NEOM received prequalification applications from companies in December for a contract to design and build a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant.  The planned water desalination plant will have a capacity of 150,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). 

The project is expected to take 12 months to complete. This project's capacity is smaller than the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) desalination plant developed by Japan's Itochu and France's Veolia at NEOM's OXAGON industrial city. The ZLD plant's first phase is expected to have a capacity of 500,000 cm/d. A consortium of NEOM subsidiary Enowa, Itochu and Veolia signed the joint development for the ZLD desalination plant in December 2022. 

The planned ZLD plant will be powered 200 per cent by renewable energy and is understood to require an investment of between $1.5bn and $2bn. It is expected to meet about 30 per cent of NEOM’s projected total water demand once complete. 

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