71 consortia express interest for Yanbu IWP project ahead of deadline
The project is being led by regional construction firm Acwa Power
Saudi’s Water & Electricity Company (WEC) has announced that 71 developer consortia have expressed interest in the independent water project (IWP) being set up in the Yanbu province. The last date for submitting expressions of interest was April 11.
The desalination plant will use reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination technology and will boast a potable water capacity of 450,000cu/m per day. The plant will take shape near the town of Ar Rayyis (140km west of Madinah), on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, while power for the project will come via the Kingdom’s high voltage network. The project is billed as a strategic one for the Saudi region.
The Yanbu Phase 4 Independent Water Project has several leading global industry experts in the advisory role, the WEC said in its statement.
According to the WEC, a number of global and local players are keen to deliver the project including SNC-Lavalin, French groups Suez International, Veolia Middle East and Engie and Spanish desalination project specialists Tecnicas Reunidas, Abengoa (Spain), in addition to Sumitomio and JGC Corporation (Japan), Bechtel (US), Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction (Korea), Fisia Italimpianti (Italy) Shanghai Electric Group (China) and two companies from India – Adani Infra (India) Limited and VA Tech Wabag.
The report also said that UAE’s Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Utico apart from Orascom Construction (Egypt), have expressed interest in the project, in addition to several others.
WEC officials said once the winning developer or developer consortium was selected, its scope of work will include development, financing, procurement, implementation, operation and maintenance of the desalination plant, together with associated infrastructure and facilities. The WEC will also sign a 25-year water purchase agreement, under which the consortium will sell the entire capacity and output of the plant to WEC.
