Latest news with #Ve
Arab News
23-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Veolia puts Gulf region at the forefront of desalination innovation
MUSCAT: Desalination is fast becoming a cornerstone of global water resilience — and at the heart of this transformation is Veolia, a global leader in water technologies. With operations spanning continents, the company is placing the Gulf region at the center of its innovation strategy. 'Gulf countries, and particularly Oman, are now our global centre for desalination innovation,' said Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia. 'What we're building here represents global excellence, underpinned by continuous technological evolution,' she told *Arab News en français. Scaling solutions Veolia currently operates more than 2,300 desalination facilities across 108 countries, representing 18 percent of the world's installed capacity. As global demand soars, the company plans to double its output — from 1.4 to 2.8 billion cubic meters per year by 2030 — in a market expected to exceed 40 billion liters per day by decade's end. Recent projects, including Hassyan and Mirfa 2 in the UAE, underscore this momentum. A major facility is also in development in Rabat, Morocco. Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, where daily desalination needs often top 600 million liters, Veolia is enabling a shift toward membrane-based systems tailored for scale, efficiency, and sustainability. From solar-powered plants to AI-optimized membrane systems, Veolia continues to pioneer technologies like its patented Barrel™ modular system — highlighting the company's commitment to high-performance innovation. Veolia leads globally in desalination, operating over 2,300 sites in 108 countries and aiming to double output by 2030. Energy efficiency in desalination has improved dramatically, with power use down 85 percent since the early 2000s and water costs dropping from $5 to under $0.50 per cubic meter. Veolia's future-focused approach blends innovation, affordability, and environmental stewardship, reinforcing its global leadership in water technologies. Breaking the myths A key part of Veolia's success has been challenging outdated perceptions around desalination. "We've broken all the old myths about desalination, one by one,' said Brachlianoff. Energy consumption, once a major drawback, has dropped by over 85 percent since the early 2000s due to next-generation membranes and energy recovery technologies. Production costs have fallen from $5 to less than $0.50 per cubic meter, making desalinated water a viable option for municipalities and mid-sized industries alike. Veolia's new solutions are now also being deployed in sectors such as mining, refining, and even data centers. Projects in Sur, Oman, feature solar integration, while others introduce advanced brine discharge control systems, raising environmental standards across the board. Gulf countries as living laboratories Veolia's work in Oman supports the country's Vision 2040, particularly its renewable energy goals. 'We're directly contributing to the goal of achieving 30% renewable energy in the national mix,' said Erwan Rouxel, CEO of Veolia Oman. A solar plant already provides over a third of the Sur facility's power needs. The company is also investing in landfill gas-to-energy projects. Crucially, Oman also serves as a hub for workforce development, with 75 percent of Veolia Oman's staff being local nationals. 'Our Omanization efforts are crucial, not only for business continuity but also for creating shared value with the communities we serve,' Rouxel added. In Saudi Arabia, Veolia is helping the country transition from thermal desalination to more efficient membrane-based processes. 'The country is shifting from thermal desalination to membrane-based desalination, particularly reverse osmosis,' said Adrien de Saint Germain, CEO of Veolia's Water Technologies division. 'And these aren't small projects — some exceed 500 to 600 million liters per day. What matters now is how we optimize the entire environment around the membranes.' He emphasized that Veolia's approach involves more than technology — it is also about building long-term partnerships through cost-effective design and strategic delivery. 'What makes Saudi projects unique is their multi-year horizon and scale. We can plan strategically and deliver consistently,' he said. Moroccan innovation in the Atlantic While the Gulf drives growth in volume, Morocco is offering innovation on a different front — the Atlantic. 'In Morocco, we're working with Atlantic seawater, which involves very different parameters: lower temperatures, different algae risks,' explained Anne Le Guennec, Senior EVP of Water Technologies. 'But it's the same scale: 800,000 cubic meters per day, just like Hassyan in Dubai.' Regional expertise plays a critical role in success, she noted. 'From red algae to changing water quality, we know this region. And we work with strong local partners who can respond quickly and deploy workforce on a large scale,' she added. Toward atomic-level filtration Looking ahead, Veolia is pushing the boundaries of water purification for specialized industries. 'We're currently developing solutions using ion-exchange resins,' Le Guennec revealed. 'We're talking atomic-level filtration, separating specific ions. This is where we'll meet the ultrapure water needs for industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductor manufacturing.' This next-generation technology is also feeding into global projects, including the 'water of the future' initiative in Paris, where Middle Eastern expertise will help deliver water free of micropollutants by 2027. Long-term vision and global impact For CEO Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia's strategy is defined by continuous innovation, cost-effectiveness, and environmental responsibility. 'Our ambition is clear: to maintain our global leadership in desalination by continuing to evolve, innovate, and provide the most cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions on the market,' she said. As water scarcity intensifies worldwide, Veolia is not merely adapting — it is setting the standard.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge considers holding Trump officials in contempt for defying court orders blocking El Salvador flights
