Saudi Arabia receives nuclear bids
27 February 2023
Saudi Arabia has received bids for the deal to build the kingdom’s first nuclear power plant, the Finance Ministry has stated in its 2023 annual budget statement.
The statement’s key projects achievements in the fiscal year 2022 indicated: “The completion of several major works for the project to build the first nuclear power plant in the kingdom, and the receipt of bids to build the first nuclear power plant in the kingdom on 31st December 2022.”
It is the first time an official statement on the project's status has been issued.
Before this, MEED understood bids were forthcoming in 2022, with several sources indicating bid clarifications appearing to be under way in January.
According to industry sources, the most likely bidders for the main contract are China National Nuclear Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Russia’s Rosatom. Neither the client, King Abdullah City for Atomic & Renewable Energy (KA-Care), nor the apparent bidders have confirmed this.
Work on advisory contracts for Saudi Arabia’s planned multibillion-dollar nuclear power projects is progressing, as MEED reported in November.
KA-Care awarded three separate contracts for the project's legal, technical and financial advisory works earlier last year.
It awarded a team led by UK-headquartered EY the financial advisory contract in May 2022. Legal and technical consultancy contracts for the project were awarded earlier.
In March 2022, it was reported that Saudi Arabia had established a holding company to develop nuclear power projects in the country.
Saudi ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan, was cited as saying that the holding company would develop nuclear power plants to produce electricity, desalinate seawater and for thermal energy applications.
He said the kingdom is working on a framework programme for nuclear energy during 2022-27, which includes “capacity building and collaboration with international institutes for research and development”.
This followed Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud's announcement in January 2022 that Saudi Arabia has uranium resources that it wants to exploit transparently through partnerships.
Top nuclear projects to watch this year
2.8GW project
The kingdom’s first planned nuclear power plant is expected to be procured using a traditional design and build model.
In September 2016, MEED reported that Saudi Arabia was carrying out technical and economic feasibility studies for the first reactors and was also looking at possible locations for the kingdom’s first nuclear project, a 2.8GW facility.
MEED reported the following year that KA-Care had received requests for information from the US firm Westinghouse, France’s EDF and Russia’s Rosatom.
It is understood South Korea’s Kepco and a Chinese nuclear power company have also responded to the request for qualifications for the main contract.
French connection
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and France discussed and signed a preliminary agreement to cooperate on nuclear, clean hydrogen, renewable energy and electricity interconnection projects.
In December 2021, MEED reported that local contracting company Nesma & Partnerships had signed a memorandum of understanding with France’s Bouygues Travaux Publics to jointly execute civil works for a potential nuclear power plant project in Saudi Arabia.
Three-pronged strategy
Riyadh plans to develop nuclear power through a three-pronged strategy.
The majority of the nuclear power capacity will be developed through conventional, large-scale nuclear facilities, such as the one that major consultants are studying.
The kingdom also plans to develop atomic energy through a series of smaller, system-integrated modular advanced reactor technology (Smart) nuclear power plants in partnership with South Korea.
The third pillar of Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy programme will involve mining uranium resources to fuel the plants, as highlighted earlier this year by the energy minister.
Developing the kingdom’s mining sector is a key goal of Saudi Vision 2030, launched in April 2016.
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Exclusive from Meed
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Dubai seeks consultants for drainage projects6 February 2026
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Modon tenders Ras El-Hekma construction contracts6 February 2026
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Egypt contractor secures €58m loan for Hungary power plant6 February 2026
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AD Ports signs Jordan Aqaba port PPP deal6 February 2026
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Chinese firm wins Ceer automotive supplier park deal6 February 2026
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The request for qualifications (RFQs) was issued by the municipality’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department (SRPD).
The bid submission deadline is 26 February.
The first scheme under the package is TF-16-C1, which involves upgrading and rehabilitating the stormwater system east of the Dubai Canal.
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Modon tenders Ras El-Hekma construction contracts
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Abu Dhabi-based developer Modon Holding has tendered several contracts as part of the first phase of development at Ras El-Hekma, a planned new city on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
MEED understands that the tenders were issued in January.
These include:
DP3 assets: covering 146 residential villas, 590 three-bedroom townhouses, 356 four-bedroom townhouses, a mall and other associated works.
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Modon has accelerated development works at Ras El-Hekma this year. In January, MEED reported that Modon Holding had awarded a E£15bn ($316m) contract for the construction of a project at Ras El-Hekma.
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The scope of the contract covers the construction of residential units, commercial facilities and a 70-key hotel.
In September, MEED reported that Modon Holding had tendered contracts for the infrastructure works for the first phase of the Ras El-Hekma project.
As part of the first phase, Modon plans to develop more than 50 million square metres (sq m), including hotels and a marina.
Ras El-Hekma is on a spur of land on Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coastline, about 240 kilometres west of Alexandria.
Last year, Abu Dhabi-based holding company ADQ appointed Modon Holding as the master developer for the Ras El-Hekma project.
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Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) has provided €58m in credit facilities to local firm Elsewedy Electric for the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Hungary.
Located in Visonta, the plant will be the largest combined-cycle facility built in Hungary in decades and the country’s first power plant capable of using hydrogen.
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AD Ports signs Jordan Aqaba port PPP deal
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AD Ports will hold a 70% stake in the joint venture, with the remaining 30% held by ADC.
AD Ports Group will also invest AED141m ($38.4m) in the joint venture.
The signing ceremony was held at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority headquarters in Aqaba on 5 February.
The agreement was signed by Hussein Safadi, CEO of ADC, and Ahmed Al-Mutawa, regional CEO of AD Ports Group.
Aqaba port handles about 80% of Jordan’s exports and 65% of its imports.
It serves as a key transit point for Jordan’s neighbouring countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The port has an annual handling capacity of 11 million tonnes, supported by nine berths, a quay length of 2 kilometres and a draft of 13.5 metres.
In 2025, the terminal handled over 5.3 million tonnes of cargo and nearly 85,000 car equivalent units of Ro-Ro imports.
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The Al-Madouneh customs centre covers about 1.3 million square metres (sq m) and was inaugurated in June last year.
The announcement followed AD Ports Group’s signing of a shareholders’ agreement in January 2024 between its digital arm, Maqta Gateway, and Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation regarding their existing joint-venture company, Maqta Ayla.
The joint venture company will upgrade operations at the Aqaba port complex in Jordan by implementing a port community system “that leverages Maqta Gateway’s expertise, also marking the first-ever export of Abu Dhabi’s key port digitalisation solution”, AD Ports said in a statement.
AD Ports Group operates the Aqaba cruise terminal, and selected Dubai-based real estate developer Mag Group to lead the first phase of the Marsa Zayed mixed-use project.
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Chinese firm wins Ceer automotive supplier park deal
6 February 2026
Beijing-headquartered Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC) has won a contract to undertake the steel structure works on the Ceer automotive supplier park in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
The supplier park is located next to Ceer’s electric vehicle (EV) production facility in KAEC.
The automotive supplier park will include production and ancillary facilities for various suppliers and provide the material supply infrastructure for Ceer’s EV plant.
The facilities include:
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Earlier this week, MEED exclusively reported that Ceer had awarded a contract to build the automotive supplier park to Jeddah-based construction firm Modern Building Leaders (MBL).
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Ceer retendered the project in September last year.
The latest contract award is another significant contract win for MCC in Saudi Arabia. In January, MEED reported that MCC had won a contract to undertake the steel structure works on Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium at the Qiddiya City project on the outskirts of Riyadh.
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