Palm Water awarded AED 1 billion design, build, own & operate (DBOO) contract by Nakheel at International City, Dubai

As part of the award, Palm Water LLC will be granted a 30-year concession to provide both sewage and irrigation services on behalf of Nakheel.

The sewage treatment plant - set to be among the largest Membrane BioReactor (MBR) -based plants in the Middle East, is expected to have a capacity to treat about 110,000 m3 of sewage each day - nearly the same amount of high quality irrigation water. Planned as a part of the development, the plant will use state-of-the-art technology and easily blend with the surrounding environment.

Elaborating on the contract, Robert M. (Bob) Bryniak, CEO, Palm Water, said, "We are very pleased to have been awarded this important contract. It represents one of the first contracts awarded in the sewerage business to a privately owned company in Dubai on a DBOO basis."

Bryniak said that Palm Water will employ Membrane BioReactor or MBR technology that will result in an extremely high grade of treated sewage effluent that can be safely used for irrigation purposes throughout the development at International City.

The sewage treatment plant will be constructed in phases, with the first phase going on stream in late 2007. One of the unique elements of the project is that Palm Water will be supplying Palm District Cooling with make-up water for its cooling plants. This, in turn, will provide low-cost district cooling to residents in Phase II and Phase III phases at International City.

The scope of the contract includes designing, supplying, constructing, owning, operating and maintaining the sewage treatment plant. It also covers the owning, operating and maintaining of the pumping station and tanks.

The existing sewerage, irrigation networks and collection systems will be transferred to Palm Water and all future enhancements will be implemented and maintained by the company over the next 30 years. Networks and collection systems being developed by others at Phases 2 & 3 at International City will be purchased by Palm Water when completed and maintained by the Company during the concession period.

International companies are expected to be involved in the design, construction and operation of the sewage treatment plant. MWH is providing Palm Water with technical support for the project while Allen & Overy is the legal counsel and HSBC - the lead financial arranger. Award by Palm Water of the Engineering Procurement Construction ("EPC") contract to construct the main sewage treatment plant is imminent.

Palm Water LLC is owned by Istithmar, which has a majority stake in the company. It undertakes projects that relate to the build, own and operate (BOO) or build, own and transfer (BOT) of a specific development. Palm Water also participates in projects related to seawater desalination plants, commercial, municipal and industrial water treatment plants.

It also implements projects such as wastewater treatment and recycling plants, potable water, treated wastewater distribution networks, wastewater collection networks. Palm Water is also engaged in related businesses that include selling and distributing associated products related to the water business. Palm Water is presently implementing two desalination plants located on the Palm Jumeirah.