Acwa Power has entered into a 30-year agreement with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) for the procurement of water from a new seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facility located at the Hassyan Complex, where the Saudi developer is already working on a significantly larger initial phase.
On October 28, Acwa announced to the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) that the contract is valued at $478 million (SAR 1,794 million), with Acwa holding a 40% share in the project. This initiative adheres to DEWA’s Independent Water Producer (IWP) framework, which allows a project company to develop, finance, construct, and operate the plant while supplying water to DEWA.
– Capacity: Approximately 272,000 m³/day (around 60 MIGD or ~99 million m³ annually) for the new Hassyan SWRO facility.
– Contract Value: $478 million (SAR 1,794 million) as disclosed by Acwa.
– Stake: Acwa owns 40% of the project company under a 30-year contract.
With a capacity of about 272,000 m³/day, or roughly 99 million m³ annually, the plant can produce around 60 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD), the unit DEWA uses for its desalination goals. This capacity is one-third that of the first phase of Hassyan, which has a capacity of about 818,000 m³/day and is also being developed by Acwa under DEWA’s IWP model.
Although Acwa does not refer to the new plant as a second phase, its capacity matches that of the 60 MIGD Hassyan SWRO Phase 2, for which DEWA was soliciting bids for transmission pipelines, as reported by SWM in May.
In October 2023, DEWA and Acwa finalized the water purchase and shareholder agreements for the initial phase, which includes a 180 MIGD plant with a total investment of $914 million. This marked DEWA’s first IWP, and the utility noted that it had received a record low bid of $0.36536/m³ for desalinated water.
As of January 2026, DEWA reported that the first phase was approximately 90% complete, with full completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2027. The utility later confirmed that its first 60 MIGD block became operational in the first quarter of 2026. In its half-year results, DEWA projected the addition of the remaining 120 MIGD throughout 2026. Collectively, the existing 180 MIGD project along with the newly announced plant would yield an estimated total desalination capacity of around 240 MIGD.
Source: Acwa Power
