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• 
  Nuclear project may feature in Trump’s Riyadh visit

  10 March 2025

  

   

  Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear power plant project may feature in the planned visit of US President Donald Trump to Riyadh within the next six weeks, industry sources tell MEED.

  "I think the main agenda will be Russia, Ukraine and Middle East peace, but energy cooperation – such as the nuclear industry – could also be discussed," one source says.

  Trump has said he will likely visit Saudi Arabia on his first overseas trip within the next month and a half, as he did during his first term of office.

  Trump's first overseas trip of his first term was to Riyadh in 2017, to announce Saudi investments estimated at the time to be worth $350bn.

  His next visit is contingent upon the signing of deals with Riyadh for investments of more than $1tn in the US economy, according to reports.

  "I doubt whether the [Saudi] nuclear programme will be on the agenda, but one never knows," says another source familiar with Saudi Arabia's nuclear power plant project. "[Trump] may use the nuclear [project] as a deviation from the main agenda of the talks."

  Saudi Arabia is hosting talks between top US and Ukrainian diplomats this week regarding the potential of peace between Moscow and Kyiv. 

  Duwaiheen nuclear power plant

  Saudi Arabia restarted procurement proceedings for its first large-scale nuclear power plant project in Duwaiheen in 2022.

  The bid deadline for the main contract to build the project, which will be located close to the border with Qatar, has been extended several times.

  The ongoing conflict between Israel, Gaza and other neighbouring countries appears to have contributed to the extended procurement timeline of the Duwaiheen nuclear plant project.

  It is understood that Riyadh is using its nuclear power plant project, along with its plan to enrich uranium sources as part of its industrial strategy, as a bargaining chip with the US government. The White House is pushing for the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and is opposed to uranium enrichment.

  A month before the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas started, it was reported that senior Palestinian officials were in Riyadh for talks with senior Saudi and US officials. According to a BBC report in September 2023, the Palestinians were negotiating for hundreds of millions of dollars and more control of land in the occupied West Bank in the event of a three-way deal between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US.

  On 14 October 2023, Saudi Arabia suspended the talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel, which it has never officially recognised as an independent state.

  Westinghouse-Kepco dispute resolution

  In January, US-headquartered Westinghouse Electric Company resolved its long-running intellectual property dispute with Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP).

  Westinghouse initiated legal action in the US in 2022 to block Kepco and KHNP from distributing without permission nuclear technology for which it claimed ownership rights.

  Westinghouse’s argument was based on the claim that the Korean nuclear reactor model APR1400 relied on the firm's original design and technology, and that the two South Korean companies should be responsible for any damages resulting from the export of APR1400-modelled nuclear reactors.

  In response, KHNP filed countersuits in the US to compel Westinghouse to withdraw the case, while simultaneously seeking an out-of-court resolution.

  KHNP asserted that it possessed the necessary licences to use the technology, enabling the firm to export it without Westinghouse’s permission. KHNP argued that it should not be held accountable for royalty payments.

  Both Kepco and Westinghouse expressed interest in developing Saudi Arabia’s first large-scale nuclear power plant in Duwaiheen, although Westinghouse has since dropped out of the race, according to sources.

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  READ THE MARCH MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – clck here to view PDF

  Chinese contractors win record market share; Cairo grapples with political and fiscal challenges; Stronger upstream project spending beckons in 2025

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA 1: Chinese firms dominate region’s projects market > AGENDA 2: China construction at pivotal juncture > LIBYA: Uncertainty and instability damage Libyan oil sector optimism > UPSTREAM 1: Offshore oil and gas sees steady capex > UPSTREAM 2: Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance > BAPCO: Bahrain to benefit from $7bn project by year’s end > MASDAR: Masdar meets renewable’s moonshot challenge > DIRIYAH: Diriyah CEO sets the record straight > SAUDI POWER: Saudi power projects hit record high > AUTOMOTIVE: Saudi Arabia gears up to lead Gulf’s automotive sector > EGYPT: Egypt battles structural issues > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf hits six-month growth streak > CONTRACT AWARDS: High-value deals signed in power and industrial sectors > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: Trump’s foreign policy shakes global relations

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Saudi power sector enters busiest year

  10 March 2025

  

   

  Contracts worth more than $90bn are under execution in Saudi Arabia’s power sector, making 2025 the busiest year ever for generation and transmission capacity buildout in the kingdom.

