Seawater Desalination Plant Al Hidd, Bahrain

Seawater Desalination Plant Al Hidd, Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain, an archipelago in the Persian Gulf, is getting ready to jump with great leaps into the 21st century. Prerequisite for the further and rapid development is the safe and reliable drinking water supply for the 750,000 inhabitants. To ensure the drinking water supply, Al Hidd Power Company (HPC) decided to expand the existing seawater desalination plant Al Hidd up to 60 MIGD* (273,000 m³/d) to 90 MIGD* (408,000m³/d). Within the largest privatisation project realized in Bahrain, HPC also took over the operational management of the plant for 20 years. Since the commissioning of the new plant was to be carried out two years after the acquisition of the old plant, the capacity expansion had to be realized in the shortest time possible.

The solution
The contract for the plant expansion was given to SIDEM (Sté Internationale de Dessalement), an affiliate of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies. SIDEM opted for multi effect distillation (MED), where drinking water is gained through the evaporation and the subsequent condensation of seawater. The complex process management of the MED process requires an efficient and reliable process control system. Therefore, SIDEM chose SIMATIC PCS 7 from Siemens as automation system after an intensive evaluation. SIDEM contracted the engineering to EKIUM (formerly Cira-Concept), a highly experienced SIMATIC PCS 7 system integrator from the Siemens Solution Partner Program. Furthermore Siemens delivered 33 H- Compact motors with a capacity between 500-1250 kW. These powerful and economical motors start the so-called intake pumps, which transports the seawater into the plant.

http://www.sidem-desalination.com/en/main-references/Hidd/