Power sector awards momentum accelerates
26 December 2024

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region’s power sector awarded over $60bn of contracts between January and early November 2024, up 47.5% compared to the value of awarded contracts in the previous full year.
This figure is more than double the average value of annual contract awards recorded between 2014 and 2023, based on data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects.
It also exceeds by 21% the total combined value of contracts awarded between 2018 and 2020, when some regional governments and utilities began pivoting to renewable energy and freezing the expansion of thermal plant capacities, in line with goals aimed at decarbonising their electricity systems.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down project activity and temporarily delayed the awarding of some contracts.
The market staged a short-lived comeback in 2021, when Saudi Arabia awarded a string of contracts for solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power projects (IPPs), including a contract to develop the 600MW Shoaiba solar PV scheme, which holds the world record for the lowest unsubsidised solar PV production at $cents1.04 a kilowatt-hour.
A slight contraction occurred the following year due to a spike in raw materials and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) costs.
Last year saw a stunning recovery, however, helped by the award of new renewable energy projects in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Oman, as well as by a resumption of contract awards for new gas-fired power plants, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iraq.
Yet 2024 is set to outshine 2023 in terms of awarded contracts for thermal, renewable energy and nuclear power generation plants, as well as for power transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure such as substations and overhead transmission lines.
Major 2024 awards
In 2023, power generation projects accounted for an estimated 79% of total contract awards, with T&D projects accounting for the rest.
A different picture is emerging in 2024, with data in the first nine months of the year suggesting that generation contract awards are retreating to about 64% of the total. This is due to increased T&D capital spending that has so far driven a 150% increase in award value compared to full-year 2023.
This is a clear indicator of T&D capacity buildout catching up with the generation capacity expansion, especially as larger economies such as Saudi Arabia strive to set up stronger and more efficient electricity links domestically, and as the energy-rich GCC states seek to establish stronger electricity links with one another and with their neighbours, including Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.
Saudi Arabia has dominated the overall Mena power contracts landscape. Its share of 29% in 2022 soared to 61% in 2023 and 67% in the first 10-11 months of 2024.
In May, principal buyer Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) signed two power-purchase agreements with Japan’s Marubeni Corporation for contracts to develop two wind IPPs under the fourth round of the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP). The Al-Ghat and Waad Al-Shamal wind IPPs have a total combined capacity of 1,100MW.
The contract for a third wind IPP, tendered as part of round four of the NREP, is also expected to be awarded soon.
In June, Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle the Public Investment Fund (PIF) let the fourth batch of solar PV schemes, which it is implementing bilaterally through the Price Discovery Scheme.
A team comprising Acwa Power, PIF-backed Water & Electricity Holding Company (Badeel) and Saudi Aramco Power Company (Sapco), a subsidiary of the state majority-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, will develop the three solar projects, which will have a total combined capacity of 5,500MW and will require an investment of about $3.3bn.
The Haden solar PV and Muwayh solar power plants, which will each have a capacity of 2,000MW, will be located in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca region. The third project, the 1,500MW Al-Khushaybi solar PV plant, will be located in the Qassim region. The three new solar PV facilities are expected to become operational in the first half of 2027.
In early November, SPPC also announced the winning bidders for the contracts to develop four combined-cycle gas turbine plants comprising the second batch of thermal capacity that it has tendered since 2023. The four plants, located in Riyadh and the Eastern Province, will each have a capacity of 1,800MW and will require an investment of about $2bn each.
A developer consortium comprising the UAE-based Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), Japan’s Jera Company and the local Albawani Company successfully bid for the contracts to develop and operate the Rumah 2 and Nairiyah 2 IPPs. Meanwhile, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Riyadh-based utility developer Acwa Power and South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) won the contracts to develop and operate the similarly configured Rumah 1 and Nairiyah 1 IPPs.
State utility SEC is also understood to have issued the limited notices to proceed for six greenfield thermal power plants with a total combined capacity of over 16,000MW.
Power generation projects for which final contracts are expected to be awarded before the end of 2024 include:
- Hajr: 3,600MW
- Marjan: 1,800MW
- Riyadh PP12: 1,800MW
- Qurayyah: 3,600MW
- Ghazlan 1: 2,400MW
- Ghazlan 2: 2,900MW
The $5.3bn high-voltage direct current network project connecting the central, western and southern regions of Saudi Arabia was the single largest power contract awarded in Saudi Arabia in 2024.