  The construction of conventional and renewable power generation plants accounts for two-thirds, or 66%, of the contracts under execution, while transmission and distribution projects account for the rest, based on the latest available data from regional project tracker MEED Projects.

  In addition to gas-fired and renewable energy generation plant projects, the kingdom has awarded several contracts in the past two years to modernise and expand its domestic grids in light of the solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power plants, and industrial complexes, which are being built in remote areas – as well as Riyadh's plan to trade electricity beyond the kingdom's GCC partners and with countries such as Egypt.

  In the past 12 months, the kingdom also awarded the first contracts to build on-grid battery energy storage system (bess) facilities, in line with fostering greater grid flexibility and countering the intermittency of renewable power.

  “It has been a very, very busy year, despite some projects – particularly those catering to Neom – being re-scoped,” notes a Dubai-based senior executive with a transaction advisory firm.

  The $500bn Neom gigaproject in southwestern Saudi Arabia aims to be powered 100% by renewable energy, which it initially expected to generate independently.

  However, ongoing discussions are understood to include an option to meet future demand through renewable power sourced from the grid.

  Overall, combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) projects – procured on either an independent power project (IPP) or engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model – account for 56% of the total power generation contracts under execution in Saudi Arabia, with solar and wind accounting for the remaining 44%.

  The principal buyer, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), awarded contracts for two pairs of CCGT plants – projects one and two of the Rumah and Nairiyah schemes – last year.

  SPPC also signed the offtake agreements for four solar PV IPPs, which were tendered under the fifth round of the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP). These were contracts for the 2GW Al-Sadawi, 1.25GW Al-Masaa, 500MW Al-Henakiyah 2 and 300MW Rabigh 2 solar IPPs.

  An EPC contract for a high-voltage, direct current transmission network connecting the kingdom’s central and southern electricity grids was also one of the largest deals signed last year in the kingdom.

  In the second half of 2024, the developer arm of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) selected the preferred bidders for several greenfield CCGT expansion plants: Ghazlan 1 and 2, Riyadh PP12 and Marjan.

  SEC subsidiary National Grid also awarded the second phase of its bess projects that are being procured on an EPC basis to local firm AlGihaz Holding last year. The three battery energy storage facilities, each with a capacity of 800MW, or about 2,600 megawatt-hours, are to be located in Najran, Khamis Mushait and Madaya.

  The extent of work on hand is exerting pressure on contractor capacity, according to some experts.

  "I think the Chinese EPC contractors are already at capacity, so SEC has started tapping Egyptian and Spanish EPC contractors," an industry source told MEED, referring to Tecnicas Reunidas, Orascom and Elsewedy, which are understood to have been selected last year to undertake the EPC contracts for several CCGT plants that SEC is developing.

  South Korean EPC contractors are also executing several cogeneration and generation power plants in the kingdom.

  Outlook

  The need to expand, connect and stabilise the kingdom’s electricity grid will be a primary preoccupation for Saudi utility stakeholders in the short to medium term.

  This is crucial given the large capacity of renewable energy power generation plants that are scheduled to come on stream, and as the kingdom deploys new gas-fired plants in line with its need to displace liquid fuel in some of its ageing fleet.

  Oil fuel still accounted for 36% of Saudi Arabia's total electricity generation in 2023, at 422.9 terawatt-hours, according to the Energy Institute.

  Data from MEED Projects suggests that at least $68bn-worth of power generation and transmission contracts are in the pre-execution phase as of March 2025.

  Clean energy fuel-powered plants, using solar, wind, hydro and nuclear, dominate the $47bn-worth of planned power generation units, with thermal plants accounting for just 13% of the total.

  This signals a shift to clean energy, despite the overall figure excluding a significant volume of renewable energy projects that are still in the concept stage. This is in line with a plan by the Energy Ministry to procure up to 20GW of renewable energy capacity annually until 2030, subject to demand growth.

  Planned transmission and distribution projects, including several independent battery energy storage projects, together account for about $21bn of contracts that have yet to be awarded.

