Suez

What is it?

The Euronext-listed water and waste giant which is revolutionising the way municipal and industrial clients address their resource challenges around the world.

What has it done?

As the changing energy mix in the Middle East breaks down the old power-and-water paradigm, Suez has stepped out from under the wing of its erstwhile partner Engie to embrace a new role as an investor and desalination project developer with a truly agnostic approach to scale and technology. Meanwhile, the firm’s industrial capabilities were transformed following the takeover of GE Water.

What makes it special?

The faultless commissioning of the 238,665m³/d Mirfa desalination plant in the UAE proved that membrane desalination can work on a mass scale, even in the most hostile of feedwater conditions. Suez’s achievements as both contractor and investor demonstrate a company leading the way in quality utility-scale desal.

The completion of the acquisition of GE Water catapulted Suez into the top echelons of industrial water treatment, and aptly demonstrates how decisive boldness in the M&A market can transform a company’s fortunes. It now enjoys market-leading positions in an array of industrial end markets – while boasting a reference base which is second to none.

By securing a major mobile desalination contract with Brazilian petrochemicals giant Petrobras, establishing a brine handling JV with Solvay, and successfully completing its revolutionary low-energy desal pilot at Masdar last year, Suez confirmed beyond all doubt that it is able to outperform at every level of the desalination scale.

Metito

What is it?

A UAE-headquartered water and wastewater specialist, with business wings covering design/build, chemicals, and asset ownership.

What has it done?

2017 saw Metito spread its wings in the desalination arena, riding a relentless wave of progress across the Middle East and Africa thanks to a superlative attitude to business development and a fearless approach to new markets. Boldness in bidding was matched by an ability to deliver to the most exacting specifications for a broad array of clients.

What makes it special?

Metito spearheaded the genesis of mass desalination in Egypt last year, building the country’s largest ever plant at Al Yosr, while securing contracts to supply the country’s next two large-scale installations. With desal being leant on to future-proof Egypt’s water security and avert a diplomatic crisis with its Nile neighbours, Metito’s success has a positive political impact far beyond the field of water supply.

The company is bending the boundaries of the water-energy nexus, pushing an innovative solar-driven SWRO design at the King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia that promises to free utilities from the burden of grid-constrained energy when considering desalination as an option.

The completion of a reverse osmosis plant to polish treated sewage effluent in Doha, Qatar, and a unique BWRO/SWRO facility serving the power industry in Burullus, Egypt, demonstrate a company equally at ease with the complexities of industrial water as with serving resource-constrained residential communities. An adaptable regional champion punching well above its weight.