Firms submit Bahrain highway consultancy bids
2 May 2025
Bahrain’s Ministry of Works has received bids from firms for a contract covering the pre-contract engineering consultancy services for the next phase of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah highway upgrade.
According to the official notice published by the Bahrain Tender Board, the scope of the contract includes designs to update the highway to at least five lanes each way, update utility corridors, revise the stormwater design, and prepare contract drawings and tender documents.
The bidders include:
- Aecom (US)
- Parsons Corporation (US)
In March, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and Bahrain’s government signed a KD10m ($32.4m) loan agreement to fund the second phase of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah highway, which is expected to cost about $404m.
According to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the construction on the project’s first phase was completed in 2020.
A joint venture of local firm Nass Contracting and Kuwait’s KCC Engineering & Contracting undertook the project’s main construction works.
According to a report by GlobalData, Bahrain’s construction industry is expected to grow by 3.5% in real terms in 2025, supported by public and private sector investments in industrial, commercial and energy construction projects, coupled with the rise in the value of awarded tenders.
The report adds that the total value of tenders awarded grew by 145.2% year-on-year in 2024, preceded by an annual growth of 114.1% in 2023.
The infrastructure construction sector is expected to grow by 3.5% in 2025, before registering an annual average growth of 5.4% between 2026 and 2029, supported by investments in major road and airport construction projects.
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> AGENDA 1: GCC shelters from the trade wars
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> INTERVIEW: CCED seeks growth in Oman’s hydrocarbons sector
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> LEADERSHIP: Rethinking investments for a lower-carbon future
> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index inches upwards
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> ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects
> OPINION: Trump’s new world order
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Kuwait tenders oil manifold project24 June 2026
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Consortium wins $1bn Saudi healthcare PPP project23 June 2026
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Morocco approves Khalladi wind farm expansion23 June 2026
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Libya plans to distribute oil budget in July23 June 2026
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Kuwait tenders oil manifold project24 June 2026
State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has tendered a contract to construct remote header manifolds and associated works in the southern and eastern regions of Kuwait.
A meeting with prospective contractors has been scheduled for 21 July 2026, and bids are due to be submitted ahead of a deadline on 20 September 2026.
Manifolds are devices used in the oil sector to divide the flow of liquids from a single source to several outlets, or to collect liquids, or vice versa.
Previously, a project with a similar scope in the same region was awarded to the Kuwaiti contractor Al-Ghanim International General Trading & Contracting.
In 2016, it signed a contract worth $435m to construct remote header manifolds and associated works in the south and east Kuwait areas.
The scope of that contract included design, procurement, construction and commissioning of 25 remote manifold stations and associated pipelines in south and east Kuwait using multi-phase pumps to deliver liquids to gathering centres.
Kuwait’s oil fields are connected to more than 25 gathering centres, which serve as collection points for crude oil produced by several wells connected by flowlines, providing initial treatment by separating associated gas and removing salt.
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Contractors win deals for Saudi Energy transmission projects23 June 2026

Saudi Arabia-based Haif Company has won contracts for two separate substation projects in Saudi Arabia, according to sources.
The first involves the construction of a 132/33/13.8kV substation for Saudi Energy, formerly Saudi Electricity Company, which will replace the existing Tabuk substation 2 in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia.
The works include the construction of a new substation, along with GIS, transformers, switchgear, capacitor banks, MV/LV cable systems and protection infrastructure.
Ten firms submitted bids for the project last December. The bidders included:
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In addition to Tabuk, Saudi Energy is planning several power transmission projects in Al-Jouf, Medina and the Eastern Province as part of the kingdom’s push to upgrade its electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure
The second Haif contract involves a 132/33kV substation project at Hail to support the integration of solar generation from the Al-Kahfah photovoltaic facility into the network. Together, the projects are valued at about $90m.
Elsewhere, the local Trading & Development Partnership has been appointed to build a 132/33kV substation at Al-Jouf, in Al-Jouf Province.
The facility will deliver a transmission capacity of about 168 MVA to the Al-Busitaa agricultural site, supporting the Liquid Fuel Displacement Programme, which aims to reduce reliance on diesel generators and fuel oil for power generation.
Nine bids were submitted for the project last year.
