MEED February 2023 Webinar: Saudi Arabia 2023 Outlook and 2022 Review
26 February 2023
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Saudi Arabia 2023 Outlook and 2022 Review brings together industry experts, government officials, and business leaders to share their insights and perspectives on the current state and future of the Saudi Arabian economy.
The discussion covers a range of topics, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the government’s plans for economic diversification, and investment opportunities in various sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, and renewable energy.
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Exclusive from Meed
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Kafd monorail in Riyadh to commence operations in 2027
25 August 2025
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Acwa Power, SEC and Kepco close $4bn Saudi IPP deals
25 August 2025
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Riyadh Metro Line 2 is a bellwether for Saudi construction
25 August 2025
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Kuwait extends bid deadline for Mutriba upstream project
25 August 2025
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Related Articles
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Kafd monorail in Riyadh to commence operations in 2027
25 August 2025
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Financial District Development & Management Company (Kafd DMC) is expected to begin monorail operations in 2027.
According to local media reports, Faddy Alaql, chief asset delivery officer at Kafd, said construction is anticipated to begin by the end of this year, with the project ready for commissioning by 2027.
The scope of work includes the construction of a 3.6-kilometre elevated monorail in a loop configuration, with six elevated stations and six trains – each consisting of two carriages.
The monorail will connect public buildings within Kafd and integrate with the Riyadh Metro system.
It is expected to carry up to 3,500 passengers an hour during peak times.
In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that Kafd DMC had awarded an estimated SR1.2bn ($320m) deal to complete its monorail project at Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District.
The contract was awarded to the joint venture of Egyptian contractor Hassan Allam and Chinese rolling stock provider CRRC.
French engineering firm Systra is understood to have updated the technical and supervision studies for both systems and civil engineering works.
Project background
According to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the scheme was put on hold in 2016 after a decade of planning.
In 2010, Bombardier, now part of French firm Alstom, won a $241m contract to build the monorail.
Bombardier, in partnership with local contractor Saudi Oger, was selected to provide its Innovia operation and maintenance services for the system over a 10-year period.
Located in Riyadh, Kafd is a mixed-use development managed by Kafd DMC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The district was previously managed by Rayadah Investment Corporation.
Construction contracts for several towers in the district were awarded in 2009.
The project stalled when work was approximately 70% complete and later resumed in 2018, after the PIF took over from the Public Pension Agency in 2016-17.
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Acwa Power, SEC and Kepco close $4bn Saudi IPP deals
25 August 2025
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Acwa Power, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) have achieved financial close for the 3,600MW Rumah 1 and Nairyah 1 independent power producer (IPP) projects in Saudi Arabia. The two projects represent a total investment of about SR15bn ($4bn).
Saudi Power Procurement Company is the principal buyer for the projects, responsible for tendering and power offtake. Ownership of the project companies, Remal Energy Company for Rumah 1 and Naseem Energy Company for Nairyah 1, is split between Acwa Power (35%), SEC (35%) and Kepco (30%).
The projects form part of the Saudi Energy Ministry’s plan to maximise local power supply in line with Vision 2030.
They also support the kingdom’s net-zero 2060 target and allow for future integration of carbon capture facilities.
Financing was secured from a syndicate of local, regional and international lenders, including Export Import Bank of Korea, Saudi National Bank, Saudi Investment Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation.
MEED reported in Novemeber that the Acwa, SEC and Kepco consortium had won the contracts to develop the two combined-cycle gas turbine IPPs. Tokyo-headquartered Mitsubishi Power was to supply the gas turbines to power the plants.
The team offered a levelised electricity cost of 4.5859 $cents a kilowatt-hour ($c/kWh) for Rumah 1 and 4.6114 $c/kWh for Nairiyah 1.
Rumah 1 involves the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine plant with a capacity of 1,800MW in Riyadh Province. The project will be developed by Remal Energy Company with an investment of SR7.5bn ($2bn).
Nairyah 1, also with a capacity of 1,800MW, will be built in the Eastern Province and developed by Naseem Energy Company. The investment value is about SR7.5bn ($2bn)
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Riyadh Metro Line 2 is a bellwether for Saudi construction
25 August 2025
Commentary
Colin Foreman
EditorSpeaking to MEED at the end of the first quarter of this year, one of the region’s most active construction companies identified a bellwether project for 2025: the expansion of Riyadh Metro’s Line 2.
At the time, much of the conversation in the market centred on the reprioritisation of projects in Saudi Arabia and expected budget cuts to some of the kingdom’s largest developments. The reasoning was that if the Line 2 project proceeded, it would signal that Riyadh remains committed to delivering key infrastructure.
On 18 July, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City awarded the Arriyadh New Mobility Consortium the estimated $800m-$900m contract. A few weeks later, Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants, a joint venture of US-based Parsons and French engineering firms Egis and Systra, was confirmed as the project management and construction supervision consultant.
The 8.4-kilometre (km) extension, comprising 1.3km of elevated track and 7.1km underground, includes two elevated stations and three underground stations.
It will run from King Saud University (KSU) to new stations at KSU Medical City, KSU West, Diriyah East and Diriyah Central – where it will interchange with the planned Line 7 – and finally to Diriyah South.
The alignment is important as it provides a vital transport link for the $63bn Diriyah project and builds on the popularity of the existing metro network, which opened at the end of 2024.
