Bahrain inaugurates $85m utility plants
1 October 2024
Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA) has inaugurated a 220-kilovolt (kV) power station and 2.35 million gallon water distribution stations in Al-Hidd.
The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) provided grants for the projects, with the electricity station receiving nearly SR250m ($66.7m) and the water station approximately SR70m, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The project will cater to the residential development of Al-Hidd in Bahrain.
The electricity station comprises three substations with a capacity of 48 megavolt-amperes (MVA) at 66kV, along with high-voltage cables and various civil, mechanical, electrical and electronic works, including operational, control and communication systems.
The water distribution station includes the construction of two reinforced concrete ground tanks with a total capacity of 2.34 million gallons, enhancing essential energy and water services for residents.
Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, SFD chief executive Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad and EWA president Kamal Bin Ahmed Mohammed attended the inauguration ceremony in Manama.
Photo: SPA
Al-Khalifa noted that the developmental projects represent a significant advancement in improving core infrastructure sectors.
He also highlighted EWA’s strategic plans “to enhance electricity infrastructure across all regions, ensuring the sustainability of vital services and the authority's commitment to various housing and urban development projects”.
The SFD is understood to have been engaged in developmental cooperation with Bahrain for 48 years, financing 30 developmental projects and programmes in the energy, transportation and social infrastructure sectors.
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Wynn secures $2.4bn financing for Ras Al-Khaimah project
7 February 2025
Wynn Resorts has secured a $2.4bn construction facility to finance the development of Wynn Al-Marjan Island in the UAE emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah.
In a statement, Wynn said the financing is the largest hospitality financing transaction in UAE history. The loan, available to Wynn Al-Marjan Island FZ-LLC – a subsidiary of the 40%-owned joint venture – is denominated in both AED and US dollars.
Structured as a delayed draw facility, the seven-year term loan offers competitive market interest rates and substantial financial flexibility for the joint-venture partners.
The syndicate includes prominent regional and international banks, with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Deutsche Bank serving as joint coordinators. The joint coordinators, along with First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD Capital and the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah, acted as mandated lead arrangers, bookrunners and underwriters, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation acted as lead arranger. First Abu Dhabi Bank is also the agent and security agent for the lenders.
Read More: Ras Al-Khaimah’s robust real estate boom continues
Construction of the resort is progressing, with 64% of the structural concrete completed up to the 34th floor of the main resort tower. The construction team is achieving a pace of one floor a week and is aiming for a December topping-off. The resort will feature 1,542 rooms and suites, with 80% of the guest rooms already completed. Exterior facade work and interior fit-outs are well under way, with significant progress in mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations.
The low-rise sections of the resort are also advancing, with concrete and steel structures 70% complete.
Dubai-based Alec was appointed as the project’s main contractor in 2023.
Wynn is the first planned gaming development to be built in the UAE. In a report in January, Wynn said that it expects two other competitive integrated resorts to start operating in the UAE. It added that it expects to command a 33% market share of gross gaming revenues (GGR) in the UAE.
According to GlobalData, the US has traditionally been a leader due to its well-established gaming industry. Emerging markets in Asia, particularly in countries like Japan and Thailand, are anticipated to rise in prominence. For instance, Thailand is planning to develop three new casino resorts in Bangkok, which could significantly enhance its standing in the global casino landscape.
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> AGENDA 1: Trump 2.0 targets technology> AGENDA 2: Trump’s new trial in the Middle East> AGENDA 3: Unlocking AI’s carbon conundrum> GAZA: Gaza ceasefire goes into effect> LEBANON: New Lebanese PM raises political hopes> WATER DEVELOPERS: Acwa Power improves lead as IWP contract awards slow> WATER & WASTEWATER: Water projects require innovation> INTERVIEW: Omran’s tourism strategies help deliver Oman 2040> PROJECTS RECORD: 2024 breaks all project records> REAL ESTATE: Ras Al-Khaimah’s robust real estate boom continues> QATAR: Doha works to reclaim spotlight> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects market enters 2025 in state of growth> CONTRACT AWARDS: Monthly haul cements record-breaking total for 2024> ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects> OPINION: Between the extremes as spring approacheshttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13374204/main49343325.jpg -
Hafeet Rail and Emsteel sign logistics agreement
7 February 2025
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Abu Dhabi-based steel producer Emsteel has signed an agreement with Hafeet Rail to enable the transport of raw materials using the rail link that connects the UAE and Oman.
Emsteel will operate the rail transfer facility in Al-Ain, which includes railcar unloading stations, conveyor systems and stockpile management systems. The facility will handle key materials sourced from Oman, including limestone and red shale, which will be used in Emsteel’s cement production process.
The agreement will enable the transportation of up to 4.2 million tonnes of raw materials a year from Oman to the UAE. The partnership has an initial term of 15 years with an option to extend for a further 15 years on similar terms.
According to an official statement, Emsteel has also signed an agreement with Minerals Development Oman to source the industrial minerals that Emsteel will use for its production processes.
