A team led by Saudi utility developer and investor Acwa Power has emerged as the preferred bidder for the contract to develop the Rabigh 4 independent water project (IWP) in Saudi Arabia.

The team, which includes local firm Haji Abdullah Alireza & Company (Haaco) and Bahrain's Almoayyed Contracting, submitted a levelised water cost (LCW) offer of SR1.7162 ($0.458) a cubic metre for the contract.

A team comprising Spain's Acciona and the local Ajlan & Brothers Energy Company is the reserved bidder, offering LCW of SR2.0386/cm.

France's Engie is the third bidder that submitted a proposal for the contract on 15 November.

The Rabigh 4 seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) IWP will have a design capacity of 600,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

The project scope includes developing 1.2 million cubic metres of storage tanks as well as extension and connection to the existing electricity transmission substation.

SWPC issued the request for proposals for the contract on 16 June.

The other firms that were prequalified to bid for the contract, in addition to the three that submitted bids, were:

• Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios (Spain)
• Power & Water Utility Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Marafiq, local) / Alfanar Company (local) 
• Marubeni Corporation (Japan)
• Utico (UAE) / Mowah Company (local) / Chinese Railway Construction Corporation (China)
• Veolia Middle East (France)

Rabigh 4 is the seventh IWP scheme launched by SWPC as part of the kingdom’s water sector privatisation initiative.

Through a project company, the successful bidder will develop the project and sell the entire capacity and output to SWPC under a 25-year water-purchase agreement (WPA).

The Saudi government will support SWPC’s obligations under the WPA.

KPMG Professional Services is the client’s lead and financial adviser on the project, while Eversheds Sutherland and WSP are the legal and technical advisers, respectively.

Further awards

Saudi Arabia has awarded five IWP contracts with a combined total capacity of 2.4 million cm/d since 2018-19. These are Rabigh 3, Shuqaiq 3, Yanbu 4, Jubail 3A and Jubail 3B.

Yanbu 4 has been renamed Ar-Rayis 1 following the integration of the Rayis-Yanbu independent water transmission pipeline into the scheme.

In May, SWPC prequalified seven individual firms and three teams to bid for the contract to develop the 300,000 cm/d IWP in Ras Mohaisen.

In June, SWPC signed a 25-year WPA for the Shuaibah 3 IWP with a consortium led by Acwa Power and Public Investment Fund (PIF)-owned Badeel, at a value of approximately SR3bn ($800m).

Unlike the seven greenfield IWPs, this project involves the conversion of the desalination plant at the Shuaibah 3 independent water and power project (IWPP) into an SWRO facility. The Shuaibah 3 IWP reached financial close last month.

SWPC’s seven-year capacity planning statement, which covers 2020-26, outlined the procurement timelines for nearly 50 projects, including a dozen IWPs, 11 independent sewage treatment plants, seven small sewage treatment plant clusters, nine water reservoir facilities and eight water transmission pipeline projects.