  Local developers

  Local companies are increasingly visible in the procurement proceedings for new power generation and transmission plants in the kingdom.

  The decisions made by several European and Japanese developers to retreat from thermal power plant tenders that do not offer a clear carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) path – which would be necessary for them to meet their 2045 or 2050 net-zero targets – has contributed to this trend.

  The exclusion of dominant utility developer Acwa Power in the prequalification process for the NREP’s fifth and sixth procurement rounds has also opened up opportunities for other international and local developers that are keen to win more contracts in Saudi Arabia.

  Aljomaih Energy & Water, Ajlan & Brothers, Alfanar, Algihaz and SEC’s developer arm have been pursuing new contracts, usually in cooperation with an international developer.

  Battery energy storage

  Large-scale solar PV projects and limited wind capacity in the kingdom create a major market for battery energy storage going forwards.

  Independent battery energy storage projects, in particular, offer neutral opportunities for both international and local developers, and are expected to attract more bidders compared to conventional thermal or standalone solar PV projects.

  “We are definitely interested,” says a senior executive with a European utility developer, referring to the first phase of the kingdom’s independent storage provider (ISP) programme.

  In addition to its net-zero merits, the ISPs will follow the same model as an IPP project, where the successful bidders will hold 100% equity in the special purpose vehicles set up to develop and operate the project.

  While such strong interest is expected to benefit the principal buyer, which can expect to receive competitive prices from bidders, an over-competitive or crowded landscape could also be off-putting to developers and investors that are keen to maintain their internal rate of return, or which are shifting their global focus to other geographies.

  “We prefer to wait and see,” one source tells MEED, indicating that their company does not intend to participate in upcoming battery tenders, not only in Saudi Arabia but also in other GCC states.

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  US and Iran trade nuclear talk overtures

  10 March 2025

  Iran will only consider nuclear talks with the US if the objective of the negotiations is to address concerns on the militarisation of Iran's nuclear programme, the Islamic Republic's UN Mission said in a social media post on 9 March.

  "If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-a-vis any potential militarisation of Iran’s nuclear programme, such discussions may be subject to consideration," Iran's UN MIssion said on social media platform X. "However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme to claim that what [former US President Barack] Obama failed to achieve has now been accomplished, such negotiations will never take place."

  If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-à-vis any potential militarization of Iran’s nuclear program, such discussions may be subject to consideration. However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program to claim that what Obama…

  — I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) March 9, 2025

  The statement was issued two days after US President Donald Trump said he had offered Iran a chance to negotiate or risk its nuclear programme being targeted militarily.

  "There are two ways Iran can be handled – militarily, or you make a deal," Trump told Fox Business in an interview on 7 March. "I would prefer to make a deal, because I am not looking to hurt Iran."

  "I've written them a letter, saying I hope you're going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily it's going to be a terrible thing for them," Trump said.

  Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appeared to have responded indirectly to those comments on 8 March, saying Iran would not negotiate with "bullying governments" insisting on talks.

  2015 nuclear deal

  Under a landmark deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was struck in 2015, Iran agreed to mothball its Fordo nuclear plant and limit its enrichment of uranium to 3.67%, as part of a package of restrictions on its nuclear activities aimed at preventing it from covertly developing a nuclear weapon.

  In return for the restrictions, major powers including China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, the US and the EU agreed to relax the sanctions they had imposed on Iran’s nuclear programme.

  But the deal crumbled in 2018 during Trump's first term, as he pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed crippling economic sanctions.

  Iran has since reopened its Fordo plant and, in November 2022, said it had begun producing uranium enriched to 60% there, just below the level of purity needed for a nuclear weapon.

  Talks to revive the 2015 pact began in April 2021 but have stalled in recent years amid tensions between Iran and other parties to the deal.