The UAE, meanwhile, has awarded three key power contracts this year, including for the Al-Ajban solar IPP, which was won by a team of France’s EDF and South Korea’s Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo), and for the Dhafra waste-to-energy project, which a team of Japan’s Marubeni Corporation, Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation and Zurich-headquartered Hitachi Zosen Inova is developing.
Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is also understood to have awarded the contract to complete the Jebel Ali K-Station to Egypt-based Power Generation Engineering & Services Company.
2025 outlook
The Mena power projects pipeline remains robust, with over $45bn-worth of contracts under bid evaluation and another $50bn in the prequalification stage as of late 2024, according to MEED Projects.
Saudi Arabia is likely to remain dominant, particularly if SPPC and the PIF activate a plan by the Energy Ministry to procure 20,000MW of renewable energy capacity annually until it reaches its target for renewables to account for half of its energy production mix by 2030.
Morocco has the second-largest power projects pipeline thanks to several planned schemes to export clean energy and green hydrogen to Europe. Notably, the tender is under way for the country’s first two solar PV plus battery energy storage system (bess) projects, Noor Midelt 2 and 3.
Abu Dhabi also maintains a substantial renewables and gas-fired generation project pipeline. It has several upcoming IPPs with a total combined capacity of over 7,000MW, of which more than 6,000MW is in the tendering stage.
While the procurement process for Saudi Arabia’s first nuclear power plant in Duwaiheen has been delayed, the UAE has plans to procure the next phase of its nuclear power plant project in Barakah.
Green industrial development in steel and aluminium, as is being undertaken in the UAE, is a driver for ongoing clean energy capacity buildout, notes Karen Young, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy.
Egypt, Iran, Kuwait and Iraq have the next largest power projects pipelines. The key drivers in each state vary, with populous countries Egypt and Iran seeking to develop integrated green hydrogen hubs and nuclear power capacity, respectively, while Kuwait remains a promising market with extended plans to procure both conventional and renewable energy capacity to address peak demand.
There are indications that Iraq’s first utility-scale solar PV scheme – a 1GW project being developed by France’s TotalEnergies – will head into the construction stage in the coming months, along with other similar projects for which preliminary agreements were signed by Iraqi authorities in 2021-22.
Oman is actively pursuing renewable energy capacity, with the state offtaker having tendered the contracts for two wind IPPs in September 2024.
In Oman and Qatar, the main downstream companies, Petroleum Development Oman and QatarEnergy, are developing renewable energy capacity as a means of mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to support their respective government’s net-zero targets.
In November, Bahrain started the procurement process for its fourth independent water and power project (IWPP) in Sitra, which replaced the previously planned Al-Dur IWPP 3 scheme.

Other trends
SEC affiliate National Grid Saudi Arabia has awarded EPC contracts for several bess packages to local firm Algihaz this year. In August, it tendered a contract for the construction of a further 2,500MW of energy storage capacity.
In parallel, the procurement process is under way for the first independent bess packages in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, with other utilities expected to follow suit in procuring bess using an IPP model. Bess will boost grid flexibility and spinning reserves in the face of increased renewable energy capacity and demand.
In addition to bess and several gigawatts of solar and wind capacity, Saudi Arabia gigaproject developer Neom, which plans to be powered 100% by renewable energy by the end of the decade, is also considering a network of large-scale pumped hydropower storage plants.
However, despite the ongoing capacity buildout across the Mena states, some end-users – particularly in fossil fuel-
scarce jurisdictions such as Morocco – continue to struggle with supply.
“I’ve been part of a research project in Morocco looking at the renewable power landscape and green economy more broadly. In that case, we do see massive buildout, but it is tailored for offtake to state-related industrials,” says Columbia University’s Young.
She adds that a telephone survey of 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Morocco about their perception of the accessibility and affordability of renewable energy yielded surprising results.
“They strongly suggested a lack of support, given that smaller enterprises continue to see power outages and this has in many cases caused damage to their equipment and abilities to stay open and service customers.
“The disconnect between power buildout and industrial advances in a green supply chain and how small and medium firms see power accessibility and reliability is very stark. In a Mena-wide sense, we might start to question how the delivery and transmission of power in an equitable way affects economic growth opportunities overall.”
