Meed | Neom starts wastewater PPP prequalification

Neom starts wastewater PPP prequalification

13 May 2024

Neom's energy and water subsidiary, Enowa, has issued the request for qualifications for a contract to develop and operate a wastewater treatment and recycling plant in Saudi Arabia's SR1.9tn ($500bn) Neom development.

According to industry sources, the client issued the prequalification request on 21 March and set 2 May as the deadline for interested companies to submit their statements of qualifications (SOQs).

Officially known as the Hidden Marina Wastewater Recycling Plant project, the planned facility will have the capacity to treat 64,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of wastewater, expandable to 80,000 cm/d, according to a source close to the project.

The plant will supply water recycling services to the anticipated occupants of the 170-kilometre-long pair of parallel buildings that make up the Line in Neom.

The project includes a sludge treatment facility with a capacity of 16,600 kilograms a day.

The project will utilise a build-own-operate-transfer model, with the sewage treatment concession period extending 25 years from the date of operation, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2027.

The project's first phase is expected to cost approximately SR1.3bn ($347m).

UK-headquartered HSBC and the US' White & Case are the client's financial and legal advisers, respectively, for the project.

According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, an estimated $10.7bn-worth of utility projects are under construction in Neom. Close to $22bn-worth of projects are in the pre-execution phase, excluding the renewable energy projects still in the pre-development stages and for which locations have yet to be identified.

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