desalinating seawater and supplying potable water to various regions. It is one of the world’s largest producers of desalinated water, with a production capacity of over five million cubic meters per day. To continue serving these growing populations, SWCC is constructing several plants in Jubail to replace aging infrastructure with seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and introducing technologies such as renewable energies and wastewater treatment to conserve and reuse water, a crucial part of Saudi Vision 2030.

Our team at Ayesa played a crucial role in the successful completion of Jubail II, a large desalination plant that produces over 400,000 cubic meters of water daily. Located on the east coast, the project is a significant step in achieving SWCC’s strategic goals of meeting the increased demand for water in Saudi Arabia. We worked closely with SEPCO III and subcontractor Metito, who won a competitive tender for the design, engineering, procurement, and supervision of the project. Using innovative technologies like Distributed Control System (DCS) and Seawater and Reverse Osmosis (SWRO), we verified the design, supervised construction and commissioning to ensure optimal performance and efficiency.

Our experience in managing and delivering Middle Eastern Projects from the earliest feasibility and planning stages to the commissioning and operational phases has been invaluable to the success of Jubail II. Having team members located in Saudi as well as Spain provides us with deep local knowledge of technical, regulatory, and procurement contracting procedures and laws. Collaboration is an essential element when working with Ayesa to leverage the combined capabilities and experience of the project team including in this case, SWCC, Ayesa, SEPCO III and Metito.

Jubail II has proved to be a reliable source of water for the people of Riyadh and other surrounding urban centers.