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Saudi Arabia holds high-level nuclear talks

23 April 2025

 

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Riyadh has initiated bilateral discussions with several countries with nuclear technology providers that have been invited to bid for a contract to develop Saudi Arabia’s first large-scale nuclear power plant project.

“One-one, government-to-government discussions and meetings are being held or scheduled,” a source familiar with the project tells MEED.

The Chinese, South Korean, French and Russian nuclear contractors are understood to be among those keen to pursue the project, which has been in the planning stage since the mid-2010s.

Saudi Arabia restarted procurement proceedings for its first large-scale nuclear power plant project in Duwaiheen in 2022.

MEED previously reported that the companies that have been invited and are expected to bid for the contract include:

  • China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC, China)
  • Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco, South Korea)
  • Rosatom (Russia) 
  • EDF Group (France)

The project client, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-Care), has set and extended the bid submission deadlines several times since 2022.

According to the source, the bid deadline is “more like a moving target, running in parallel with the progress in the bilateral government-to-government talks”.

The ongoing conflict between Israel, Gaza and other neighbouring countries appears to be a major contributing factor in the extended procurement timeline of the Duwaiheen nuclear plant project. Some sources allude that the project will likely feature in US President Trump’s expected visit to Riyadh over the coming weeks.

It is understood that Riyadh is using its nuclear power plant project, along with its plan to enrich uranium sources as part of its industrial strategy, as a bargaining chip with the US government. The White House is pushing for the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and is opposed to uranium enrichment.

2.8GW project

The Duwaiheen nuclear power plant is expected to be procured using a traditional design-and-build model. 

In September 2016, MEED reported that Saudi Arabia was carrying out technical and economic feasibility studies for the first reactors and was also considering possible locations for the kingdom’s first nuclear project, a 2.8GW facility.

A site at Khor Duwaiheen, on the coast near the UAE and Qatari borders, was subsequently chosen for the first project.

In March 2022, Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of a holding company – understood to be the Duwaiheen Nuclear Energy Company – to develop nuclear power projects in the country to produce electricity, desalinate seawater and support thermal energy applications.

Duwaiheen Nuclear Energy Company received three bids for the project management consultancy package for the nuclear plant project in 2023.

MEED understands that the following companies submitted proposals for the contract:

  • Atkins (UK/Canada)
  • Worley (Australia)
  • Assystems (France)

Two of the three bidders have had previous engagements with the Saudi nuclear energy project. 

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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