ABB to power giant Magtaa RO desalination plant

ABB has been awared a US$ 28 million contract to provide power for the Magtaa desalination plant in Algeria, which, at 500,000 m³/d will be the largest reverse-osmosis plant in the world.

The turnkey contract was awarded by Hyflux and involves setting up a 220 kV outdoor substation to provide power to the facility and also supplying power transformers, medium-voltage drives and a range of medium and low-voltage switchgear. ABB will be responsible for the design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the electrical plant system.

“Besides powering the water treatment facility, ABB technologies will help to enhance plant performance by addressing critical operational needs such as minimizing downtime and optimizing energy consumption to improve efficiency,” said Franz-Josef Mengede, head of ABB’s global Power Generation business in the Power Systems division.

The project is scheduled for completion by 2011.