Lantania And NMDC Strengthen Partnership With Fujairah Desalination Plant Award

• They built a facility in the United Arab Emirates with a water production capacity of approximately 273.000 m³/day
•  The project includes process engineering equipment supply, civil works, electromechanical assemble and commissioning

Lantania and NMDC Group have taken a step forward in their partnership. Emirates Utilities Development Company (EUDC), the project investment development arm of Etihad Water and Electricity (EtihadWE), has awarded the consortium formed by Lantania Aguas and NMDC Infra for the development of the Fujairah seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates. The project represents one of the first industrial milestones linked to the creation of their future joint venture, Lantania NMDC Water.

The scheme will be delivered under an EPC model, integrating engineering, procurement and construction, along with the commissioning of the plant. Lantania’s scope includes project engineering, the supply of key process equipment, as well as supervision of installation and plant start-up. Civil and marine works, together with installation activities, will be carried out by NMDC.

The plant will be located within the Port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, with direct access to maritime and land infrastructure. It will have a contracted production capacity of 60 MIGD of desalinated water, supported by storage capacity equivalent to 18 hours of production across two tanks. The development will cover an area of approximately 10 hectares and will connect to the port’s internal road network.

Once operational, the plant will provide a dependable supply of desalinated water to support households, businesses and strategic industries in Fujairah and across EtihadWE’s service areas, particularly during periods of peak demand. The project will strengthen the resilience of essential water infrastructure and support continuity of supply.

The seawater intake system will include a submarine intake tower, intake pipelines and pumps designed with the required redundancy to maintain high availability. Two GRP pipelines will be used for intake, while a marine outfall system supported by a GRP pipeline will discharge concentrate and treated effluents, with capacity to handle the full seawater abstraction volume. The onshore infrastructure will also include access points and maintenance provisions to support efficient operations throughout the plant’s lifecycle.

The project is expected to be delivered over approximately 30 months, covering civil works, process systems and commissioning. Initial operations are expected to begin at partial capacity, followed by full production of 273,000 m3/day upon completion.

In this context, both companies build on the strategic partnership reached last January, under which Lantania and NMDC Group agreed to establish a joint company, Lantania NMDC Water, following NMDC Group’s acquisition of a 51% stake in Lantania Aguas, the Spanish group’s subsidiary specialized in desalination, water treatment and wastewater treatment projects. Lantania Group retains the remaining 49% stake.

Beyond its technical scope, the project highlights the complementarity between the two companies: Lantania’s expertise in desalination and NMDC Group’s experience in large-scale marine infrastructure. Lantania is currently involved in projects in Saudi Arabia such as the Ras Mohaisen desalination plant (300,000 m³/day), while NMDC Group brings extensive experience in major marine infrastructure developments across the region.

Lantania ranks as the world’s fourth-largest desalination plant provider by awarded capacity in 2024–2025, according to the Desalination and Water Reuse Handbook 2025–2026 published by the International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA) in collaboration with Global Water Intelligence (GWI). The company has also been nominated for Desalination Company of the Year at the Global Water Awards 2026.