Hafeet Rail’s latest agreement comes after the firm signed several project agreements on the sidelines of the GlobalRail event in Abu Dhabi in October last year.
Hafeet Rail announced that it had appointed the French engineering firm Systra to provide the project’s administrative and engineering consultancy services.
Another agreement was signed with US-based Progress Rail to supply 27 freight locomotives for the project.
Project financing agreements worth $1.5bn were also announced on 8 October.
In April last year, the client awarded contracts for three civil works packages for the railway project linking Oman and the UAE.
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USAid shut down does not impact Amman-Aqaba project
7 February 2025
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US President Donald Trump’s plan to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAid) will have a limited impact on several projects in Jordan that the organisation is partially financing.
USAid and the US International Development Finance Corporation provided support and advice for the kingdom’s largest infrastructure project to date, the estimated $2bn Aqaba-Amman water conveyance and desalination (AAWCD) build, operate and transfer (BOT) scheme.
USAid, however, is not funding the AAWCD itself, which means there may be no material impact on the project, according to an industry source.
Jordan’s Ministry of Water & Irrigation (MWI) awarded the 26-year BOT contract to develop the project to a consortium led by the Paris-based investment and utility firms Meridiam and Suez in January.
The project’s water desalination plant will have the capacity to treat 300,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), extendable to up to 835,000 cm/d, using reverse osmosis-based technology.
It also includes 450 kilometres of pipelines to transport desalinated water from the Gulf of Aqaba to Amman.
In addition to Meridiam and Suez, the developer consortium includes Egypt’s Orascom Construction and France’s Vinci Construction Grands Projets.
The developer team expects to reach financial close for the project this year, a source close to the project previously told MEED.
Other healthcare and school projects in Jordan are being planned or funded with the support of USAid, including the estimated $10m Princess Muna Al-Hussein Maternity Hospital in Amman’s King Hussein Medical Centre.
According to Pew Research, Jordan received the fourth-largest amount of USAid support in 2023, estimated at $1.7bn.
Ukraine and Israel received the largest amount of aid, valued at $16.6bn and $3.3bn, respectively.
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READ THE FEBRUARY MEED BUSINESS REVIEWTrump unleashes tech opportunities; Doha achieves diplomatic prowess and economic resilience; GCC water developers eye uptick in award activity in 2025.
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Sonelgaz retenders solar PV contracts
7 February 2025
Sonelgaz Energie Renouvelables, a subsidiary of Algeria’s state-owned utility, has tendered the contracts for three solar photovoltaic projects in the country.
The tendered schemes have a total combined capacity of 520MW. These are:
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- 150MW Touggourt (Touggourt)
- 250MW Tamacine (Touggourt)
Sonelgaz issued the request for proposals in January and set 6 February as the last day for interested bidders to submit their proposals.
Two of these contracts have been tendered previously.
Last year, Sonelgaz picked the winning bidders for the 120MW Kenadsa and 150MW Touggourt solar projects, along with 14 other schemes.
A team comprising local Cosider Canalisation and Italy’s Fimer was selected to undertake the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the 120MW Kenadsa and 150MW Touggourt solar power plant projects.
The consortium offered to build the solar farms for levelised electricity costs of AD6.739 a kilowatt-hour (kWh) and AD7.660/kWh, respectively.
The previously tendered 15 packages have a total combined capacity of 2,000MW, requiring an investment of about AD172bn ($1.2bn).
A team comprising China International Water & Electric (CWE), China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction (HXCC) and Yellow River Engineering Consulting Company (YREC) won five packages, which have a total capacity of 780MW.
The five projects in Abadia, Batmet, Gueltet Sidi Saad, Douar El-Maa and Ouled Djellal will require a total investment of roughly AD65.1bn.
Other Chinese-led companies were selected for four other schemes: Shanxi Installation Group won the contract to develop the 80MW Ouled Fadel scheme; China State Construction Engineering Group won the 200MW Tendla solar project; a team of Power China International and Sinohydro will implement the 200MW Laghrous solar project; and Power China Zhongnan Engineering Corporation has been selected to develop the 150MW solar scheme in Khenguet Sidi Sadji.
One other group has won more than one contract. A team of local Cosider Canalisation and Italy’s Fimer won the 150MW Touggurt solar PV project and the 120MW Kenadsa solar scheme.
The local Hamdi also bagged two contracts: the 80MW El-Euche solar scheme and another 70MW scheme in Taleb Larbi.
The bid for the 80MW scheme in Ksar Chellala was cancelled.
Some 28 companies submitted 90 separate bids for the contracts to build solar PV power plants in the country, MEED reported in October 2023.
The projects comprise the first phase of a plan to develop 15,000MW of solar PV capacity in the country, according to Sonelgaz.
Algeria’s installed solar PV capacity as of the end of 2021 stood at over 420MW, or about 2% of total installed power generation capacity.
The country’s National Renewable Energy & Efficiency Development Plan, announced in 2015, aims to increase the domestic renewable generation capacity to 22GW, or 27% of the total domestic generation capacity, by 2030.
Solar PV is expected to contribute more than 13.5GW of the total.
