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• 
  Contractors win Oman-Etihad Rail packages

  23 April 2024

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  Oman-Etihad Rail Company (OERC) has announced that it has awarded contracts for three civil works packages for the railway project linking Oman and the UAE, which is now officially called Hafeet Rail.

  The estimated AED5.5bn ($1.5bn) design-and-build contract was awarded to a consortium of Abu Dhabi-based National Projects Construction (NPC), National Infrastructure Construction Company (NICC), Tristar Engineering & Construction and Oman’s Galfar Engineering & Contracting.

  NPC is the infrastructure development arm of the Abu Dhabi-based Trojan Construction Group, which is a subsidiary of local investment firm Alpha Dhabi.

  According to sources close to the project, the clients are expected to appoint an engineering design firm for the project imminently.

  NICC is the project management consultant for the Hafeet Rail scheme.

  OERC also awarded a separate contract for the rolling stock systems and integration contracts to German firm Siemens and Egyptian contractor Hassan Allam Construction.

  Several high-ranking officials from both sides attended the agreement signing ceremony.

  They included Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Suhail Bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, minister of energy and infrastructure; Abdul Salam Bin Mohammed Al Murshidi, chairman of the Omani Investment Authority; Qais Bin Mohammed Al Yousef, minister of commerce, industry and investment promotion; and Ahmed Bin Hilal Al Busaidi, Oman’s ambassador to the UAE.

  In January, MEED reported that OERC had received bids for three civil works packages for the railway project linking the two countries.

  According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the firms submitted their bids on 4 December for packages A and B. The bid for package C was submitted on 11 December.

  OERC qualified companies that could bid for the three civil works packages for the railway project in August last year.

  Network development

  Oman-Etihad Rail Company was established in September 2022 to implement the railway network between the two countries.

  The project subsequently received a push after Oman-Etihad Rail Company inked a strategic agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company to support its development.

  The UAE-Oman Rail Network is set to improve the two countries’ competitiveness in global trade and help establish their positions as logistics hubs that serve as gateways to regional markets.

  The scheme supports both countries’ sustainable development goals by improving their transport and infrastructure sectors.

  The line’s increased efficiency compared to other modes of transport is expected to reduce the overall cost of supply chains. The network will also provide trade and investment opportunities for the private sector and new job opportunities.

  Passenger trains will run up to 200 kilometres (km) an hour on the line, reducing the journey time between Sohar and Abu Dhabi to 100 minutes and between Sohar and Al Ain to 47 minutes.

  Freight trains will reach a top speed of 120km/hour.

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Saudi market returns to growth

  23 April 2024

  

   

  The Gulf projects market grew for the 13th straight month in March, rising by 2.4% and adding $93.6bn in value from 15 March to 12 April as the Saudi projects market returned to positive growth. The kingdom added 2.7% or $48bn in value. 

  The growth in Saudi projects was driven in part by the launch of the front-end engineering and design of $9.7bn-worth of pumped hydropower storage projects by Enowa, the utility subsidiary of Neom.

  The total budget and scope of the Mecca Gate project in Jeddah by the Al Shamiyah Urban Development was also significantly increased.

  Beyond the kingdom

  The UAE projects market also continued to grow quickly, adding 3.4% or $26bn in value over the same period.

  The value addition was led by the ongoing revival of the Al Maktoum International airport expansion and the reactivation of several project packages that had previously been considered on hold. 

  Phase one of the airport’s strategic expansion plan now has a total of $16bn-worth of work actively under study or in design, including an estimated $7bn concourse building and $3.5bn new terminal, alongside $2.7bn in sub-structural works.

  Elsewhere in the GCC, Oman’s projects markets also grew by 2.3%, adding $5.5bn, while Kuwait’s grew by 2.1%, adding $3.7bn. 

  The Qatari and Bahraini projects markets shrank, shedding 0.3% and 3.5%, or $0.8bn and $2.5bn, respectively. 

  Outside of the GCC, Iran’s projects market added 4% or $11.5bn in value, driven by the launch into execution of a $16bn pressure-boosting project at the South Pars gas field, while Iraq’s projects market added a marginal 0.5% or $1.8bn in value. 

