Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced that consortiums of Saudi utility group Aljomaih Energy & Water Company (with partners Nesma and Buhur for Investment Company) and Vision International Investment (with partner Abu Dhabi National Energy Company - Taqa) have emerged as the final bidders for a key Saudi water project with a 650,000 cu m/day capacity.

 

The Jubail-Buraydah Independent Water Transmission Pipeline (IWTP), which will run 587-km long, is being implemented on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis, said SWPC in a statement. 

 

The commercial operations for the project is expected to begin in Q1 2029.

 

SWPC had earlier announced that a total of 32 companies had expressed their interest in the project, of which 14 were Saudi firms.

 

These included Abdul Aziz Al Ajlan Sons; Abdullah Ibrahim Al Sayegh & Sons; AliShar Contracting Company; Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies; Al Sharif Group; Bin Omairah Contracting; Mowah; Mutlaq Al Ghowairi; Nesma and Vision International Invest Company.

 

Later following the prequalification bid process, the list got trimmed to 22 utility developers - including some of the top global players such as Spanish infrastructure major Cobra; Japan's Marubeni; Italy's Sicim; Hong Kong's CNIC Corporation as well as Chinese groups Harbour Engineering Company and Norinco.

 

In addition to these, a few regional firms including Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa); Kuwait's Gulf Investment Corporation and Bahrain-based energy investment company Lamar Holding also joined the fray for the Jubail-Buraydah IWTP project.

 

The project is part of the Saudi National Water Strategy (NWS 2030), which recognises the critical importance of ensuring sustainable development of the kingdom’s water resources while providing affordable high-quality services. 

 

According to SWPC, the winning bidder will provide the entire transmission capacity to SWPC under a water transmission agreement (WTA). The term of the WTA is expected to be up to 35 years. 

 

SWPC’s obligations under the WTA will be supported by a credit support agreement entered into by the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it added. - TradeArabia News Service