It also shows contractors that while there is talk of a reprioritisation, opportunities for work on major projects remain.
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Kuwait extends bid deadline for Mutriba upstream project
25 August 2025
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has extended the bid submission deadline for the contract to develop the planned Mutriba remote boosting facility in Kuwait.
The project was originally tendered earlier this year, with a bid submission deadline of 29 June 2025.
The deadline has now been extended from 17 August to 9 September 2025.
The project has an estimated budget of about KD130m ($420m) and its scope includes:
- Development of the Mutriba oil field
- Installation of the degassing station
- Installation of manifolds
- Installation of condensate facilities
- Installation of wellhead separation units
- Installation of the pumping system
- Installation of wellhead facilities
- Installation of oil and gas treatment plants
- Installation of a natural gas liquids plant
- Installation of a water and gas injection plant
- Construction of associated utilities and facilities
The onshore Mutriba oil field is located in northwest Kuwait.
In October 2024, KOC announced that it was preparing to tender a project management contract for a scheme to develop the field.
At the time, it said four international companies had been invited to participate in the tender process.
These were:
- Schlumberger (US)
- Halliburton (US)
- Baker Hughes (US)
- Weatherford International (US)
KOC also said that the list of qualified companies could be extended before the invitation to bid was issued.
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Iraq approves $2.45bn contract award to Hyundai E&C
22 August 2025
The Iraqi government has approved the award of a $2.45bn contract to South Korean contractor Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a seawater treatment plant in the country’s Basra Governorate.
The project is part of the larger Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP), which is one of four main components of the estimated $10bn Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) masterplan that targets the overall development of the Ratawi, or Artawi, oil and gas field in Basra.
The Iraqi Council of Ministers, in a meeting on 10 August chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, approved the contract award for tender number CSSP-ITT-05 to Hyundai E&C.
The contract was originally awarded to Hyundai E&C by state-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC) in 2019, but was pending ratification from Baghdad. The six-year delay in official government approval for the contract award is understood to be due to a lack of conformity to project tendering processes, failure to adhere to procurement standards, and legal and financial oversight by the project stakeholders.
The official Iraqi News Agency carried a statement on 10 August that said: “The decision includes approving recommendations to ratify the price negotiation results and awarding the tender under an exception from Government Contracts Implementation Instructions No. 2 of 2014, to address measures taken between 2018 and 2021 in accordance with financial authorities.
“A specialised investigative committee will be formed to look into legal violations committed in 2018 regarding the direct invitation to a number of companies without obtaining the necessary approvals, with the results to be presented later to the prime minister for a decision,” it added.
The statement further said that “the Council of Ministers also approved increasing the cost value of the project to rehabilitate a composite water unit in Beit Atiya village, Maysan Province”.
The Iraqi government approval for Hyundai E&C’s EPC contract award came within days of BOC issuing China Petroleum Engineering (CPE) a letter of award for a second CSSP package covering a major seawater transmission pipeline to be built in Basra.
Work on the $2.52bn contract for the project will be carried out by CPE’s engineering arm, China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering (CPPE), the contractor said in a statement in early August.
The total duration of EPC works on the project is 54 months, of which 42 months will be allocated for design, procurement, construction and trial operation, while 12 months will be dedicated to operation, maintenance and training.
GGIP masterplan
A central element of the broader GGIP masterplan, the CSSP is designed to support oil production in Iraq’s southern oil and gas fields – mainly Zubair, Rumaila, Majnoon, West Qurna and Ratawi – by delivering treated seawater for injection, a method used to boost crude recovery rates and improve long-term reservoir performance.
The GGIP programme is being led by French energy major TotalEnergies, which is the operator and holds a 45% stake. BOC and QatarEnergy hold 30% and 25% stakes, respectively. The consortium formalised the investment agreement with the Iraqi government in September 2021.
The three other projects that comprise the GGIP are:
- The Ratawi gas processing complex
- A 1GW solar power project for Iraq’s electricity ministry
- A field development project at Ratawi, known as the Associated Gas Upstream Project (AGUP)
China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) won a $1.61bn contract in May to execute EPC works to build the gas processing complex at the Ratawi field development.
CPECC’s project team based in its office in Dubai is performing detailed engineering works on the project.
In August last year, TotalEnergies awarded China Energy Engineering International Group the EPC contract for the 1GW solar project at the Ratawi field. A month later, QatarEnergy signed an agreement with TotalEnergies to acquire a 50% interest in the project.
The 1GW Ratawi solar scheme will be developed in phases that will come online between 2025 and 2027. It will have the capacity to provide electricity to about 350,000 homes in Iraq’s Basra region.
The project, consisting of 2 million bifacial solar panels mounted on single-axis trackers, will include the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the photovoltaic power station site and 132kV booster station.
Separately, in June, TotalEnergies awarded CPPE an EPC contract worth $294m to build a pipeline as part of a package known as the Ratawi Gas Midstream Pipeline.
Also, TotalEnergies awarded UK-based consultant Wood Group a pair of engineering framework agreements in April, worth a combined $11m, under the GGIP scheme. The agreements have a three-year term under which Wood will support TotalEnergies in advancing the AGUP.
One of the aims of the AGUP is to debottleneck and upgrade existing facilities to increase production capacity to 120,000 barrels a day of oil on completion of the first phase, according to a statement by Wood.
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