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  READ THE MARCH MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – clck here to view PDF

  Chinese contractors win record market share; Cairo grapples with political and fiscal challenges; Stronger upstream project spending beckons in 2025

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA 1: Chinese firms dominate region’s projects market > AGENDA 2: China construction at pivotal juncture > LIBYA: Uncertainty and instability damage Libyan oil sector optimism > UPSTREAM 1: Offshore oil and gas sees steady capex > UPSTREAM 2: Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance > BAPCO: Bahrain to benefit from $7bn project by year’s end > MASDAR: Masdar meets renewable’s moonshot challenge > DIRIYAH: Diriyah CEO sets the record straight > SAUDI POWER: Saudi power projects hit record high > AUTOMOTIVE: Saudi Arabia gears up to lead Gulf’s automotive sector > EGYPT: Egypt battles structural issues > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf hits six-month growth streak > CONTRACT AWARDS: High-value deals signed in power and industrial sectors > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: Trump’s foreign policy shakes global relations

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Rise in PPPs reflects Saudi budgetary pragmatism

  7 March 2025

  

   

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  The value of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts in Saudi Arabia has risen sharply over the past two years as the government seeks to develop projects through the private sector and diversify funding sources.

  According to MEED Projects data, in 2023, the value of PPP concession contracts hit an all-time high of $28.2bn, equivalent to more than 23% of the total value of all project contracts awarded that year. Although that figure fell to 18.3% last year, it was still far higher than the historical average in the kingdom.

  
  Source: MEED Projects

  The figures are even starker when taking only government spending into account. In 2023, the value of signed PPP contracts totalled more than a third of the value of government or government-related projects awarded in 2023 and more than a quarter last year. This is compared to the average of 15.6% between 2019 and 2022, and just 3.5% recorded in 2018. 

  Government contracts include awards made by ministries, municipalities and royal commissions, in addition to state-funded key project clients such as Saudi Water Authority, the National Housing Company and Jeddah Airports Company. Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiaries such as Neom, the National Water Company and Rua Al-Madinah are also included.

  Reducing spending

  The government increasingly views the development of projects through the PPP framework as a means of delivering strategic schemes like power and desalination plants off-balance sheet using private sector funding, thereby reducing its capital expenditure requirements. 

  This has been particularly important as Riyadh’s financing commitments for its gigaprojects and infrastructure programmes have soared in line with its Saudi 2030 Vision. New contract awards overall in the kingdom reached $149bn, the highest ever recorded by a single country in the region and one of the largest globally.

  
  *Government contracts include awards made by ministries, municipalities and royal commissions, in addition to state-managed key project clients such as Saudi Electricity Company, the National Housing Company and Jeddah Airports Company. Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiaries like Neom and Rua Al-Madinah are also included. Capital expenditure by Saudi Aramco is excluded from the analysis | Source: MEED Projects

  Beyond utilities

  PPPs have been used in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region for over two decades, but have been mainly limited to power generation and water desalination plants, where the developer benefits from guaranteed take-or-pay power-purchase agreements that eliminate demand risk.

  However, over the past three years, the government has successfully implemented PPPs in a number of new sectors, including education and healthcare, to finance, build and operate schools and hospitals. Forthcoming PPP projects include the estimated $2.5bn Asir-Jizan highway, which would be the first road concession in the GCC, and the multibillion-dollar contract to develop the expansion of Abha International airport.

  The NCP is expected to add dozens more PPPs to its future pipeline to relieve the state’s financial burden and to stimulate the private sector’s involvement in the local projects market 

  Outside the utilities sector, the body responsible for pushing the PPP agenda is the National Centre for Privatisation (NCP). It has more than 170 PPPs in the pipeline, covering long-term concession agreements in projects as diverse as municipal laboratories, television and radio tower infrastructure, court complexes and logistics zones.

  As capital expenditure continues to increase, the NCP is expected to add dozens more PPPs to its future pipeline to relieve the state’s financial burden and to stimulate the private sector’s involvement in the local projects market.

  Gigaproject delivery

  The gigaproject development companies will likely follow a similar path. Off-grid developers Neom and Red Sea Global have both signed utilities concessions with the private sector for their power, desalination, water treatment and district cooling requirements, with the former also contracting companies to build and operate labour accommodation.

  Going forward, other PIF developer subsidiaries like New Murabba Development Company (NMDC), Diriyah Company, Roshn Group and King Salman International Airport Development Company are attempting to harness the private sector for a number of their project components. 

  NMDC, for example, will seek companies over the next five years to finance and operate its water treatment, power, district cooling, waste collection, telecommunication, secondary roads, street lighting, social infrastructure and EV charging infrastructure requirements under its partnership strategy. 