  

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  MEED's April 2024 special report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > GVT & ECONOMY: Saudi Arabia seeks diversification amid regional tensions
  > BANKING: Saudi lenders gear up for corporate growth
  > UPSTREAM: Aramco spending drawdown to jolt oil projects
  > DOWNSTREAM: Master Gas System spending stimulates Saudi downstream sector
  > POWER: Riyadh to sustain power spending
  > WATER: Growth inevitable for the Saudi water sector
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi gigaprojects propel construction sector
  > TRANSPORT: Saudi Arabia’s transport sector offers prospects

   

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  John Bambridge
• 
  Adnoc in talks for Ruwais LNG project stakes

  23 April 2024

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  Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is in talks with potential international investors, including Shell and TotalEnergies, to sell stakes in its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais Industrial City.

  The British and French energy majors, as well as Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Co, are looking to invest in equity stakes in the Ruwais LNG facility, as well as contracts to purchase LNG from it, according to a Bloomberg news report.

  The planned LNG export terminal in Ruwais will have the capacity to produce about 9.6 million tonnes a year (t/y) of LNG from two processing trains, each with a capacity of 4.8 million t/y.

  The facility, to be operated by Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Gas, will ship LNG mainly to key Asian markets, such as Pakistan, India, China, South Korea and Japan.

  Adnoc is yet to reach a final investment decision (FID) on the estimated $5.2bn Ruwais export terminal project. In November last year, the Abu Dhabi energy giant announced it was advancing towards FID on the project.

  In March, however, Adnoc issued a limited notice to proceed to a consortium of contractors for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the Ruwais LNG terminal project. The limited notice to proceed was awarded to a consortium led by France’s Technip Energies, consisting of Japan-based JGC Corporation and Abu Dhabi-owned NMDC Energy.

  MEED has previously reported that Adnoc is expected to issue the full EPC contract award for the Ruwais LNG project in June this year.

  Planned LNG terminal

  The Ruwais LNG project will feature process units, storage tanks, an export jetty for loading cargoes and LNG bunkering, utilities, flare handling systems and associated buildings. The project also requires designs for electric-powered rotary equipment and compressors instead of gas-fired units.

  US-based Baker Hughes has won a $400m contract to supply all-electric compression systems for the planned LNG terminal. The order was placed with Nuovo Pignone International, a subsidiary of Baker Hughes.

  The LNG trains will run on energy-efficient Baker Hughes technology, including compressors driven by 75MW electric motors.

  The only other bidder for the Ruwais LNG terminal project is a consortium of US-based McDermott, Italian contractor Saipem and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

  The two competing consortiums submitted technical bids for the project by the deadline of 31 May last year, MEED previously reported. They submitted commercial bids by the deadline of 29 December.

  Separately, MEED also reported that Adnoc Gas had awarded local contractor Al Jaber Energy Services the contract for the project’s site preparation works in late December last year.

  Project site selection

  Adnoc Gas originally planned to build the LNG terminal in the UAE emirate of Fujairah, which sits outside the Strait of Hormuz on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.

  However, in May 2023, the company announced that it was shifting the project location from Fujairah to Ruwais, Abu Dhabi.

  MEED previously reported that Adnoc Gas had received revised technical bids from contractors in May last year for the new scope of work on the project.

  As part of their technical bids, contractors had to propose one of three sites shortlisted by Adnoc Gas in the EPC tender, adjacent to where the LNG complex could be established. These sites were located within, or close to, Ruwais Industrial City:

  • Ruwais Refinery West
  • Ruwais Derivatives Park
  • Manayif gas processing plant

  In September, MEED reported that Adnoc Gas had selected a site close to Ruwais Refinery West to build the planned LNG facility.

  ALSO READ: Adnoc secures second LNG deal for Ruwais LNG facility

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Neom tenders desalination EPC package

  22 April 2024

  

   

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  Saudi Arabian Neom's utility subsidiary, Enowa, has issued the request for proposals (RFP) for a contract to build a new seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant with a capacity of 150 million litres a day (MLD).

  Enowa expects to receive proposals from qualified engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies by 22 May.

  According to a source close to the project, the deadline is likely to be extended. 

  The 150MLD project, which is equivalent to a capacity of 150,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), was previously known as the Moonlight desalination plant.

  It will be located adjacent to the existing 125MLD desalination plant at Duba on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. 

