Spain’s Inexa to build Arab shipyard desalination plant

Bahrain’s Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard company (Asry) has awarded a US$ 8.6 million contract to Gulf Marketing House for the completion and upgrading of a reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant at Asry’s yard in the Bahrain capital, Manama. Under the build-operate-transfer deal Spanish engineering firm, Inexa, will construct the plant.

Gulf Marketing House has contracted Inexa to supply all technical resources and equipment required for the upgrade and commission the 7 Ml/d plant. “The plant will be built according to the latest state-of-the-art water desalination technology by Inexa, a technical partner of Gulf Marketing House,” said Asry chief executive Nils Kristian Berge. He emphasised that the plant would be run on a commercial basis.

Gulf Marketing House chairman Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa said: “This contract will further enhance the reputation of Gulf House Group in the local market, and boost the co-operation between the two companies.”

When completed the plant will meet Asry’s future outer water requirements and contribute to Bahrain’s national requirement for drinking water water. It is scheduled to start operation in “early April” 2015.

At the end of the 25-year contract, ownership of the desalination plant will transfer to Asry, according to Asry general manger of technical resources and business development Magdy Mustafa.

The original Asry desalination plant project was managed by Gemsil Aquatech Services and was for a plant with an initial production capacity of 3 Ml/d.