Meed | Taqa Water Solutions finds niche

Taqa Water Solutions finds niche

23 September 2024

Abu Dhabi Sustainable Water Solutions (SWS Holding) recently rebranded into Taqa Water Solutions, following its acquisition by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa).

Taqa acquired SWS Holding, previously known as Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company and responsible for wastewater collection and treatment as well as the production of recycled water in Abu Dhabi, for AED1.7bn ($463m)

“I’m very positive about this acquisition,” says Ahmed Al-Shamsi, Taqa Water Solutions CEO. “We can capitalise on Taqa’s strong existing brand equity and larger organizational size. We can now offer comprehensive utility solutions across the power and water sectors and act like a one-stop shop for our clients. Being part of Taqa gives us access to additional business opportunities.”

The process of integrating the business into Taqa’s and fully aligning the companies' policies is expected to be completed within six months.

As things stand, Al-Shamsi said his company is preparing to bid for new contracts to develop and operate wastewater treatment and desalination plant projects in the UAE and beyond.

In August, the company signed a joint development agreement, along with Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and France-based Suez, to develop a 1.5 million-cubic-metres-a-day wastewater treatment plant in Uzbekistan.

The 25-year project is valued at more than $1bn, with construction expected to begin in 2026, with the plant scheduled to become fully operational by 2030.

The company has also been prequalified to bid for a contract to develop the first independent water project (IWP) in the UAE northern emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, which will have a significantly smaller capacity of 70,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

At the time of the interview, Al-Shamshi said they are finalising forming a consortium to bid for the Ras Al-Khaimah IWP project.

The firm is also keeping an eye on the Saudi water market. "We are gearing up [to bid for new projects] in Saudi Arabia," Alshamsi tells MEED.

Partnerships

The project in Uzbekistan provides a foretaste of the company’s preferred strategy. Al-Shamsi said one of their main strengths is their ability to access competitive financing options, which he describes as the main contributing factor in a successful project.

“Liquidity is not an issue for us, our priority is access to competitive interest rates with the lowest possible debt. We have a unique position to come up with favourable rates,” he explains.

The executive also said his firm’s future success will rely on their strategy when selecting partners as demonstrated in their Uzbekistan project.

Projects pipeline

While the company has set the stage with other Taqa entities to partner on projects in key areas like water desalination and wastewater treatment plant projects domestically and abroad, it will also continue to play the role of a procurer for such assets catering to the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

In September, it awarded the local Gulf Contractors Company a $150m contract to build a 9.5-kilometre gravity-driven wastewater line and decommission multiple pumping stations.

This upgrade is expected to reduce energy consumption and lower carbon emissions while boosting the hydraulic capacity of the network to 120,000 cm/d. The project caters to areas such as Al-Bahia, Al-Sader, Al-Shaliela, and Taweelah in Abu Dhabi.

MEED understands that the company has also set in place a five-year plan to allocated AED10bn ($2.72bn) across some 80 water infrastructure-related projects in Abu Dhabi.

Roughly 45% of the planned capital expense will be allocated to new projects, 40% to the rehabilitation of existing assets, another 10% to interconnections or pipelines, and the rest to regulatory compliance systems such as flow metering or Scada.

The company is also reviewing a previous plan to procure an advanced treated sewage effluent (TSE) plant that has an initial design capacity of 750,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

It is understood that “the process is under way to finalise the way forward for the project, which might eventually have a bigger capacity than initially planned”.

The initial plan entailed a TSE plant that is expected to have a design capacity of 700,000 cm/d, with the potential to expand this capacity to 950,000 cm/d in a subsequent phase.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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The programme comprises six upcoming contractor packages spanning airside works, terminal upgrades and utilities as Jedco advances its long-term expansion plans.

The opportunities include airfield rehabilitation; a five-year construction framework covering multiple workstreams and facility types; a Terminal 3A (T3A) package; Terminal 1 (T1) optimisation; a fuel farm; and Concourse C works.

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T1 optimisation is planned for Q4 2027, the fuel farm for Q2 2027, and Concourse C – currently the latest of the six milestones – for Q2 2028.

The new packages add detail to Jedco’s wider expansion plans disclosed in 2023, when it was reported that the company would invest SR115bn ($31bn) to increase KAIA’s capacity to 114 million passengers a year, with an overall completion target of 2031.

Jedco has recently awarded several significant contracts linked to the airport’s upgrade programme.

In November 2024, a joint venture of local Algihaz Contracting and Turkey’s TAV was awarded a contract to rehabilitate the South Terminal to serve Umrah and Hajj pilgrims, with Singapore’s Surbana Jurong acting as consultant.

Earlier that year, Jedco also awarded France’s Alstom a contract to increase the capacity of the Innovia automated people mover at Terminal 1, including new cars and upgrades to signalling, communications and controls.

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Contractor wins $105m Medina university hospital deal

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Riyadh-based construction firm Al-Mansouria General Contracting Company has been awarded a SR396m ($105.6m) contract to complete the remaining construction works on the Taiba University Hospital project in Medina.

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Located on King Khalid Road along Medina’s Third Ring Road, the teaching hospital will have a capacity of 563 beds.

The contract duration is three years, with delivery targeted for late 2029.

The latest award follows a prolonged procurement cycle that began more than a decade ago as part of a public budget drive to expand Saudi Arabia’s higher education infrastructure.