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Adnoc Onshore allows more bidding time for field facilities project31 July 2026

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s onshore business (Adnoc Onshore) has given contractors more time to prepare bids for a project to build on-plot and off-plot facilities at the Rumaitha and Shanayel fields, part of the Northeast Bab cluster of oil fields in Abu Dhabi.
The project aims to enhance and sustain oil production at the Rumaitha and Shanayel fields at a rate of 45,000 barrels a day (b/d). It forms part of Adnoc Onshore’s contribution to parent company Adnoc Group’s broader objective of increasing oil production capacity to 5 million b/d by 2027 through its Accelerated Integrated Programme 5 (AiP5). Adnoc Group currently has a production capacity of 4.85 million b/d.
Adnoc Onshore issued the main tender for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works package for the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project on 19 June, MEED previously reported.
The company has now extended the deadline for contractors to submit technical bids from 30 July to 2 August, according to sources.
Adnoc Onshore issued the expression of interest for the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project in early December, with contractors submitting their responses later that month, MEED previously reported.
The prequalification and ongoing tendering process is understood to result from Adnoc Onshore revising its strategy for executing EPC works on an earlier, larger project covering the Northeast Bab cluster, which comprises the Al-Nouf, Rumaitha and Shanayel fields.
MEED reported in December that Adnoc Onshore had cancelled the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) phase it launched in 2024 for the Northeast Bab on-plot and off-plot facilities project in favour of executing the scheme under a conventional EPC model.
The operator awarded a contract to state-owned China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) to carry out EPCm services for the Northeast Bab off-plot facilities package in October 2024. However, the contract was subsequently cancelled last year.
Separately, Adnoc Onshore received bids during the second quarter of 2025 for the EPCm tender covering the Northeast Bab on-plot facilities package, but that procurement process was also later cancelled.
Project scope of work
The detailed scope of work on the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project is as follows:
On-plot facilities:
- Oil train: One new oil train with slug catcher, two-stage separation, desalting, exchangers for crude heating and stabilisation, and all associated interconnections, utilities and civil/structural works, etc.
- Produced water treatment (PWT): New produced water treatment package to enable 100% produced water reinjection (PWRI), including chemical dosing, tanks, pumps, all associated controls and blending with aquifer water, etc.
- Water injection system: New water injection system, including surface water injection pumps, necessary connections and controls from produced water systems, headers, chemical dosing, power and controls, etc.
- Gas handling and export:
- Low-pressure gas compression system
- Medium-pressure gas compression system
- Gas dehydration and regeneration system
- Export gas compression system
- Utilities and offsites: Plant air and instrument air systems, nitrogen generation system, potable water system, vapour recovery system (liquid ejector package), fuel gas import and distribution, closed and open drain systems, hot oil heater, snuffing nitrogen package, enclosed ground flare systems (high-pressure and tank flares) etc.
- Modifications in existing systems, including, but not limited to, installation of a slug catcher at phase-I, connectivity of gas systems, water systems, existing high-pressure compressors modifications, etc
- Electrical, instrumentation and control, and safety: Electrical systems, instrumentation and control system (ICSS, F&G system, field instrumentation, HIPPS, etc.), substation and ITR room building, fire water system, etc.
- Overhead line (220 kV): Installation and extension of overhead lines and 220 KV GIS compound or equivalent power distribution solutions to the central processing plant and other designated areas, as necessary.
Off-plot facilities:
- New gas lifted oil producers and water injectors installation with necessary piping, controls, etc. and their connections to the new or existing clusters and pipeline networks
- New clusters with facilities such as control panels, ITR, production and test manifolds, headers, chemical injection skids, multiphase flow meters, closed drain systems, HIPPS valves, WHCPs, pig traps, ICSS/telecom extensions, etc.
- Modifications in existing clusters, including the addition or extension of manifolds, headers, additional pipelines with pig traps, ICSS/telecom extensions, chemical injection kids, etc.
- Gathering and injection networks: Construction of new and modified oil gathering and water injection trunklines/laterals, pigging facilities (launchers/receivers), valve stations, block valves, corrosion protection and monitoring, and all associated equipment, etc.
- Export gas pipelines and Adnoc Gas interface: Provision for export gas pipeline and facilities from Rumaitha central processing plant to new manifold station and from NMS to Adnoc Gas, including isolation/blowdown, etc.
