Korean conglomerate and heavy equipment manufacturer Doosan Heavy Industries has won a US $320m contract to supply the machinery and build a desalination plant in Kuwait.
The facility will have a capacity of 30 million gallons per day and will supply drinking water for 450,000 residents in Kuwait City. Startup is scheduled for August in 2010.
Under the terms of the deal, Doosan will design and build the plant as well as supply equipment and materials. The company will also operate the plant for a three year period.
“We have furthered our reputation as a reliable builder of reverse osmosis desalination plants, in addition to multi-stage flash plants, for which we enjoy our status as the world’s number one in terms of market share,” said Doosan senior vice president Yoon Sik Park.
Doosan has secured a firm position in the desalination plant market in the Middle East since completing the Sabiya Desalination Plant 1 and 2, the refinery of Shuaibah Desalination in 2004, and Sabiya Desalination plant stage 3 in 2005, both in are in Kuwait.
The firm has been diversifying into fixed plant market since a restructure earlier in the decade. Apart from desalination plant, which the group believes is a major growth industry, the recent acquisition of Skoda Power has allowed the firm into the turbine business for nuclear power.
Bobcat became Doosan’s major equipment brand in 2007, while Norwegian haul truck maker Moxy entered the group last year.