Water · Water and power utility, UAE · 2026
Fujairah seawater desalination plant
24 seawater pump motors replaced with IE5 motors and drives, two pump trains a weekend, while the plant kept supplying 380,000 people.
The result
- less pumping energy
- 31%
- Measured over the first six months
- saved every year
- 3.2 GWh
- About AED 1.1 million at 2026 tariffs
- years to pay back
- 2.6
- Including drives and installation
- hours of lost supply
- 0
- Across twelve changeover weekends
The challenge
The seawater pump hall at Fujairah ran on 24 fixed-speed motors installed in 1998. They were reliable, but inefficient, and flow was controlled by throttling valves that wasted a third of the energy they used.
The plant supplies 380,000 people and could not be taken out of service. Any changeover had to fit inside a weekend window in the cooler months, with every pump back in service by 5 a.m. on Monday.
What we did
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Survey and design
Laser survey of every pump base, and a harmonic study of the plant supply.
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Build and test
24 NX-series 400 kW IE5 motors and 24 drives, run together on our Jebel Ali test bay.
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Weekend changeovers
Two pump trains per weekend, with our crew on site from Friday 6 p.m. to Monday 5 a.m.
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Handover
Energy monitoring for six months and a five-year service agreement.
On site
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Water and power utility, UAE, 2026 -
Two pump trains per weekend, with our crew on site from Friday 6 p.m. to Monday 5 a.m.
Twenty-four motors changed over twelve weekends and not one hour of lost supply. The energy figures came in better than the business case.
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