- Overhead line: Installation and extension of 33 kV overhead lines to clusters, etc., as required.
The tendering exercise for the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project is taking place as Adnoc Onshore continues to make progress with EPC works on another, similar project to build off-plot facilities at the Southeast cluster of oil fields in Abu Dhabi, which is also integral to Adnoc Group’s AiP5 campaign.
The Southeast cluster comprises the Asab, Mender, Qusahwira, Sahil and Shah fields and accounts for approximately a third of Adnoc Onshore’s oil production capacity.
MEED previously reported that Adnoc Onshore had awarded EPC works on the Southeast off-plot facilities project to state-owned China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC), with the value of the contract estimated to be around $1.2bn.
The overall scope of work on the Southeast off-plot facilities project covers the tie-in of more than 150 wells across the fields in the area, the upgrading of remote degassing stations and central degassing stations, the laying of over 270 kilometres of flowlines, as well as the digitalisation of wells for remote monitoring and the implementation of artificial intelligence-driven telemetry technologies.
MEED also recently reported that CPECC awarded subcontracts on the Southeast off-plot facilities project, in its capacity as the main EPC contractor.
The off-plot facilities project is a component of the overall $2bn-$3bn South East AIP5 development, with the on-plot facilities project forming the other part of the programme.
CPECC is also performing EPC works on the Southeast on-plot facilities project in a consortium with Greece-headquartered Archirodon. Adnoc Onshore awarded an estimated $1.5bn contract for that project to the consortium in December 2024, with EPC works scheduled for completion in 2027.
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Dubai extends bid deadline for sewerage tunnels Phase 2 Links31 July 2026

Dubai Municipality has extended the bid submission deadline for the Phase 2 Links package under the Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) public-private partnership (PPP) project.
The Phase 2 Links package is the third package being tendered under the flagship DSST scheme. It was tendered in January and has a new bid submission deadline of 30 September. It had previously been extended to 31 August.
In June, MEED reported that Dubai Municipality had selected groups for the first two packages, J and W, ahead of announcing formal contract awards.
The J, W and Links packages cover the construction of two sets of deep tunnels terminating at pump stations at Warsan and the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plants (STPs). The project also includes over 200 kilometres of sewer links.
According to a source, a hold-up on the “legal” side of things has prevented the municipality from making a formal contract awards announcement despite having selected the winning bidders and concluded discussions on the technical side.
As previously reported, Package W will be awarded to a consortium led by Etihad Water & Electricity (UAE) alongside Tamasuk Holding (Saudi Arabia) and Alkhorayef Water & Power (Saudi Arabia). This package has an estimated capital expenditure cost of less than $2bn.
Package J will be awarded to a consortium led by Vision Invest (Saudi Arabia) alongside Suez Water Company (France). This package has an estimated capital expenditure cost of $3bn.
It is understood that the municipality will first formally announce these awards before moving on to procurement for the next phase.
Bid preparations
MEED also previously reported that at least two groups are preparing to bid for the Links package.
According to a source, the first group comprises an EtihadWE-led consortium, alongside China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) and China Railway Construction Corporation 11th Bureau Group (CRCC 11) as EPC contractors. France’s Veolia would act as operator.
MEED understands that Plenary Group will lead a second bidding consortium, while DeTech Contracting and Kalyon Construction (Turkey) are also preparing to bid for EPC works on the project, sources said.
The three packages are being procured under 30-year design, build, finance, operate and maintain concession models.
The DSST project aims to convert Dubai’s sewerage system from a pumped network to a gravity-based system, enabling the emirate to replace existing sewage pumping stations and meet long-term capacity needs.
The programme also marks the first time the municipality will implement In-Country Value (ICV), a local content programme that promotes economic benefits.
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Larsen & Toubro announces EPC agreement with PDO31 July 2026
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Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that it has signed a six-year engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) framework agreement with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).
Under the agreement, L&T said its subsidiary, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Onshore, has been selected as one of four EPC contractors to participate in PDO’s upcoming front-end engineering and design (feed) and EPC projects over the agreement period.
MEED recently reported that Mumbai-headquartered L&T had become the fourth contractor to join the pool of EPC service providers created by PDO to facilitate the tendering and award of future greenfield and brownfield projects within its Block 6 concession in the sultanate.