  The use of PPP contractual frameworks will be critical to ensure delivery of the gigaprojects as soaring construction costs have resulted in delays to the programme and put a strain on the PIF and government’s finances. 

  Growing appetite

  Power and water production schemes aside, it remains to be seen whether the private sector and banks will have the appetite to take on the investment risk these projects will entail, especially if they do not come with government guarantees, explicit or otherwise.

  However, the experience to date suggests that there is a big appetite in the private sector – at least locally – to take on an expanded role in absorbing some of the state’s financing burden. Whether this will remain the case as the PPP pipeline continues to grow will be key to Saudi Arabia’s project and 2030 Vision ambitions.

  

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  Edward James
• 
  Aljomaih team engages lenders for $2.2bn water pipeline PPP

  7 March 2025

  

   

  A developer team led by Riyadh-headquartered Aljomaih Energy & Water has engaged lenders for the SR8.5bn ($2.2bn) independent water transmission pipeline (IWTP) project it recently won in Saudi Arabia. 

  The consortium signed a contract agreement to develop and operate Saudi Arabia’s second IWTP project with Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) this week.

  The project will link Jubail in the kingdom’s Eastern Province and Buraydah in the Qassim region over a 587-kilometre (km) pipeline that can transmit 650,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of water.

  In addition to Aljomaih Energy & Water, the winning developer consortium includes Nesma Company and Buhur for Investment Company.

  The team of lenders, which may still change, comprises mainly Saudi and some regional entities, a source close to the project tells MEED.

  UK-headquartered Herbert, Smith & Freehills (HSF) is providing legal advisory services, while Dubai-based Future Water & Power Consulting (FWPC) is providing technical advisory services to the lenders.

  The Aljomaih, Nesma and Buhur team proposed to develop the Jubail-Buraydah IWTP project for SR3.59468 a cubic metre.

  The consortium saw off competition from another team comprising the local Vision Invest and UAE-based Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa).

  The Vision Invest/Taqa team offered to develop the project for SR5.04214/cm.

  The Jubail-Buraydah IWTP project is larger than the kingdom’s first IWTP linking Rayis and Rabigh, which a consortium including the local Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies Company and Spain’s Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios will develop and operate at a cost of SR7.78bn ($2bn).

  SWPC issued the request for proposals for the Jubail-Buraydah IWTP scheme to prequalified bidders in October 2023.

  The transaction advisory team for the client comprises the US/India’s Synergy Consulting as financial adviser and the local Amer Al-Amr and Germany’s Fichtner Consulting as legal and technical advisers, respectively.

  An advisory team comprising UAE-based financial advisory Cranmore, UK legal advisory services firm Pinsent Masons and Canadian engineering services firm WSP advised the winning developer consortium.

  SWPC’s obligations under the water transfer agreement will be guaranteed by a credit support agreement entered into by the Finance Ministry on behalf of the Saudi government.

  The project is part of the kingdom’s National Water Strategy 2030, which aims to reduce the water demand-supply gap and ensure desalinated water accounts for 90% of the national urban supply to reduce reliance on non-renewable ground sources.

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  READ THE MARCH MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – clck here to view PDF

  Chinese contractors win record market share; Cairo grapples with political and fiscal challenges; Stronger upstream project spending beckons in 2025

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA 1: Chinese firms dominate region’s projects market > AGENDA 2: China construction at pivotal juncture > LIBYA: Uncertainty and instability damage Libyan oil sector optimism > UPSTREAM 1: Offshore oil and gas sees steady capex > UPSTREAM 2: Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance > BAPCO: Bahrain to benefit from $7bn project by year’s end > MASDAR: Masdar meets renewable’s moonshot challenge > DIRIYAH: Diriyah CEO sets the record straight > SAUDI POWER: Saudi power projects hit record high > AUTOMOTIVE: Saudi Arabia gears up to lead Gulf’s automotive sector > EGYPT: Egypt battles structural issues > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf hits six-month growth streak > CONTRACT AWARDS: High-value deals signed in power and industrial sectors > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: Trump’s foreign policy shakes global relations

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13465608/main.jpg

  Jennifer Aguinaldo