The project’s first phase was initially signed in December 2011 with local firm Al-Muhaidib Contracting under a SR500m ($133.3m) contract.

Groundbreaking for the eight-storey complex took place in July 2013. The project covers a gross floor area of more than 200,000 square metres.

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READ THE SEPTEMBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

Nuclear power ambitions gather pace; Kuwait keeps dealmaking alive despite war; Region invests in raising gas processing capacity.

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the September 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

> AGENDA: Gulf nuclear revival takes shape

> MARKET FOCUS: Kuwait keeps dealmaking alive under fire

> INDUSTRY REPORT: Gas processing takes centre stage in Mena region

> INTERVIEW: Emsteel persists with business productivity and efficiency

> TUNNELS: The Gulf’s next construction boom is happening underground

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

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Oman’s Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) has tendered an estimated RO15m ($39m) contract to develop infrastructure for Thumrait Industrial City.

The tender was issued on 14 September, with bids due by 12 November.

The scope covers site-wide utilities and services, including an internal road network, stormwater channels and culverts. It also includes installing sewerage and water networks, along with landscaping works.

In addition, Madayn intends to build plug-and-play industrial units and a facilities building.

The first phase of the development will cover about 120,000 square metres (sq m).

Thumrait Industrial City is located in Oman’s Dhofar Governorate and spans an area of more than four million sq m.

The project location is close to concession blocks, quarry sites and the Najd agricultural areas. It is positioned to attract industrial investments in sectors such as mining and minerals processing (including gypsum and cement), food production, and a range of light and general manufacturing activities.

In March, Madayn said it is preparing to invest more than RO245m ($637m) to upgrade and expand infrastructure across its industrial cities between 2026 and 2030, as part of efforts to attract new investment and advance economic diversification.

According to media reports, Madayn chief executive Dawood Bin Salim Al-Hadabi said the programme is part of an expanded, phased plan aligned with Oman Vision 2040 and the authority’s long-term Madayn 2040 strategy.

The objective is to deepen Oman’s industrial base and spread growth across the sultanate’s governorates.

Madayn said the pipeline comprises about 90 strategic projects to improve industrial-city infrastructure, extend serviced land and increase the overall ease of doing business for investors.

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State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has reduced the number of approved contractors for onshore drilling and shallow-well maintenance from 51 to 24.

Firms that are no longer qualified include major contractors such as Italy’s Saipem, Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne and Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy.

The latest list still includes a wide range of Kuwaiti, regional and international companies, according to the latest update on its electronic system, published on 21 September 2026.

The full list of contractors that are now qualified to participate in tenders is:
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- United Precision Drilling (Kuwait)
- Abraj Energy Services (Oman)
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- Arabian Drilling Company (Saudi Arabia)
- Anton Oilfield Services (China)
- China Oilfield Services (China)
- Egyptian Drilling Company (Egypt)
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- Great Wall Drilling Company (China)
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- Kerui Oilfield Service (China)
- KCA Deutag Drilling (Germany)
- Mohammed Al-Barwani Petroleum Services (Oman)
- Nabors Drilling International (US)
- National Drilling & Services Company (Oman)
- Sea & Land Drilling Contractors (Oman)
- Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation (China)
- Karamay Jianye Energy (China)
- Modern Drilling Company (Egypt)
- Grey Wolf Drilling International (US)
An earlier list, which was published on 11 February, included 51 qualified companies.

The reduction in qualified drilling contractors follows KOC’s notice on 27 April this year, informing existing qualified contractors that they would need to reapply.
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Wil Crisp

Abu Dhabi expects 45% emissions cut as electricity demand rises

21 September 2026

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Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) expects carbon emissions from power and water production to fall by more than 45% by 2035 as the UAE expands renewable energy and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination.

The state offtaker's latest long-term system planning forecasts emissions will decline from about 42 million tonnes in 2019 to approximately 23 million tonnes in 2035.

The reduction is expected despite annual electricity demand that is forecast to rise by about 70% in 2026-33.

Ewec said the expansion of renewable energy and the shift towards RO desalination will be the principal drivers of the reduction.

The company plans to increase Abu Dhabi's solar capacity to 14GW by 2030 and more than 35GW by 2035. This will be supported by up to 15GW of battery storage capacity.

According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, Ewec has over $16bn-worth of power and water projects in the execution stage as part of its long-term procurement programme to increase renewable energy and low-carbon water production capacity.

This includes a 5.2GW Abu Dhabi solar and battery energy storage system (bess) round-the-clock renewable energy project, as well as three 1.5GW solar photovoltaic independent power projects (IPP): Al-Ajban, Al-Khazna and Al-Zarraf.

It also comprises the 1GW Al-Dhafra open-cycle gas turbine power plant, the 2.5GW Taweelah C combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant and a separate 400MW bess IPP.

As previously reported, it is expected that the developer's agreement for the 3.3GW Al-Nouf 1 CCGT IPP will be signed by the end of the year, while contractors are preparing to submit bids for a separate 2.6GW power plant project in Ajman.

The expansion of solar and battery storage is expected to reduce the system's reliance on gas-fired generation. However, gas-fired generation will continue to provide flexibility to support the system and balance intermittent renewable power output, according to Ewec.

The offtaker also expects RO desalination to account for more than 95% of total water production by 2035, with the procurement programme supporting the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy's Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035 for electricity production and the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategy.