AED 900 million awarded by TAQA for projects to increase recycled water distribution program

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) has announced that its subsidiary, Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), awarded projects worth up to AED 900 million to expand the company’s recycled water distribution program.

This phase of ADDC’s recycled water distribution program builds on its announcement in January 2020, when the company began transmitting a capacity of 4.4 MIGD of recycled water for landscaping irrigation on Saadiyat Island, through a new transmission scheme supplied from the existing network on Yas Island.

These two new projects will, collectively, encompass the laying of approximately 150 kilometers of pipelines in two phases, with the first 30 MIGD pipeline project slated for completion by Q3 2021 and the second 55 MIGD project slated for Q4 2021.

Due to the expansion of the program the use of recycled water will be extensively increased beyond municipal landscaping to include commercial and agricultural operations. When completed, the two new projects will have a combined capacity to transmit approximately 85 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of recycled water –enabling about 3.5 million palm trees to be irrigated.

Roughly 4,000 farms could benefit from the supply of recycled water, which would further support the program’s objectives to optimize the use of desalinated water, prevent the depletion of ground water resources and divert more recycled water towards a wider range of uses.

Executive Director of Transmission and Distribution at TAQA, Omar Abdulla Alhashmi said:

“Our expanded recycled water program directly supports TAQA’s vision for a future in which we are not only a sustainable, reliable and efficient supplier of water, but an organization whose operations directly contribute to the realization of the UAE’s broader sustainability and environmental goals. We are particularly focused on the goals outlined in the national strategies for energy and water supply, which anticipate an increase in demand and the deployment of more clean technologies and sustainable methods of service delivery. “

H.E. Saeed Mohamed Al-Suwaidi, Managing Director of ADDC commented:

“ADDC’s recycled water distribution program plays an integral role in meeting the objectives set forth in the UAE’s Water Security Strategy 2036 by implementing practical and sustainable solutions that optimize desalinated water usage and protect our precious ground water resources.”

TAQA’s successful transaction with ADPower on July 1, 2020, created the UAE’s 3rd-largest publicly listed company by market capitalization and a top-10 utility player in the EMEA region by regulated assets. As part of the transaction, the majority of ADPower’s power and water generation, transmission and distribution assets, including ADDC, were transferred to TAQA in exchange for 106,367,950,000 new shares.