READ THE FEBRUARY MEED BUSINESS REVIEWTrump unleashes tech opportunities; Doha achieves diplomatic prowess and economic resilience; GCC water developers eye uptick in award activity in 2025.
Published on 1 February 2025 and distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the February MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA 1: Trump 2.0 targets technology> AGENDA 2: Trump’s new trial in the Middle East> AGENDA 3: Unlocking AI’s carbon conundrum> GAZA: Gaza ceasefire goes into effect> LEBANON: New Lebanese PM raises political hopes> WATER DEVELOPERS: Acwa Power improves lead as IWP contract awards slow> WATER & WASTEWATER: Water projects require innovation> INTERVIEW: Omran’s tourism strategies help deliver Oman 2040> PROJECTS RECORD: 2024 breaks all project records> REAL ESTATE: Ras Al-Khaimah’s robust real estate boom continues> QATAR: Doha works to reclaim spotlight> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects market enters 2025 in state of growth> CONTRACT AWARDS: Monthly haul cements record-breaking total for 2024> ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects> OPINION: Between the extremes as spring approacheshttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13373113/main.gif -
Dubai prequalifies developers for $22bn tunnels PPP
6 February 2025
Dubai Municipality has prequalified developers for the first four packages of the $22bn Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) project.
According to industry sources, at least three companies have been prequalified as lead members of potential consortiums that can bid for the contracts.
These include:
- Etihad Water & Electricity subsidiary (local)
- Itochu (Japan)
- Vision Invest (Saudi Arabia)
Other companies have been prequalified as technical members.
MEED reported in October that over a dozen companies were keen to prequalify as investors or sponsors of the planned public-private partnership (PPP) project.
They included:
- Abrdn Investcorp Infrastructure Investments Manager (UK)
- Besix (Belgium)
- China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)
- China Railway Engineering Group (CREG)
- China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China)
- Itochu (Japan)
- Nesma Company (Saudi Arabia)
- Plenary (Australia)
- Samsung C&T (South Korea)
- Vision Invest (Saudi Arabia)
- Webuild (Italy)
The request for proposals for the project’s first two packages is expected to be issued imminently.
MEED previously reported that the bidders for the PPP packages will be prequalified consortiums comprised of sponsors or investors, EPC contractors, and operations and maintenance contractors.
The overall project will require a capital expenditure of about AED30bn ($8bn), while the whole-life cost over the full concession terms of the entire project is estimated to reach AED80bn.
The investor prequalification process for the scheme comes after the client prequalified EPC contractors that can partner with the developers or investors to bid for the contracts.
MEED understands that packages J1 and W will be tendered together as separate contracts first, followed by J2 and J3, with the requests for proposals to be issued sequentially, staggered about six to 12 months apart.
DSST packages
Under the current plan, the $22bn DSST project is broken down into six packages, which will be tendered as PPP packages with concession periods lasting between 25 and 35 years.
The first package, J1, comprises Jebel Ali tunnels (North) and terminal pump stations (TPS). The tunnels will extend approximately 42 kilometres (km), and the links will extend 10km.
The second package, J2, covers the southern section of the Jebel Ali tunnels, which will extend 16km and have a link stretching 46km.
The third package, W for Warsan, comprises 16km of tunnels, TPS and 46km of links.
J3, the fourth package, comprises 129km of links.
J1, J2, W and J3 will comprise the deep sewerage tunnels, links and TPS (TLT) components of the overall project.
J1, J2 and W will be procured under a design-build-finance-operate-maintain model with a concession period of 25-35 years.
J3 will be procured under a design-build-finance model with a concession period of 25-35 years. Once completed, Dubai Municipality will operate J3, unlike the first three packages, which are planned to be operated and maintained by the winning PPP contractors.
The project’s remaining two packages entail expanding and upgrading the Jebel Ali and Warsan sewage treatment plants. MEED understands that these packages will be procured at a later stage.
READ THE FEBRUARY MEED BUSINESS REVIEWTrump unleashes tech opportunities; Doha achieves diplomatic prowess and economic resilience; GCC water developers eye uptick in award activity in 2025.
Published on 1 February 2025 and distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the February MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA 1: Trump 2.0 targets technology> AGENDA 2: Trump’s new trial in the Middle East> AGENDA 3: Unlocking AI’s carbon conundrum> GAZA: Gaza ceasefire goes into effect> LEBANON: New Lebanese PM raises political hopes> WATER DEVELOPERS: Acwa Power improves lead as IWP contract awards slow> WATER & WASTEWATER: Water projects require innovation> INTERVIEW: Omran’s tourism strategies help deliver Oman 2040> PROJECTS RECORD: 2024 breaks all project records> REAL ESTATE: Ras Al-Khaimah’s robust real estate boom continues> QATAR: Doha works to reclaim spotlight> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects market enters 2025 in state of growth> CONTRACT AWARDS: Monthly haul cements record-breaking total for 2024> ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects> OPINION: Between the extremes as spring approacheshttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13370610/main.jpg