Prior to picking L&T, majority state-owned PDO selected the following contractors:
- Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) (Egypt) / Petrojet (Egypt)
- GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
- Jereh (China)
L&T was previously expected to join these contractors in the initial round of framework agreement signings that took place on 19 July, but it later engaged in a final round of discussions with PDO over terms and conditions, sources previously told MEED.
“L&T remains committed to supporting In-Country Value (ICV) development in Oman through opportunities for local suppliers, subcontractors and service providers, and the continued development of local capabilities,” the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company said on 31 July.
Separately, the Egyptian consortium of Enppi and Petrojet confirmed its EPC framework agreement with PDO, adding that its duration is six years.
Contractors holding EPC framework agreements will be invited by PDO to participate in tenders for up to eight projects under the arrangement, which are estimated to have a combined value of up to $6bn.
The framework pool of contractors will be structured similarly to the Long-Term Agreement pool of EPC service providers operated by Saudi Aramco for its offshore and onshore projects.
MEED previously reported that contractors submitted proposals for the EPC framework structure by 27 April.
Before that, PDO issued the tender for the proposed EPC framework agreement on 22 February, setting a deadline of 9 March for technical clarifications and a cut-off date of 11 March to confirm or decline participation, according to sources.
MEED reported last year that PDO had issued a prequalification document on 17 April 2025, outlining its requirements, criteria, planned projects and other aspects of the EPC framework agreement. At that time, PDO aimed to appoint two tiers of contractors for two categories of projects, known as Wave 1 and Wave 2.
PDO’s Wave 1 and Wave 2 projects are as follows:
Raba hub development – Oil
The Raba hub project forms part of the Qarn Alam growth development in the northern area of the PDO concession. The strategy covers nearby fields, including Raba Infill and Raba East.
Production from Raba Infill will be routed to the existing Raba gathering station (RGS), while output from Raba East will be directed to the proposed Raba hub station (RHS).
Modifications to the RGS are planned to accommodate additional volumes from Raba Infill. An interconnection between the RGS and RHS is also proposed to enhance operational flexibility. The project is expected to unlock an estimated 176 million barrels of unconventional reserves and increase production by about 50,400 barrels a day (b/d) by 2029.
Wadi Umairi development – Oil and gas
Scope includes oil and gas processing facilities such as separators, storage tanks, water injection pumps, a gas sweetening unit, off-plot infrastructure and utilities.
Rabab Harweel Integrated Project (RHIP) tranche 2 – Oil and gas
The RHIP involves miscible gas injection at several fields and is divided into two tranches. Tranche 2, scheduled to come on stream from 2028, aims to expand oil production capacity and enhance gas injection.
The scope also includes sustaining gas supply from the reservoir through the installation of a depletion compression facility and expansion of the off-plot gas network.
Bout full-field development – Oil and gas
Scope includes remote manifold stations (RMSs), a gathering station, multiport selector valves, water injection manifolds, separators, a hydrocyclone package, water injection pumps and utilities.
Dulaima carbon dioxide-based enhanced oil recovery – Carbon capture, utilisation and storage
Scope includes a processing facility to handle incremental hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide (CO2) volumes, including CO2 recycle injection.
Makarem development – Sour oil and gas
Scope includes a gathering station, RMSs, water injection systems, manifolds, pumps, separators and utilities. It also involves a greenfield sour gas facility with gas sweetening and sulphur recovery units.
Amal South-East Development South – Gas
Hawqa Hasirah Development South – Gas
PDO previously intended to tender a project to build a new facility to handle additional oil production at the Al-Ghubar field reservoir in the Ghaba salt basin of Qarn Alam under its framework structure with selected EPC contractors, but eventually tendered it separately.
PDO is the operator of the Block 6 hydrocarbons concession in Oman, which is the sultanate’s largest and most prolific concession. Situated onshore and covering an area of 75,119 square kilometres, Block 6 contains 202 oil fields and 43 gas fields, with PDO producing a total of approximately 680,000 b/d of oil and condensates from those fields.
The Omani government holds a 60% stake in PDO. The other shareholders are UK-based Shell (34%), France’s TotalEnergies (4%) and Thai state-owned PTTEP (2%).
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Client seeks fresh PMC bids for Dorra gas project31 July 2026

Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) has sought fresh proposals from engineering firms for a revised tender for project management consultancy (PMC) services for the multibillion-dollar Dorra gas field facilities development project.
