Taylor & Francis

Taylor £* Francis Group

Marine environmental impacts of power-desalination

plants in Kuwait
Ahmad Al-Dousari,^'* Abdul Nabi Al-Ghadban,^
and Neil C. Sturchio^
'Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research, Safal ¡3109, Kuwait
^University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
'Corresponding author: drMhmad@hotmaiLcom

Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity and Water is planning to supplement the existing electric power gen-
eration capacity in the country by constructing new Gombined-Gycle Gas-Turbine Stations at Shuaiba
North Power Station and Subiya Power Station in order to meet the increasing power demand. The plans
also include installation of a Multistage Flash Distillation Plant for seawater desalination at Shuaiba to
increase Kuwait's supply ofpotable water.
Gonstruction of these new facilities will impact the environment, and so therefore needed to be carefully
assessed before the planned work could go ahead. Thus, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research con-
ducted an environmental impact assessment for these sites, as per the guidelines of Kuwait s Environment
Public Authority. The environmental impact assessment was performed in three parts: air, marine, and
hydraulics, by separate multidisciplinary teams that conducted field surveys, took measurements, collected
and analyzed samples, and in some cases, carried out predictive numerical modeling studies of the poten-
tial impact of plant operations on the surrounding environment. These studies took into account the impact
of the already existing, as well as the planned, power generation and desalination facilities. This paper
summarizes the final results of the marine environmental impact assessment, including the results of the
hydraulic surveys and modeling studies.

Keywords: environmental assessment, power generation, seawater, desalination

Introduction water in Kuwait has been discussed by Darwish

et al. (2008). Electrical power generation and wa-
The population of Kuwait is now around ter desalination in Kuwait is now done at co-
2.6 million, and it has been increasing at an an- generation power-desalination plants, where steam
nual rate of about 3.6% per year for the past five from turbines is used to desalinate water using a
years. This rapid increase in population has ere- multistage flash distillation (MSF) process. Most
ated a corresponding increase in the demand for of the fuel consumed by these plants consists of
electricity and water. The demand for both power heavy oil and crude oil. The use of gas turbines in
and desalinated water is forecast to increase at ap- combined-cycle gas-turbine power and desalination
proximately 5 to 6% per annum for the next 10 plants could promote a significant increase in en-
years. The need for more energy-efficient means ergy efficiency; in addition, the use of natural gas
of production and consumption of electricity and in place of crude oil as a fuel source for power

