Related Articles

• 
  Dewa raises Empower stake in $1.41bn deal

  12 February 2026

  Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) has announcd it has increased its stake in Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) from 56% to 80%.

  The transaction was completed through the purchase of 2.4 billion shares and the transfer of the entire ownership of Emirates Power Investment (EPI), which is wholly owned by Dubai Holding.

  The total value of the deal is AED5.184bn ($1.41bn).

  Empower currently holds over 80% of Dubai’s district cooling market and operates 88 district cooling plants across the emirate.

  According to MEED Projects, the UAE's district cooling sector currently has nine projects worth $1.29bn in the pre-execution phase.

  Empower has ownership in four of these projects, which have a combined value of $472m.

  This includes a $200 million district cooling plant at Dubai Science Park, which will have a total capacity of 47,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) covering 80 buildings

  Empower signed a contract to design the plant, last August, with construction scheduled to begin by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

  The utility is also building a district cooling plant at Dubai Internet City.

  UAE-based TMF Euro Foundations was recently appointed as the enabling and piling subcontractor for the project.

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Indian firm wins Dubai Latifa Bint Hamdan road project

  12 February 2026

  Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has won a contract to construct the first phase of the Latifa Bint Hamdan Street development project in Dubai.

  The contract value is between $110m and $275m, according to L&T’s contract classification.

  This project covers 12.2 kilometres of road network from its intersection with Al-Khail Road to Emirates Road.

  The project also includes 8.1km of bridges and will add capacity for about 16,000 vehicles an hour in both directions.

  The scope also involves widening the two-lane dual carriageway to four lanes in each direction.

  The project is scheduled for completion within 36 months.

  The contract was awarded by Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA).

  The project is part of the RTA’s estimated AED16bn ($4.3bn) 2024-27 Main Roads Development Plan, which includes 22 projects across Dubai’s road network, as announced in November 2024.

  The development plan includes the construction of new roads and bridges to alleviate traffic congestion at several key locations across Dubai.

  Planning for growth

  The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan was launched in March 2021. Its launch referenced studies indicating that the emirate’s population will reach 5.8 million by 2040, up from 3.3 million in 2020. The daytime population is set to increase from 4.5 million in 2020 to 7.8 million in 2040.

  In December 2022, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved the 20-Minute City Policy as part of the second phase of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. 

  In addition to the road projects, the RTA’s Dubai Metro Blue Line extension also forms part of Dubai’s plans to improve residents’ quality of life by cutting journey times, as outlined in the policy.

  The policy aims to ensure that residents can meet 80% of their daily needs within a 20-minute walk or bike ride. This goal will be achieved by developing integrated service centres with the necessary facilities and by increasing population density around mass transit stations.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  SAR tenders Riyadh section of Saudi Landbridge

  12 February 2026

  

   

  Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has tendered a design-and-build contract for the construction of a new railway line, the Riyadh Rail Link, which will run from north to south Riyadh.

  The tender was issued on 29 January, with a bid submission deadline of 29 March.

  The scope of work includes constructing a 35-kilometre-long double-track railway line connecting SAR’s North-South Railway to the Eastern Railway network.

  The contract also covers the procurement, construction and installation of associated infrastructure such as viaducts, civil works, utility installations, signalling systems and other related works.

  The project is expected to form a key component of the Saudi Landbridge railway.

  Last month, SAR said it would deliver the Saudi Landbridge project through a “new mechanism” by 2034, after failing to reach an agreement with a Chinese consortium for the construction of the project, as MEED reported.

  In an interview with local media, SAR CEO Bashar Bin Khalid Al-Malik said the consortium failed to meet local content requirements and that the project will now be delivered in several phases under a different procurement model.

  The project has been under negotiation between Saudi Arabia and China-backed investors keen to develop it through a public-private partnership.

  Al-Malik said that the project cost is about SR100bn ($26.6bn).

  It comprises more than 1,500 kilometres (km) of new track. The core component is a 900km new railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, which will provide direct freight access to the capital from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea.

  Other key sections include upgrading the existing Riyadh-Dammam line, a bypass around the capital called the Riyadh Link, and a link between King Abdullah Port and Yanbu.

  The Saudi Landbridge is one of the kingdom’s most anticipated project programmes. Plans to develop it were first announced in 2004, but put on hold in 2010 before being revived a year later. Key stumbling blocks were rights-of-way issues, route alignment and its high cost.

  In April last year, MEED exclusively reported that SAR had issued a tender for the lead design consultancy services contract on the Saudi Landbridge railway network.

  MEED understands that the scope covered the concept design and options for the preliminary and issued-for-construction design stages on the network.

  MEED reported that the launch of a design tender directly by SAR suggested that Riyadh was looking at other options to develop it alongside the Chinese proposal.

  In December 2023, MEED reported that a team of US-based Hill International, Italy’s Italferr and Spain’s Sener had been awarded the contract to provide project management services for the programme.