MEED has been reporting since last March on KJO’s efforts to advance a project to produce gas from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
KJO, which is jointly owned by Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and KPC subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, has divided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work for the Dorra field gas production project into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.
The tender’s broad scope involves providing PMC services for the EPC works for the Dorra gas facilities development project.
KJO issued the tender for PMC services on 29 September last year, and engineering firms submitted bids on 19 January this year, MEED previously reported.
In the months following bid submission, KJO held discussions with bidders on contract terms and pricing, sources said. The client ultimately decided to retender the PMC services contract with a revised scope of work.
“The regional conflict in the first and second quarters, and Iran’s hostilities against Gulf states, made the future of the [Dorra gas] project uncertain,” one source said.
“[For KJO], developing a gas field that lies in disputed waters with Iran seemed risky business at the time, and that explains the large part of the delay [in the PMC tendering process],” the source added.
KJO has now set a bid submission deadline of 17 August for the revised PMC tender for the Dorra gas facilities development project, sources said.
The following firms, among others, are understood to have been invited by KJO to bid for the revised PMC tender:
- Fluor (US)
- KBR (US)
- Technip Energies (France)
- Wood (UK)
- Worley (Australia)
In addition to these bidders, firms that submitted proposals in the first tender round on 19 January included Saudi Arabia/UAE-based Kent and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas.
Dorra offshore and onshore facilities
KJO, meanwhile, is moving forward with the EPC tendering exercise for the main Dorra gas field facilities project.
Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has won package 1 of the Dorra facilities project, which covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and the laying of intra-field pipelines. The contract is estimated to be worth between $140m and $150m, MEED reported last October.
A consortium of Italian contractor Saipem and L&TEH is understood to have submitted the lowest bid for offshore packages 2A and 2B, MEED reported in March. The only other consortium said to have submitted bids for packages 2A and 2B comprises Abu Dhabi-based NMDC Energy and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The EPC scope of work for package 2A includes Dorra gas field wellhead topsides, flowlines and umbilicals. Package 2B involves the central gathering platform complex, export pipelines and cables.
Tecnicas Reunidas is understood to have emerged as the lowest bidder for onshore package 3, sources previously told MEED. Package 3 covers the EPC of onshore gas processing facilities.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been pressing ahead with their plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the Dorra gas field.
The two countries have been producing oil from the Neutral Zone – primarily from the onshore Wafra field and the offshore Khafji field – since at least the 1950s. With a growing need to increase natural gas production, they have been working to exploit the Dorra offshore field, understood to be the only gas field in the Neutral Zone.
Discovered in 1965, the Dorra gas field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.
The Dorra facilities scheme is one of three multibillion-dollar projects launched by subsidiaries of Aramco and KPC to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that have advanced in the past few months.
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Saudi Arabia to localise desalination equipment production31 July 2026
Saudi Water Authority (SWA) has announced plans to establish a factory in Saudi Arabia to manufacture energy recovery devices used to reduce power consumption at reverse-osmosis desalination plants.
US-based Energy Recovery will operate the facility with a capacity to produce 2,000 devices a year. Production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
SWA said the facility will be the first factory outside the US to manufacture the specialised equipment.
Domestic demand in Saudi Arabia is estimated at 1,200 devices a year. About 40% of the factory’s production is expected to be supplied to markets in the GCC, Africa and Asia.
Energy recovery devices improve the efficiency of desalination plants by recovering energy from the reverse-osmosis process, reducing power consumption and operating costs.
SWA said local manufacturing will reduce dependence on imports, shorten supply times and improve the reliability of supply chains serving desalination plants.
The authority estimates the market opportunity for the industry at more than SR547m ($146m). This includes about SR247m ($69.5m) in Saudi Arabia and SR300m ($80m) across the Middle East and North Africa.
The project is expected to contribute about SR137m ($36.5m) to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2033. SWA expects localisation within the product’s value chain to exceed 80%.
The project is also intended to support knowledge transfer and develop local capabilities in the manufacture of desalination technologies.
SWA led efforts to establish the project in cooperation with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment, Ministry of Industry & Mineral Resources and Local Content & Government Procurement Authority.
READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFSaudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034> MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge> INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil> LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection> INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solarTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17853316/main.jpg