Oman: The Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources in Oman awarded a US$ 20-million contract to Metito and Target LLC (Oman) to provide a comprehensive sewerage system for Ibra Town in the Sultanate of Oman. The contractors will construct a sewerage network, and upgrade and expand the sewage treatment plant in the historic Omani town. Seventy-eight kilometres of GRP, HDPE and uPVC pipelines will be installed in the sewerage network. The project is expected to be fully operational by April 2005. Metito operates from its regional headquarters in Sharjah.
Russia: Construction of a major water and wastewater treatment works in St. Peters-burg should greatly reduce the pollution of several Scandinavian beaches and coastal water, particularly the Gulf of Finland, caused by the city's untreated sewage.
Initially, the construction of the ¤128-million works will involve many repairs to existing structures. Black & Veatch Consulting, based in Redhill, UK, acting as the supervising engineer, are first casting wider ring beams onto the near 50-metre-diameter primary settlement tanks as a much needed strengthening measure to ensure that scraper bridge wheels remain on track. The new plant will be completed by July 2005, and will serve a population of 750,000 in southwest St. Petersburg.
Saudi Arabia: The Union Water Electricity Company (UWEC) started making preparations for converting its power generation, water desalination and transmission project at Qidfa, Fujairah into an Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP).
The plan will be implemented by the end of the third quarter of the current year, according to a report in UOG News, the latest quarterly publication of the UAE Offsets Group.
UWEC intends to select an experienced power and water developer to invest in its existing project and planned expansion as a strategic partner. The company expects to finalise the process by the third quarter of 2004 and start construction work on the second phase development.
The first phase of the project will produce 656 MW of power and 100 million gallons a day (mg/d) of potable water. It is capable of exporting up to 500 MW of power to the planned Emirates National Grid (ENG) and 100 mg/d of desalinated water to Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates.
The second phase, currently in the feasibility stage, will add up to 1,000 MW and 100 mg/d. Currently, UWEC is prequalifying contractors for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts after appointing Germany's Fichtner as the consultant for the scheme in July 2003.
An offtake agreement with ADWEC is expected to be signed by the end of the first quarter of 2004. Water to the northern emirates will be supplied through the Federal Electricity Water Authority (FEWA) and will start reaching the public once the federal authority has made necessary arrangements for its distribution. Power and water started flowing from UWEC's first-phase development one month ahead of schedule in February and April respectively.