50
Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 15(Sl):50-55, 2012. Copyright © 2012 AEHMS. ISSN: 1463-4988 print / 1539-4077 online
DOI : 10.1080/14634988.2012.667336
 Al-Dousari et al. /Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 15 (2012) 50-55
generation results in less air pollution and helps to
conserve Kuwait's oil resources. Kuwait's Ministry
of Electricity and Water (MEW) has accordingly
made plans to construct two new large-capacity gas-
fueled plants at Shuaiba North and Subiya.
The proposed power plants at both Shuaiba and
Subiya will be constructed at sites where there
are existing power plants, with intake and outfall
structures (Figure 1). In Shuaiba, the proposed site
of the new plant is the decommissioned Shuaiba
North Thermal and Gas-Turbine Power Station,
located within the existing Shuaiba Area Authority
Industrial Complex, about 50 km south of Kuwait
City. In Subiya, the proposed site of the new
combined-cycle gas-turbine power station is within
the existing Subiya Power Station (SPS), which is
about 100 km north of Kuwait City. At the Shuaiba
site, new intake and outfall structures will be
constructed at the approximate locations of similar
structures that existed prior to the decommissioning
of the power station that formerly occupied the
site. At the Subiya site, the proposed design of the
plant may use existing seawater intake and outfall
structures. Therefore, land use at both sites will not
change as drastically as it would have if the sites had
been previously undeveloped. Shuaiba is a heavily
industrial area where the impact of the construction
and operation of the new plant will be relatively
small compared to ongoing industrial activities.
Methodology
The major objectives of this study were as fol-
lows: to assess the existing baseline conditions of
and potential environmental impacts on the local
marine environment, with emphasis on water and
sediment quality as well as benthic ecology; and to
provide recommendations on design specifications
and mitigation measures, in order to minimize po-
tential environmental impacts ofthe proposed power
and desalination plant developments.
The specific objectives of this study were as fol-
lows: to demonstrate that the proposed development
projects meet all local, national, and international
regulations and guidelines pertaining to the envi-
ronment; to ensure that this environmental impact
assessment (ElA) and the proposed developments
are compliant with the regulations of Kuwait's EPA,
so that the MEW can obtain the necessary permits to
construct and operate the new power stations in ac-
cordance with all existing and proposed regulations,
orders, and legislations; to ensure that this EIA and
51
the proposed developments are acceptable to inter-
national lending institutions; to enable the MEW to
obtain necessary funding for construction and oper-
ation ofthe new power stations in accordance with
all existing and proposed international regulations,
orders, and legislation; to ensure comprehensive
understanding of the coastal biotopes that are
likely to be impacted by the new plants' seawater
intakes and effluents (i.e. heat, brine, and pollutant
discharges); to recommend mitigation measures
to be followed during construction and operation
of the new plants; and to ensure that the locations
selected for seawater intakes and outfall channels
have the least environmental impact. The proposed
plants will be constructed in accordance with
the findings of this study, which was prepared in
accordance with Law 210/2001 regarding Kuwait's
EPA and the policies and guidelines of the World
Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
The approach followed to obtain the necessary
information involved three phases:
1. Data-gathering, including literature survey,
previous studies conducted by the Kuwait
Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and
others, documents from Kuwait's MEW,
and personal communications; field surveys,
including a hydraulic survey of water levels,
currents, and other hydrodynamic parame-
ters, and environmental quality surveys of
the water, sediment, and marine ecology; and
laboratory analyses of water and sediment
samples for detailed characterizations of the
baseline condition of nutrients, pollutants,
and marine ecology.
2. Numerical hydraulic modeling, using the
RM A-10 code (produced by Resource Model-
ing Associates, Suisun, California, USA) for
both project locations, inputting field survey
data for calibration and validation; and as-
sessment of a variety of model scenarios for
plant intake and outfall discharges, weather
conditions, and intake designs.
3. Data and model result integration, includ-
ing synthesis of baseline data and assess-
ment of baseline environmental quality at the
two project locations; synthesis of numeri-
cal modeling results and assessment of likely
environmental impacts of the two projects
on their respective local marine environ-
ments; and documentation of all EIA results
in the form of a final environmental impact
statement.
52 Al-Dousari et al. /Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 15 (2012) 50-55

Figure 1. Location map showing Shuaiba and Subiya areas where planned facilities are to be constructed. Insets show expanded
satellite views of existing development at these sites.