  MEED previously reported that Neom had received prequalification applications from interested companies in December.

  The project is expected to take 12 months to complete.

  Neom said the plant will treat seawater with a total dissolved solids measure of up to 42,000 milligrams a litre.

  The project scope includes:

  • offshore intake towers and pipelines 
  • seawater intake and screening station
  • feed intake chlorination system
  • media filtration or MF/UF membranes
  • reverse osmosis first pass
  • reverse osmosis second pass
  • post-treatment and stabilisation
  • automated clean-in-place system
  • waste treatment unit
  • reject disposal and outfall

  The selected contractor is also expected to build the necessary storage tanks for the desalinated and stabilised water, an operator control room, programmable logic control and Scada systems, among others.

  In addition, the plant must to comply with Neom’s cybersecurity requirements.

  To meet the short timeline, Neom has asked contractors to confirm whether they already possess a design of an existing plant that can be used for the project.

  This project’s capacity is smaller than the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) desalination plant being developed by Japan’s Itochu and France’s Veolia at Neom’s Oxagon industrial city.

  The ZLD plant’s first phase is expected to have a capacity of 500,000 cm/d.

  A consortium of Enowa, Itochu and Veolia signed the joint development for the ZLD desalination plant in December 2022.

  The planned ZLD plant will be powered 100% by renewable energy and is understood to require an investment of between $1.5bn and $2bn. It is expected to meet about 30% of Neom’s projected total water demand once complete.

  

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  MEED's April 2024 special report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > GVT & ECONOMY: Saudi Arabia seeks diversification amid regional tensions
  > BANKING: Saudi lenders gear up for corporate growth
  > UPSTREAM: Aramco spending drawdown to jolt oil projects
  > DOWNSTREAM: Master Gas System spending stimulates Saudi downstream sector
  > POWER: Riyadh to sustain power spending
  > WATER: Growth inevitable for the Saudi water sector
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi gigaprojects propel construction sector
  > TRANSPORT: Saudi Arabia’s transport sector offers prospects

   

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11701931/main.gif

  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Sports ministry tenders Riyadh stadium contract

  22 April 2024

  

   

  Register for MEED's guest programme 

  Saudi Arabia's Sports Ministry has tendered a contract for the expansion of the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh. 

  It issued the request for proposals on 8 April and expects to recieve bids on 14 June.

  The stadium's current capacity is 22,188 seats and the expansion aims to increase the seating capacity to approximately 45,000. The expansion project comes as the kingdom prepares to host the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in 2027.

  Capital projects

  The project is part of the kingdom's plan to build sports stadiums under its SR10.1bn ($2.7bn) capital projects programme.

  MEED previously reported that the Sports Ministry had tendered an early works contract for the expansion of the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam. The scope of the contract includes the decommissioning, demolition, bulk excavation, relocation and setting up of related facilities for the stadium.

  In July last year, the ministry invited construction companies to submit prequalification documents for the main construction contracts for the schemes that are part of the capital projects programme.

  The projects, which are set for completion before the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, include:

  • Increasing the capacity of King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh to 92,000 seats
  • Expanding the seating capacity of Riyadh’s Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium to 45,000
  • Increasing the capacity of Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium to 30,000 seats
  • An increase in seating capacity for the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium in Al Khair to 45,000
  • The construction of a sustainable New Riyadh Stadium in the north of Riyadh with 45,000 seats

  The next main element of the ministry’s projects programme is the construction of 30 new training grounds and facilities in proximity to the stadiums that will be used for the 2027 competition.

  Construction on the schemes is expected to start in July 2024 and be completed by December 2025. A total of 18 facilities will be ready in time for the 2026 AFC Women’s Cup.

  

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  MEED's April 2024 special report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > GVT & ECONOMY: Saudi Arabia seeks diversification amid regional tensions
  > BANKING: Saudi lenders gear up for corporate growth
  > UPSTREAM: Aramco spending drawdown to jolt oil projects
  > DOWNSTREAM: Master Gas System spending stimulates Saudi downstream sector
  > POWER: Riyadh to sustain power spending
  > WATER: Growth inevitable for the Saudi water sector
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi gigaprojects propel construction sector
  > TRANSPORT: Saudi Arabia’s transport sector offers prospects

   

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11701535/main.jpg

  Yasir Iqbal