Elcome Equips Water Desalination Barge in Saudi Arabia
Elcome International, the marine solutions provider and system integrator in the Middle East and one of the largest marine technology suppliers in the world, recently completed replacement and upgrade of a 15 MW electrical distribution and automation system on a water desalination barge.
The vessel, Bowarege 2, is a rapidly deployable barge-mounted reverse-osmosis desalination plant owned and operated by International Barges Company (IBC) for water desalination in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Built in 2008, Bowarege 2 has capacity to produce 25,000 cubic meters of potable water per day. A major fire ripped through the barge and totally destroyed the barge’s accommodation block (which housed the switchgear room) and three of the nine genset containers. Goltens Co. Ltd., Dubai Branch was awarded the contract by IBC and the underwriters, Laveratus, to demolish the existing accommodation and redesign, build and install a new accommodation block and renew the electrical installation, due to its trusted reputation in completing major projects. Elcome International was selected by Goltens to undertake the redesign, rebuild and supply of the electrical switchgear and intelligent motor control center.
The scope of equipment supplied for the project included 37 variable frequency drives, ranging from 5.5 to 500 kW, two 90 kW soft starters, numerous auxiliary starters, system cabling and other components. The plant is completely automated using programmable logic control hardware integrating 10,976 input/output terminations.
“The Bowarege 2 project showcases Elcome’s full range of technical expertise and system integration capabilities in a complex electrical distribution and plant automation solution,” said Jimmy Grewal, executive director of Elcome International. “We completed the job, including design, manufacture, installation, integration and commissioning of the electrical switchboards in a very short time, ensuring minimal downtime for the vessel. We look forward to working further with Goltens in the future on similar projects.”
Elcome provides a full range of marine electrical switchboards and power management systems under the ELSYS brand name. The modular systems are designed and manufactured in a modern switchboard production facility in Dubai and are approved by all major classification societies for marine and offshore applications.
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