Sewage treatment plants begin operations in Saudi Arabia

24 September 2025

Three independent sewage treatment plants (ISTPs) in Medina, Buraydah and Tabuk have entered full commercial operation in Saudi Arabia.

Construction for the Medina 3, Buraydah 2 and Tabuk 2 plants is complete and all systems are operational, Spain‑headquartered Acciona has confirmed.

The developer said the three facilities are now managed by an operations and maintenance consortium formed with its locally based partners Tawzea and Tamasuk.

The news follows the projects’ financial close in 2022, when Acciona secured its first green loan to support development under Saudi Arabia’s public-private partnership (PPP) programme.

In 2021, Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) awarded two contracts to the Acciona-led team.

The first contract was for the Medina 3 ISTP, with a levelised water cost of SR1.2157 ($0.32) a cubic metre.

The second contract covered the Buraydah 2 and Tabuk 2 ISTP schemes, with a levelised water cost of SR1.4395 ($0.38) a cubic metre for both schemes.

The plants have a combined treatment capacity of 440,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). Medina 3 is the largest, with a treatment capacity of 200,000 cm/d, serving about 1.5 million people.

Buraydah 2 has a capacity of 150,000 cm/d, covering some 600,000 inhabitants, including those in Ash Shimasiya. Tabuk 2 will complement the existing Tabuk 1 plant, with a capacity of 90,000 cm/d, serving about 350,000 people.

Around 95% of treated water will be reused for agriculture, with the remainder used within the plants.

The Medina 3 ISTP project and the Buraydah 2 and Tabuk 2 ISTP schemes make up the second batch of the kingdom’s independent sewage projects.

Batch 3

Under SWPC’s 2020-26 plan, it intended to develop 11 ISTPs by 2026, in addition to these three projects and three further schemes awarded in the first round.

Batch 3 includes:

  • Al-Haer
  • Riyadh East
  • Khamis Mushait
  • South Najran
  • Abu Arish 3
  • North Jeddah 1
  • Hafar Al-Batin 2
  • Kharj 3

To date, Al-Haer is the only project in this round to acheive financial close and start construction.

SWPC has received multiple bids for the Hadda and Arana ISTPs in Mecca. Both projects are expected to be awarded in Q4 2025, with completion targeted for Q4 2028.

The other projects are still in early procurement, with no financial close or construction works started yet.


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Mark Dowdall
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