According to MEED Projects, Saudi Energy has almost $2.3bn-worth of projects currently under bid evaluation, including the 500kV overhead transmission line, approximately 466km long, for the Eastern Operating Area and the Central Operating Area in the Eastern Province. The main contract is expected to be awarded later in 2026.
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Consortium wins $1bn Saudi healthcare PPP project23 June 2026
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP) have awarded a public-private partnership (PPP) contract for the operation and management of the Sabic Specialised Behavioural Healthcare Hospital in Riyadh.
The contract was awarded to SEH Healthcare, a consortium comprising local firms Specialised Medical Company (SMC Healthcare) and Health Gates Complex, and Germany’s Dr Ebel Fachkliniken.
In a stock exchange filing on the Tadawul, SMC Healthcare said the total estimated project value is about SR3.8bn ($1bn).
“The scope of the contract includes medical and non-medical operations and maintenance, facility management, equipment management, and specialised clinical and non-clinical services in mental health and addiction treatment,” the statement added.
The contract term is 15 years.
The facility spans about 62,500 square metres and includes 150 beds, 19 outpatient clinics and six dedicated day-care rooms, as well as specialised services in mental health, addiction treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare.
The project is the latest healthcare project to be procured on a PPP basis in the kingdom. In May, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defence and the NCP issued an expression of interest and request for qualification notice for the Chronic Kidney Disease Care and National Dialysis Services project.
The NCP said the initiative supports Saudi Vision 2030 by increasing private sector participation in the healthcare sector.
In January, Saudi Arabia launched a National Privatisation Strategy, which aims to mobilise $64bn in private sector capital by 2030.
The strategy builds on the privatisation programme first introduced in 2018. It will focus on unlocking state-owned assets for private investment and privatising selected government services.
In a statement, NCP said the new strategy comprises 147 opportunities drawn from a broader pipeline of more than 500 projects across 18 sectors.
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Morocco approves Khalladi wind farm expansion23 June 2026
Acwa Maroc, a subsidiary of Saudi developer Acwa, has secured approval to expand the Khalladi wind independent power project (IPP) in northern Morocco by 40MW.
The extension will increase the project’s total installed capacity from 120MW to 160MW. The Khalladi wind farm is located at Djebel Sendouq, about 50 kilometres from Tangier. The existing facility comprises 40 wind turbines rated at 3MW each.
The project operates under Morocco’s Law 13.09 renewable energy framework, which allows private renewable energy firms to develop generation assets and supply electricity directly to industrial consumers.
According to Acwa’s website, the facility entered commercial operation in 2018 and supplies electricity to Morocco’s state-owned utility Onee and large industrial customers under a 20-year power-purchase agreement.
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The engineering, procurement and construction contract was executed by Denmark’s Vestas, France’s Cegelec and Morocco’s Stam and AGTT.
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The operational wind farm generates about 397GWh of electricity a year. It is understood that the expansion project has already entered the development phase.
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Libya plans to distribute oil budget in July23 June 2026

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has communicated to contractors in the country that it is expecting funds from the country’s budget to be distributed to state-owned oil companies in July, according to industry sources.
Earlier this year, the country’s rival legislative bodies approved a unified state budget for the first time in more than 13 years.
The Central Bank of Libya confirmed on 11 April that both chambers had endorsed the budget, calling it a key step towards restoring financial stability after prolonged division.
The total budget was valued at LD190bn ($29.95bn), and LD12bn ($1.9bn) was allocated to the country’s NOC.
An additional LD40bn ($6.3bn) was allocated for “development projects”.
At the time, Libya stated that a joint committee had been formed to help prioritise development projects, and the projects had been listed in the budget.
Over the past decade, the country has had two rival governments; the last time the country operated under a single national budget was in 2013.
The country’s two legislatures are the eastern-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High Council of State.
As a result of the US and Israel’s war with Israel, there has been significant disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally transports around 20% of the world’s oil and gas exports.
This has driven global energy prices higher, with Brent hitting more than $114 a barrel in May this year.
The price of Brent remains 10% higher than prior to the US and Israel attacking Iran on 28 February.
Libya is well-positioned to capitalise on the ongoing uncertainty around exports via the Strait of Hormuz, as energy-importing nations seek reliable oil and gas supplies.
The North African country is located near Europe, with several large oil and gas export ports and a pipeline that transports gas to Italy.
Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, but has struggled to implement projects to develop them over recent years due to political infighting and security problems.
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