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A team comprising China's Sepco 3 and India-headquartered Va Tech Wabag has been appointed to undertake the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Al Haer independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Al Haer ISTP project involves the development of a water treatment plant with a capacity of 200,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

It also includes the development of a treated sewage effluent (TSE) reuse system that covers a 32-kilometre pipeline with a capacity of 400,000 cm/d, a pumping station and TSE reservoir tanks with a capacity of 200,000 cubic metres.

The build-own-operate-transfer project is expected to reach commercial operation by the fourth quarter of 2026.

Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) signed a 25-year water-purchase agreement with the project's developer team on 10 March.

A consortium of the local Miahona Company and Belgium's Besix won the contract to develop and operate the proposed Al Haer ISTP. It then selected the Sepco 3/Wabag team to execute the project's EPC contract.

The Miahona/Besix team offered to develop the project for SR1.9407 ($0.5173) a cubic metre, while the second-lowest bid, from a team comprising Spain's Acciona and the local Tawzea, was SR2.2041 a cubic metre.

SWPC qualified more than 20 companies last year to bid for the Al Haer ISTP contract, which is part of the third batch of the kingdom's ISTP programme.

It requested proposals for the contract from qualified bidders in November 2022.

Third batch schemes

Two other projects comprise the initial third ISTP batch. The Riyadh East and Khamis Mushait ISTP schemes will have 150,000 cm/d and 50,000 cm/d capacities, respectively. The contract to develop the two schemes has yet to be tendered.

Originally comprising three schemes with a total capacity of 400,000 cm/d, batch three of the ISTP programme has been expanded to include the Hadda ISTP, which has a design capacity of 500,000 cm/d, and the Arana ISTP, which has a design capacity of 800,000 cm/d.

The procurement process for these two schemes will be undertaken separately.

Future Water & Power Consulting, KPMG and White & Case are providing technical, financial and legal advisory services, respectively, to the client for the ISTP batch three projects.