Lawyers for Donald Trump's administration are refusing to answer who gave the order to ignore a federal judge's ruling that blocked the government from deporting dozens of immigrants under the president's use of the Alien Enemies act. District Judge James Boasberg grilled government lawyers at a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to determine whether the government intentionally defied his court orders to turn planes around before they were emptied out into a notorious prison in El Salvador last month. The administration appeared to be acting in 'bad faith' after his court orders, Boasberg said. 'If you believed everything you did was legal, I can't believe you would have operated the way you did that day,' he said. Deputy assistant attorney general Drew Ensign repeatedly said his conversations with administration officials about Boasberg's orders were subject to attorney-client privilege. Ensign said he messaged officials at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security as well as the Department of Justice, believing the judge's orders 'would be circulated to the relevant people.' 'Who made the decision' to continue with the flights, Boasberg asked. 'I don't know,' Ensign replied. 'You really don't know? I'm interested in finding that out,' Boasberg said. 'If I find there's probable cause for contempt ... then there's a good chance we'll have hearings,' he added. 'I will review the material and issue an order and I will determine if I have found that probable cause exists to believe that contempt has occurred, and if so, how to proceed from there.' The judge also noted the case of a wrongly deported Salvadoran man, who was among dozens of immigrants on planes bound for El Salvador, to suggest that the administration rushed their removal to evade the court's scrutiny. Boasberg also noted eight women and one Nicaraguan man were returned to the United States after the Salvadoran government refused them, arguing that the Trump administration operationally could have brought people back if it wanted to. The Trump administration is also refusing to answer questions about the flights under a 'state secrets privilege' to prevent the release of evidence that could compromise national security. Ensign said the State Department fears 'diplomatic consequences.' Flights were in the air on March 15 when Boasberg ordered the administration to turn the planes around after a lawsuit from the ACLU challenging their clients' removal. The judge wants to know when government lawyers relayed his verbal and written orders to administration officials and who, if anyone, gave the flights a greenlight despite the orders. While Boasberg is weighing the possibility of sanctions against the administration, government lawyers are calling on the Supreme Court to allow Trump to resume removing immigrants from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old wartime law invoked for the fourth time in U.S. history to target alleged member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. 'This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country,' according to the administration's filing with the nation's highest court last week. 'The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President. The republic cannot afford a different choice,' the petition states. The request follows a federal appeals court's rejection of the president's attempt to throw out Boasberg's ruling that is temporarily blocking the administration from deporting immigrants under the act. Trump's proclamation states that 'all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of [Tren de Aragua], are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.' But the administration has since admitted in court filings that 'many' of the people sent to El Salvador did not have criminal records, and attorneys and family members say their clients and relatives — some of whom were in the country with legal permission and have upcoming court hearings on their asylum claims — have nothing to do with Tren de Aragua.
The Hill
25-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump administration invokes state secrets privilege in deportation flights case
The Trump administration invoked the state secrets privilege late Monday in its court battle over its use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, again refusing to provide more details about the flights to a judge. The invocation deems details about the flights a state secret – seeking to limit information to U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who has vowed to 'get to the bottom' of whether the Trump administration violated his order to turn around or halt the flights. 'The Court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it. Further intrusions on the Executive Branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the Court lacks competence to address,' the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote in its filing. It adds that invoking the privilege will stop Boasberg from 'colliding with the executive.' The move comes as Boasberg has called for a review of flight information in his chambers – something the Trump administration wrote Boasberg should drop in the wake of its invocation, citing 'the utter lack of 'need' for the information the Court seeks.' In its filing, the Trump administration again asserted that it complied with a 7:27 p.m. written order from Boasberg on March 15. But Boasberg gave an oral order that day at approximately 6:45 p.m. that 'any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.' Both oral and written orders are binding. The Trump administration continues to sidestep questions over whether it compiled with the oral order, saying only that it complied with the written one. 'In any event, the government has already confirmed that 'two flights carrying aliens being removed under the AEA departed U.S. airspace before the Court's minute order of 7:25 PM EDT,'' DOJ wrote Monday, using an abbreviation for Alien Enemies Act. The American Civil Liberties Union has questioned whether the government complied with the order, noting that flight information shared with it by the Justice Department indicated flights left at 5:26 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., suggesting they could have been turned around, as directed. The group argues the Trump administration would have been able to comply with the order up until the moment the more than 200 Venezuelans were turned over to authorities in El Salvador, where they remain imprisoned. The Trump administration has repeatedly rebuffed Boasberg's requests for information with a DOJ attorney in court at one point telling the judge that he was 'not authorized' to give details about the flights. The Trump administration has appealed an earlier order from Boasberg temporarily blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act, appearing before the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals Monday. The act allows for the deportation of migrants from an 'enemy nation,' and Trump invoked the wartime power to remove any Venezuelan the administration deems to be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang. During the hearing, the Trump administration was taken to task for deporting the Venezuelans without giving them the opportunity to contest gang membership. 'There were planeloads of people. There were no procedures in place to notify people. Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than has happened here,' U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett said during the hearing. 'Y'all could have put me up on Saturday and thrown me on a plane, thinking I'm a member of Tren de Aragua and giving me no chance to protest it and say somehow it's a violation of presidential war powers,' the judge said. 'For me to say, 'Excuse me, no, I'm not, I'd like a hearing.''