  If it proceeds, the Saudi Landbridge will be one of the largest railway projects ever undertaken in the Middle East and one of the biggest globally. Based on typical design timeframes, tenders for construction are likely to be ready by mid-2026, although the question of how it will be financed will need to be answered before it can proceed to the next step.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Diriyah allows Montage bidders more time

  12 February 2026

  Saudi gigaproject developer Diriyah Company has extended the bid deadline to 14 February for a contract to build a Montage hotel and branded residences within its Wadi Safar masterplan in the Diriyah development.

  The project comprises a 200-key hotel and 30 branded residences.

  The tender was issued in December last year.

  Dubai-based SSH is the lead designer and the supervision consultant.

  UK-headquartered Turner & Townsend is the project management consultant.

  Wadi Safar is one of the original projects announced by Diriyah Company as part of the Diriyah project.

  It is a mixed-use development featuring residential buildings, farm plots, hotels, branded hotel villas, a golf course, an equestrian and polo club, and other leisure and entertainment facilities.

  The main construction works on some of the other assets in Wadi Safar are under way.

  In July last year, MEED exclusively reported that Diriyah Company had awarded an estimated SR8bn ($2bn) contract to construct assets in the Wadi Safar development to a joint venture of local firm Albawani and Qatari contractor Urbacon Trading & Contracting.

  The joint venture is developing the following assets:

  • The Aman Wadi Safar hotel and residences
  • A Six Senses hotel
  • A Chedi hotel and residences
  • A Faena hotel and residences
  • The Royal Diriyah Equestrian & Polo Club (excluding enabling works)
  • The North and South Fairways retail facilities and a mosque
  • The Grove retail facilities, mosque and clinics

  Last year, the company awarded several main construction contracts worth over SR24bn ($6.5bn).

  In November, Diriyah Company awarded two construction contracts with a combined value of over SR5.7bn ($1.5bn), as MEED reported.

  The contracts were officially announced on the sidelines of the Cityscape Global event in Riyadh on 17 November.

  The first contract was awarded to local firm BEC Arabia Contracting Company for the construction of offices in the Media and Innovation District of Diriyah.

  MEED understands that the contract is valued at about $800m.

  This project will deliver office spaces for media companies and creative agencies.

  Within the same district, BEC Arabia will also build residential assets on the Manazel Al-Hadawi plots.

  The other contract, estimated to be worth $900m, was awarded for the main construction works on King Khalid Road. 

  The deal was signed with another local firm, Almabani General Contractors.

  The project involves constructing three interchanges connecting King Khalid Road with the northern and western ring roads.

  The Diriyah masterplan envisages the city as a cultural and lifestyle tourism destination. Located northwest of Riyadh’s city centre, it will cover 14 square kilometres and combine 300 years of history, culture and heritage with hospitality facilities.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  AI signals a new efficiency era for oil and gas

  11 February 2026

  Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to deliver one of the biggest leaps in operational efficiency the oil and gas industry has seen in decades – but not in the ways most expect. In a sector where progress is typically measured in micro-optimisations, harsh terrain, sprawling pipelines and escalating security risks make even small improvements valuable. Now, machine learning, edge computing, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), cloud and big data are converging into something far more disruptive.

  A major global oil and gas player recently tested an intriguing Proof of Concept with Nokia, leveraging existing fiber buried along pipelines for real-time “fiber sensing.” What they uncovered could reshape how infrastructure threats are detected. Optical fiber, it turns out, is sensitive enough to register disturbances caused by everything from rainfall to trucks, earthquakes and human intrusion. When paired with long-range anomaly detection, the implications for pipeline safety stretch far beyond routine monitoring. Just how precise – and how operational teams might act on these signals – remains part of the unfolding story.

  Telemetry data, already flowing in vast quantities between remote operations and headquarters, is fuelling even more ambitious AI use cases. Predictive bandwidth scaling, digital twinning, precision timing optimisation and automated network reconfiguration are all being explored to strengthen performance and resiliency. But with high innovation comes high stakes: one model glitch could invalidate results, burn time and inflate costs. How companies balance the promise of AI with the risks of over-automation is a tension worth watching.

  Then there’s the looming security horizon. Cybercrime already threatens data-heavy operations, but oil and gas firms are increasingly preparing for something even more destabilising – the quantum threat. While cryptographically relevant quantum computers aren’t here yet, adversaries are already stockpiling encrypted data using Harvest Now Decrypt Later tactics. Multi-layer encryption defences like OTNsec, ANYsec and MACsec offer new protective possibilities, but questions remain around scalability, adoption barriers and readiness timelines.

  To unlock AI’s full potential, oil and gas networks must evolve to deliver extreme speed, low latency, massive compute support and future-proof security. Nokia has built solutions across all these fronts, including private 4G/5G for remote industrial environments. But what specific breakthroughs lie ahead – and how soon they could impact global operations – is where the real curiosity begins.

  The summary hints at the disruption. The details? That’s inside the full article here.

  Published in partnership with

  

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  MEED Editorial