THE Government of Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has just commissioned Suez Environnement through its subsidiary Degrémont, in consortium with its Japanese partner Marubeni Corporation, to expand the Doha West wastewater treatment and recycling plant. The total contract is worth €178 million ($218.75 million), €94 million ($115.52 million) of which is for Suez Environnement.

This expansion will increase the plant’s treatment capacity by an additional 105,000 cubic metres per day to 280,000 cubic metres per day (cmpd). Over the term of the contract, the plant will be able to manage the wastewater of 1,040,000 population equivalent from Doha city.

This project follows the two contracts signed in 2005 for the design, construction and 10-year operation of a 135,000 cmpd plant, then in 2011 for its first expansion to 175,000 cmpd to serve a population estimated at 650,000 inhabitants. Located 20 km west of Doha, the plant has been in operation since March 2010, the 2011 expansion was completed in late 2012, and Suez Environnement will oversee the plant’s operation until 2020.

“We are proud of Ashghal’s renewed trust for this Doha West plant expansion after having built the two prior ones. This new contract acknowledges our capacity to offer, deliver and then operate efficient facilities tailored to the local challenges of population growth and protection of resources,” states Rémi Lantier, CEO of Degrémont.

To confront Doha’s increasing population, Ashghal essentially chose the same technologies that have already been put in place and proven effective: expansion of the secondary biologic treatment, and expansion of the tertiary treatment which implements ultrafiltration membranes and the Smartrack system, thus allowing re-use of the treated water to irrigate green spaces, market gardens, and to replenish groundwater.

This contract strengthens the presence of Suez Environnement in Qatar where it also designed and built waste water treatment facilities for Barwa City (50,000 inhabitants) and Lusail (250,000 inhabitants), which use treated water to re-vegetate desert parcels of land and, over time, to maintain green spaces throughout the artificial Pearl Island.

DESALINATION PLANTS
Suez Environnement also announced that it is at the heart of water issues in the Middle East with two new desalination and wastewater treatment contracts in Oman and the UAE.

Earlier, Suez Environment announced it is to design, construct and operate the desalination plant at the new Mirfa Independent Water and Power Project in Abu Dhabi for a total amount of Dh677 million ($184 million).

Degrémont, a subsidiary of Suez Environnement, was selected by Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build the reverse osmosis (RO) sea water desalination plant of the Mirfa Independent Water and Power Project (Mirfa IWPP) in Abu Dhabi. The Mirfa IWPP was awarded to GDF Suez by Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea).

This project includes a contract totalling Dh544 million ($148 million) which covers the design and construction of a reverse osmosis sea water desalination plant with a daily capacity of 140,000 cmpd. It will be equipped with SeaDaf filtration technology to pre-treat the water from the Arabian Gulf, which is turbid and rich in algae, with a double reverse osmosis treatment for its desalination.

The expansion will increase the plant’s treatment capacity by 105,000 cubic metres per day

It will be followed by a second contract of seven years for the RO plant’s operation and maintenance awarded to Degrémont by the Mirfa International Power & Water Company for a total amount of Dh133 million ($36 million).

Located 160 km west of Abu Dhabi, the Mirfa IWPP comprising the desalination plant will supply 240,000 cmpd of drinking water and 1,600 megawatts of electricity to respond to the region’s growing demand for drinking water and electricity. The choice of reverse osmosis desalination appears to be a sustainable solution to the region’s challenges with regard to water stress and conserving resources.

WINS CONTRACT IN OMAN
Suez Environnement wins a contract in Oman to design, build and operate a wastewater treatment plant.

Degrémont, in a consortium with Al Ansari Trading Entreprise, a local Oman civil engineering company, has been selected by the Oman water authority Haya Water  to design and operate an 18,000 cmpd capacity wastewater treatment plant in Al Amerat.

This contract, for a total amount of OMR24 million ($62 million), in which Degrémont has a share of OMR 12 million ($31 million), has a two-year term for the operation and maintenance of the plant.

Situated in Al Amerat, a residential suburb of the capital city Muscat, the plant will use the Ultrafor membrane bio reactor process, which is appropriate for treating urban and industrial wastewater. Following treatment, this technology produces an effluent that can meet the most stringent water standards and allows the effluents to be recycled and reused in the most sensitive environments. The treated water in the Al Amerat wastewater treatment plant will be used for irrigation. 

“We are proud to have won these two new contracts in this region which must meet the dual challenge of demographic growth and protection of its water resources. They demonstrate our capacity to offer sustainable technological solutions in response to the challenge of local water stress challenges,” commented Marie-Ange Debon, deputy chief executive officer in charge of the international division of Suez Environnement.

These new contracts strengthen Suez Environnement’s position as a major player in wastewater treatment and desalination in the Middle East. Following the construction and operation of wastewater treatment plants such as As Samra (365,000 cmpd) and Wadi Ma’in (128,000  cmpd) in Jordan, Degrémont has in the past few years in Qatar completed the fourth extension of the Doha West wastewater treatment facility, as well as the plants in Barwa City and Lusail. As a global leader in reverse osmosis (RO) desalination, Degrémont has also built the desalination plants Fujeirah 1 (UAE), Barka 2 (Oman) and Al Dur (Bahrain). More recently and in less than six months, Degrémont supplied and installed 33 modular desalination units for the treatment of brackish water in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).

A subsidiary of the Suez Environnement group, Degrémont has been the world water treatment specialist for local authorities and industrial companies for more than 70 years. Present in over 70 countries, the company has 5,000 employees and posted a revenue of €1.110 billion in 2013.

Natural resources are not infinite. Every day, Suez Environnement and its subsidiaries deal with the challenge of protecting resources by providing innovative solutions to industries and to millions of people. Suez Environnement supplies drinking water to 92 million people, provides wastewater treatment services for 65 million people and collects the waste produced by 52 million people. Suez Environnement has 79,550 employees and, with its presence on five continents, is a world leader exclusively dedicated to water and waste management services. Suez Environnement generated total revenues of €14.6 billion in 2013.