Fujairah F1 IWPP
MSF/RO + power, 130 MIGD (about 591,000 m3/day); original plant 101 MIGD (MSF 64 MIGD, RO 37 MIGD) plus a 30 MIGD RO extension in United Arab Emirates.
Operational
Landmark The region's first large hybrid, running thermal units beside reverse osmosis, and the start of the Gulf's shift to membranes.
The record
- Country
- United Arab Emirates
- Location
- Qidfa, Fujairah
- Coordinates
- 25.314, 56.373
- Technology
- MSF/RO + power
- Capacity
- 130 MIGD (about 591,000 m3/day); original plant 101 MIGD (MSF 64 MIGD, RO 37 MIGD) plus a 30 MIGD RO extension
- Capital cost
- —
- Stage
- Operational
- Owner or client
- Emirates Sembcorp Water & Power Company (ADWEA and TAQA 60%, Sembcorp 40%); offtaker ADWEC, now EWEC
- Contractor
- Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction (main contractor, five MSF units); Degremont (RO plant)
- Operator
- Emirates Sembcorp Water & Power Company
- Finance
- Independent water and power project; expansion about US$200 million
- Award or start year
- 2001
- Commissioned
- 2004-06
Record last checked 2026-09-22.
History
- 2001
Construction begins at Qidfa for Union Water & Electricity Company
- 2003-05
RO plant comes online after twenty months of construction
- 2004-06
Full plant in operation, the first large hybrid MSF and RO scheme in the region
- 2015-12
30 MIGD RO expansion completed at about US$200 million, total capacity 130 MIGD
- 2029
Power and water purchase agreement expires
- 2026-03
Reports that falling debris from intercepted missiles had damaged the complex were refuted by Sembcorp Industries, which said the plant was undamaged and that fires in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone had been misread as damage to the plant
Sources
9 references
Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.
- WaterWorld, Fujairah marks major milestone for desalination in Middle East. waterworld.com.
- Construction from 2001, RO online May 2003, full operation June 2004; described as the world's first hybrid membrane and thermal facility and the largest seawater RO plant built to that date; RO supplied by Degremont under a EUR 100 million contract, consultant Fichtner, owner Union Water & Electricity Company.
- Sembcorp, Fujairah 1 Completes Expansion (8 December 2015). sembcorp.com.
- About US$200 million expansion raises total desalination capacity by 30% to 130 MIGD under a 20-year water purchase agreement with ADWEC. TRANSCO, 2019 Seven Year Water Planning Statement (2020-2026), June 2019, Table 4.3 Existing Production Plant Site and Capacities by Technology. saudigulfprojects.com.
- Gross capacity 101 MIGD (MSF 64, RO 37) plus 30 MIGD extension.
- Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Nine major water desalination plants enhance Abu Dhabi's water security (22 July 2020). doe.gov.ae.
- Licensed 2006, 595,500 m3/day.
- Sembcorp Industries via The Edge Singapore, Sembcorp refutes reports that its Fujairah 1 plant in UAE damaged. theedgesingapore.com.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
The operator stated on 9 March 2026 that the plant had not been damaged. CSIS records Fujairah F1 as having sustained indirect damage on 9 March 2026, which the operator's statement contradicts; the operator is followed here.