LG Water Solutions, a business unit of South Korea’s LG Chem, announced on Monday that has been awarded a contract to supply its seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes for the 300,000 cubic metres per day (m³/day) Ghubrah III Independent Water Project (IWP) in Oman.

The company said in a statement that it has been contracted by Spain’s GS Inima, owned by South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction (GS E&C), to supply more than 23,000 units of its SW 440 GR G2 SERO membranes for what will be Oman’s largest desalination facility when commissioned in the first quarter of 2027.

Ghubrah III desalination plant will ensure a clean water supply to an estimated 2.5 million inhabitants in the capital city of Muscat. 

The statement didn’t disclose the contract value but said LG Water Solutions' breakthrough NanoH2O RO membranes will treat over 50 percent of Oman's desalination capacity when the plant becomes operational.

The Korean membrane technology company has supplied its SWRO membranes for key desalination projects in the Gulf country including the 250,000 m³/day Sohar IV IWP, the 120,000 m³/day Salalah IWP, and the 100,000 m3/day Barka V IWP.

In May 2024, Nama Power and Water Procurement (PWP), the single procurer of power and water capacity and output in Oman, signed a 125 million Oman rial ($325 million) agreement with Capital Desalination Company, a special purpose vehicle formed by GS Inima, Saudi’s Aljomaih Energy & Water Company, and Sogex Oman to develop the Ghubrah III IWP under Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model.

The project was awarded to Capital Desalination Company in November 2020 under a 20-year water purchase agreement with PWP. It also includes a strategic water reservoir with a storage capacity of  45,000 m3.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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