Related Articles

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  Firms prepare bids for 250MW Airtrunk data centre

  27 April 2026

  

   

  Contractors are preparing to submit commercial offers by 4 May for a contract to build a 250MW data centre in Riyadh.

  The project is being co-developed by Australian firm AirTrunk in collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company Humain, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

  The bidders include:

  • El-Seif Engineering Contracting / Larsen & Toubro (local/India)
  • FCC / Alfanar Projects (Spain/local)
  • Albawani / Orascom (local/Egypt)
  • Nesma & Partners (local
  • James L Williams (UAE)
  • Alec (UAE)

  In October last year, AirTrunk and Humain announced a $3bn partnership to build data centres in Saudi Arabia, marking AirTrunk’s first move into the region.

  The firms said they would, along with AirTrunk investor Blackstone, “develop a long-term strategic partnership focused on financing, developing and operating next-generation data centres and AI infrastructure across the kingdom”.

  This was followed by Humain signing a $1.2bn financing agreement with the state-backed National Infrastructure Fund to support the expansion of AI and digital infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia. The agreement was signed in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

  Humain said the deal will support its plan to develop up to 250MW of hyperscale AI data centre capacity in the kingdom.

  According to a joint statement, the data centres will use graphics processing units for AI training and inference, serving Humain’s customers locally, regionally and globally.

  The National Infrastructure Fund and Humain will also explore launching an AI data centre investment platform, with the two organisations acting as anchor investors to enable local and international institutional investors to back the scale-up of Humain’s AI programme.

  The National Infrastructure Fund is Saudi Arabia’s lead development financing partner for infrastructure and operates under the supervision of the National Development Fund.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Diriyah confirms $490m museum construction contract

  27 April 2026

  Saudi gigaproject developer Diriyah Company has formally announced the award of a SR1.84bn ($490m) construction contract for its Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMoCA) within the Diriyah development in Riyadh.

  The contract has been awarded to a consortium comprising Egyptian contractor Hassan Allam Construction and Saudi Arabia’s Albawani.

  In February, MEED exclusively reported that the contractors were preparing to start construction work on the project. MEED understands Diriyah Company awarded the contract to the consortium in December last year.

  The announcement follows Diriyah Company’s award of an estimated SR2.5bn ($666m) contract to build the Pendry superblock package in the DG2 area.

  The Pendry superblock includes the construction of the Pendry Hotel alongside residential and commercial assets. The package will cover 75,365 square metres and is located in the northwestern district of the DG2 area.

  In February, Diriyah Company also awarded a SR717m ($192m) contract for the construction of the One Hotel, located in the Diriyah Two area of the masterplan, with a gross floor area of more than 31,000 sq m.

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

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  April 2026: Data drives regional projects

  24 April 2026

  Click here to download the PDF

  Includes: Commodity tracker | Top 10 global contractors | Brent spot price | Construction output

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  MEED’s May 2026 report on the UAE includes:

  > COMMENT: Conflict tests UAE diversification
  > GVT &: ECONOMY: UAE economy absorbs multi-sector shock
  > BANKING: UAE banks ready to weather the storm
  > ATTACKS: UAE counts energy infrastructure costs
  > UPSTREAM: Adnoc builds long-term oil and gas production potential
  > DOWNSTREAM: Adnoc Gas to rally UAE downstream project spending
  > POWER: Large-scale IPPs drive UAE power market
  > WATER: UAE water investment broadens beyond desalination
  > CONSTRUCTION: War casts shadow over UAE construction boom
  > TRANSPORT: UAE rail momentum grows as trade routes face strain

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  MEED Editorial
• 
  Boutique Group tenders Tuwaiq Palace hotel in Riyadh

  24 April 2026

  

   

  Saudi Arabia’s Boutique Group, backed by the sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund (PIF), has retendered a contract to convert Tuwaiq Palace in Riyadh into a hotel.

  Contractors have been given a deadline of 31 May to submit proposals.

  The scheme comprises 40 hotel rooms and suites and 56 one- and two-bedroom villas.

  According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the contract was first tendered in 2022.

  In January of that year, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched Boutique Group to manage and convert historic and cultural Saudi palaces into ultra-luxury hotels.

  Boutique Group’s first phase covers three palaces, two of which are under construction. Al-Hamra Palace in Jeddah is being converted to include 33 suites and 44 villas. In July 2023, MEED reported that Jeddah-based Al-Redwan Contracting was appointed the main contractor for the Al-Hamra Palace conversion.

  The other project is the Red Palace in Riyadh, which will feature 46 suites and 25 guest rooms. In 2023, local contractor Mobco won the contract to undertake the project.

  In 1957, the Red Palace became the headquarters of the Council of Ministers for 30 years, and later served as the main office for the Board of Grievances until 2002.

  Jordan-headquartered Dar Al-Omran is acting as supervision consultant on all three projects.

  Photo credits: Omrania

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  MEED’s April 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
  > GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
  > BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
  > UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
  > DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
  > POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
  > WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
  > TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Firms announce 129MW Dubai data centre

  24 April 2026

  Dubai’s Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) has signed a joint-venture agreement with Netherlands-headquartered data centre developer Volt to build a new artificial intelligence (AI)-ready data centre in the emirate.

  Planned for Dubai Silicon Oasis, the development will take the form of a campus covering up to 60,000 square metres.

  The project will be delivered in two phases, starting with 29MW of immediately available capacity, followed by a second phase adding a further 100MW of committed power.

  Under the arrangement, DIEZ will supply the land and essential infrastructure, while Volt will finance and develop the project, lead construction, and manage the design, leasing, implementation and day-to-day operations.

  French firm Schneider Electric, which has its regional headquarters in Dubai Silicon Oasis, will support the development by supplying advanced electrical systems, power distribution capabilities and smart data centre infrastructure.

  The GCC currently has more than 174 active data centre projects, representing over $93bn in investment, led by international players such as AWS, Google and Huawei, alongside regional developers including Khazna and Moro, supported by government-led localisation strategies.

  More than a dozen large-scale facilities valued at over $100m each are currently under tender, with further packages expected to reach the market over the next six to 12 months.

  The UAE is one of the leading data centre markets, with hyperscale campuses, sovereign cloud initiatives and edge data centre deployments underway.

  Data centre development is closely aligned with the UAE’s digital economy and AI roadmap, as well as the wider smart city programme.

  Priorities include hyperscale and colocation facilities to support cloud service providers; edge data centres to reduce latency and enable 5G and IoT use cases; energy-efficient designs using advanced cooling, modular construction and renewables; and strategic partnerships between global hyperscalers, local developers and utilities.

  

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16548972/main.JPG

  Yasir Iqbal