Results and Discussion the design of the outfalls promotes re-oxygenation

Impact on water quality
Dissolved oxygen
The concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in
seawater is controlled mainly by temperature, and it
decreases with increasing temperature. Therefore,
when seawater is heated it loses some of its DO. In
MSF plants, the seawater is completely de-aerated,
losing all of its oxygen, but the residual seawater
is normally mixed with cooling water before dis-
charge. Outfall water from power and distillation
plants is thus somewhat depleted of DO, even though
by turbulent mixing with air. If oxygen scavengers
such as sodium bisulfite (SBS) are added to the
intake water to prevent corrosion, then additional
oxygen loss may be evident. Measured DO concen-
trations in the seawater in the Shuaiba and Subiya
areas during field surveys of water quality taken in
2008 were all above the EPA water-quality standard
of 4 mg 1~'
pH
Normal operations of a power-desalination plant
should not affect the pH of seawater significantly
(Altayaran and Madany, 1992). The only time that
 Al-Dousari et al. /Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 15 (2012) 50-55
pH values may decline to unacceptable values (be-
low Kuwait's EPA recommended range of 6.5 to 8.5)
is during acid cleaning of distillers to remove cal-
cium carbonate scale. It is suggested that when such
cleaning is performed, it be done in small sections,
and the acidic cleaning waste be greatly diluted with
cooling water during discharge. The natural buffer-
ing capacity of the carbonate system in seawater
should be able to neutralize the acidity ofthe clean-
ing waste.
Chlorine and other additives
Chlorine (as CI2 gas or hypochlorite solution)
is added continuously to seawater at the intake of
power plants to act as a biocide to reduce biofoul-
ing. The Kuwait's EPA recommended limit for Cl
concentration in discharge water is 0.5 mg 1~'. The
practice at the existing SPS is to maintain the Cl
concentration at 0.2 mg 1"' in the intake water and
to monitor its concentration at the outfall. The Cl
concentration at the outfall of the existing Subiya
Power Station is 0.05 mg 1"' or less. Therefore, if
the Cl at the intake does not exceed 0.5 mg 1~', the
discharge water ofthe proposed plants is not likely
to exceed the Kuwait's EPA recommended limit.
Although the ehlorine concentration is low,
the total amount discharged is large (e.g. about
2,000 kg d~') because of the high volume of
seawater used for plant operations. It is important to
minimize the usage of chlorine, because chlorine is
highly toxic to marine organisms, and because it can
react with natural organic matter to form carcino-
genic trihalomethanes and with petroleum compo-
nents to form chloroaromatics such as chlorophe-
nols and chlorobenzenes (Saeed et al., 1999). It is
suggested that the experienee with chlorine usage
by existing plants be reviewed to determine the min-
imum amounts of Cl that are effective in preventing
biofouling, so that the proposed plants can plan to
minimize their use of Cl. According to Lattemann
and Höpner (2003), intermittent shocking is com-
monly performed daily, in which much higher con-
centrations of Cl (up to 8 mg 1~') are used to control
regrowth of bacteria. So, there will be occasional
pulses of high-Cl discharge. This could be harmful
to the local marine ecosystem. The impact of these
high-Cl wastewaters can be mitigated by mixing
them with low-Cl cooling water before discharge.
Other additives commonly used in power-
desalination plants include polymer-based
antisealants and polyethylene glycol as an antifoam-
ing agent. Although polyethylene glycol is readily
biodegradable and does not pose a significant haz-
53
ard, the antiscalants are less biodegradable and have
metal-complexing tendencies similar to natural
humic substances; therefore, they could influence
metal solubility and transport in the marine environ-
ment (Lattemanrt and Höpner, 2003). At this time,
no specific information on which antiscaling and
antifoaming agents or other additives, if any, will be
used in the proposed plants at Shuaiba and Subiya.
Heavy metals (corrosion products)
Heavy metals are added to the discharge wa-
ter at power-desalination plants through the slow
but inevitable corrosion of pipes and heat exchang-
ers. Heat exchangers are typically constructed of
Cu-Ni alloys, and some other components of the
plants are constructed of stainless steel which can
release Fe, Cr, Ni and Mo during corrosion. Higher
amounts of heavy metals may be released during an-
tiscaling procedures using acids. Surveys of power-
desalination plant discharges, seawater near these
plants, marine life, and sediment transects show that
the amounts of heavy metal contamination that can
be attributed to power-desalination plant operations
is apparently minimal (Abdel-Moati and Kureishi,
1997; Bou-Hamad et al., 1997). Most ofthe heavy
metal load associated with industrial sources ends
up in the sediment column, where it may have lim-
ited bioavailability (Khordagui, 2002).
Impact on sediment quality
Physical and chemical characterizations of bot-
tom sediments from the Shuaiba and Subiya areas
were performed as part of this EIA. There were no
clear indications in this data set of an impact from
the existing power-desalination plants on sediment
quality. The distribution of petroleum hydrocarbons
and heavy metals appeared to reflect the impact of
other industrial and shipping activities in the study
