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Taweelah, the world's largest SWRO plant, reaches full commercial operation

The ACWA Power-developed Abu Dhabi plant delivers roughly 900,000 m³/day, marking the definitive scale-up of membrane desalination.

The Taweelah seawater reverse-osmosis plant in Abu Dhabi — developed by an ACWA Power-led consortium with EWEC — reached full commercial operation in 2023, with capacity of roughly 900,000 cubic meters per day, the largest SWRO facility ever built.

Taweelah's significance is economic as much as technical: its tariff, enabled by co-located solar generation and modern energy-recovery, reset expectations for what large-scale membrane desalination costs. The project anchors a Gulf build-out that has continued with Saudi mega-projects including Rabigh 3 and the Jubail complex.

Sources