areas. The major sediment-related issue pertaining
to the power plants is sediment deposition around
the intake of the SPS, which requires continuous
dredging to maintain an open intake channel. This
dredging activity disturbs sediments and increases
the turbidity of the water column, as well as in-
terfering with normal sediment transport by tidal
currents and wave action. In comparison, little sedi-
ment transport occurs at the Shuaiba site because of
its protected location adjacent to the Shuaiba harbor.
Impact on marine ecology
The impact of power-desalination plants on the
marine ecosystems ofthe Gulf has been reviewed
54 Al-Dousari et al. /Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 15 (2012) 5t)-55
recently by Khan et al. (2002) and Abuzinada et al.
(2008). Even though there is a good amount of in-
formation in the literature, understanding of the im-
pacts of pollution on Gulf ecosystems remains in-
complete. Specific criteria regarding the impact of
impingement and entrainment in seawater intakes,
as well as thermal pollution, biocides, and heavy
metals in outfalls, on marine life have been devel-
oped in a number of studies; these are reviewed here
for the most important pollutants known to be asso-
ciated with power-desalination plants in Kuwait.
Impingement and entrainment in seawater
intakes
Seawater is used in large amounts for cooling
and steam generation in power-desalination plants.
It is practically impossible to prevent fish and
macroinvertebrates (e.g. shrimp) from being im-
pinged on the 10-cm screening racks and 1-cm
moving screens, and consequently being removed
from the ecosystem permanently. Likewise, smaller
planktonic organisms entrained into the seawater
that circulates through the power-desalination plant
will be mostly destroyed by chlorination and thermal
shock. These effects will have the overall impact of
reducing biomass, productivity, and species popu-
lations and diversity in the vicinity of the power-
desalination plant. Some of the most abundant fish
species in the territorial waters of Kuwait, such as
the zobaidy, suboor, maid, and beyah, are found pri-
marily in the northern waters including the waters
around Bubiyan and Failaka Islands. The suboor, an
anadromous species {Tenualoso ilisha) that moves
from saltwater to freshwater to complete its life cy-
cle, travels up the Khor Al-Subiya past the seawater
intake for the SPS. It is likely that there will be loss
of suboor to this intake, along with shrimp and other
species.
Thermal pollution
Hydrodynamic models, discussed previously,
showed that the temperature of seawater in the vicin-
ity of the outfalls of the proposed plants at Shuaiba
and Subiya will increase by as much as 10°C or
more, depending on operating conditions. The nor-
mal temperature of the Gulf waters around Kuwait
ranges from about 15 to 35°C (Al-Yamani et al.,
2004). According to Shams El-Din et al. (1994), the
critical temperature is 39°C, above which a sharp
decline in biological activity is observed in Gulf
waters. Therefore, during summer operations, there
are times when temperatures >39°C are likely to
occur in the vicinity of the outfalls at Shuaiba and
Subiya. A simple way to mitigate this problem is to
increase the intake of water by the plant temporarily
when outfall temperatures are likely to exceed 39°C.
This will dilute the excess heat with relatively cooler
seawater. The same approach can be applied during
winter operations, when hydrodynamic models pre-
dict outfall temperatures > 10°C above ambient for
the Shuaiba plant at times.
Chemical pollution
A comprehensive review of the types and
amounts of chemical pollution associated with de-
salination plants in the Gulf region has been pre-
sented by Lattemann and Höpner (2003). These
authors identified chlorine and copper as the two
pollutants of major concern in terms of their total
loads and potential detrimental effects on the ma-
rine ecosystems. An example cited in their study is
the Doha West Power-Desalination Plant that has an
outfall located in the intertidal flat of Sulaibekhat
Bay. The Doha West plant has a daily seawater in-
take of about 10.5 million m^, which is treated with
about 26,000 kg of chlorine. About 10% of this
chlorine (2,500 kg d~') remains in the discharge to
Sulaibekhat Bay. Even though the residual chlorine
is rapidly degraded in the environment by expo-
sure to sunshine (~90% degradation in 45 min),
there is enough residual chlorine to pose substantial
danger to marine organisms, especially during in-
coming tides that increase the residence times of
pollutants in the Bay. The seawater intake feed-
water at Doha West is treated to maintain a chlo-
rine concentration of about 2.5 mg T'. Assuming
that only 10% of this chlorine remains in the out-
fall water, then the residual concentration is about
0.25 mg 1"'. This is much higher than chlorine lev-
els that are known to be harmful or lethal to some
marine organisms. Such chlorine concentrations are
likely to result in decreased phytoplankton produc-
tivity as well as a shift in species composition. When
chlorine concentrations are higher during shock and
cleaning treatments, even greater environmental ef-
fects are likely. Fish species can sense chlorine and
respond by swimming to chlorine-free waters, but
small planktonic organisms cannot avoid being ex-
posed to chlorine if they drift into the vicinity of the
outfall.
Not only is chlorine directly toxic to marine
ecosystems, but it reacts with bromide in seawater
to form hypobromous acid, as follows:
HOCI -h Br" HOBr-hCl"
 Al-Dousari et al. /Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 15 (2012) 50-55
The hypobromous acid then reacts to produce
halomethanes such as bromoform that, although
below acute toxicity levels (AH and Riley, 1986;
Saeed et al., 1999), can be toxic or carcinogenic
to marine organisms through chronic exposure. The
reproductive tissues and juvenile forms of marine
organisms are particularly sensitive to exposure to
trihalomethanes. In addition, such compounds can
be persistent in seawater and the potential exists
for them to become pollutants in the drinking water
produced by desalination plants, which could pose
a serious threat to public health.
Other than chlorine, the chemical pollutant found
to be of greatest concern is copper (Lattemann and
Höpner, 2003). Copper is the main component of
Cu-Ni alloys used in heat exchangers in desalina-
tion plants, and there is a typical corrosion rate of
0.025 mm y*"' which contributes a steady dose of
Cu to the seawater discharge. A range of 0.005 to
0.033 mg 1~' Cu is estimated for the discharge con-
centration (Oldfield and Todd, 1996), which exceeds
the US-EPA's water-quality criterion for short term
exposure to Cu (0.0048 mg I"'). During cleaning
procedures when acid is used for scale removal, Cu
concentrations in discharges are likely to be several
times higher, perhaps up to 0.1 mg 1"' or more.
Such concentrations can be toxic to marine organ-
isms, but the level of toxicity is moderated by natural
processes that may change the chemical speciation
of Cu, causing it to be present in nonbioavailable
complexes or to precipitate as insoluble minerals. In
addition, Cu is an essential nutrient at low concen-
trations. It may accumulate in biological tissues and
become bioaccumulated at higher levels of the food
chain, thus becoming hazardous for larger organ-
isms. The cumulative effect of a continuous increase
in the Cu load on a marine ecosystem is not known.
Lattemann and Höpner (2003) estimate that 30 g
of Cu is added to the marine ecosystem with every
1,000 m^ of seawater used in a power-desalination
plant. Similar quantities of other metals such as Fe,
Cr, Ni, Mn, and Mo are also likely to be released
to the marine environoment, but little data on the
concentrations of these metals in plant discharges is
available at present.
Conclusions
This overall marine environmental impact as-
sessment of two new power-desalination stations in
Kuwait identified potential negative impacts, espe-
55
cially in terms of biology and ecology, at each of
the sites. Recommendations are given here for mit-
igating and monitoring the most negative potential
impacts on the environment. There were positive
changes identified in terms of social and cultural
impacts; in particular, a highly positive change in
the quality of life comes with the more reliable
and abundant supplies of energy and potable water
that will be created by the new power-desalination
plants.
References
Abdel-Moati, M., Kureishi, T., 1997. Dissolved cadmium, cop-
per, and lead in the coastal waters of Qatar, Arabian Gulf
Indian Journal of Marine Sciences 26, 143-149.
Abuzinada, A.H., Barth, H.-J., Krupp, F., Böer, B., Al-
Abdessalaam, T.Z., (Eds.), 2008. Protecting the Gulfs Ma-
rine Ecosystems from Pollution. Basel, Birkhäuser.
Ali, M.Y., Riley, J.P., 1986. The distribution of halomethanes in
the coastal waters of Kuwait. Marine Pollution Bulletin 17,
409-414.
Al-Yamani, F.Y., Bishop, J., Ramadhan, E., Al-Husaini, M., Al-
Ghadban, A.N., 2004. Océanographie Atlas of Kuwait's Wa-
ters. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Altayaran, A., Madany, I., 1992. Impact of a desalination plant
on the physical and chemical properties of seawater, Bahrain.
Water Research 26, 435^41.
Bou-Hamad, S., Abdel-Jawad, M., Ebrahim, S., Al-Mansour, M.,
Al-Hijji, A., 1997. Performance evaluation of three different
pretreatment systems for seawater reverse osmosis technique.
Desalination 110,85-92.
Darwish, M., Al-Awadhi, RM., Darwish, A.M., 2008. Energy
and water in Kuwait, Part 1. A sustainability viewpoint.
Desalination 225, 341-355.
Khan, N.Y., Munawar, M., Price, A.R. G., (Eds.), (2002. The
Gulf Ecosystem: Health and Sustainability. Kuwait Institute
for Scientific Research, Kuwait, and Backhuys Publishers,
Leiden.
Khordagui, H., 2002. Power and desalination plants. In: N.Y.
Khan, M. Munawar and A.R.G. Price (Eds.), 771? Gulf
Ecosystem: Health and Sustainability, pp. 173-191. Kuwait
Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait and Backhuys
Publishers, Leiden.
Lattemann, S., Höpner, T., 2003. Seawater Desalination: Impact
of Brine and Chemical Discharge on Marine Environment.
Balaban Desalination Publications, L'Aquila, Italy.
Oldfield, A., Todd, B., 1996. Environmental aspects of corrosion
in MSF and RO desalination plants. Desalination 108,27-36.
Saeed, M., Khordagui, H., Al-Hashash, H., 1999. Contribution of
power/desalination plants to the levels of halogenated volatile
liquid hydrocarbons in the coastal areas of Kuwait. Desalina-
tion 121,49-63.
Shams, El Din, A., Aziz, S., Makkawi, B., 1994. Electricity and
water production in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and its impact
on the environment. Desalination 97, 373-388.
Copyright of Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content
may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express
written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.