meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Saudi Arabia launches 200 PPP projects

6 April 2023

Saudi Arabia has announced a Privatisation & PPP (P&PPP) pipeline that includes 200 projects across 17 sectors.

This new P&PPP pipeline aims to attract local and international investors and ensure their readiness to participate in the schemes tendered to the market.

The initiative comes as the kingdom strives to increase the attractiveness of its economy and raise the private sector's contribution to GDP.

Minister of Finance and chairman of the Board of the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), Mohammed al-Jadaan, said the list of projects aligns with the aims of Vision 2030, reinforces the strength of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and will contribute to attracting new international investments.

The pipeline of projects for each sector will be available for investors through the NCP portal.

Information about the first 140 projects has already been published, and more projects are expected soon.

Four PPP airports projects

In line with Saudi Arabia's aviation strategy to increase the country’s annual passenger handling capacity to 330 million by 2030, the kingdom has announced plans to tender four airports under the P&PPP pipeline: Abha International airport, Taif International airport, Hail International airport and Prince Naif International airport in Al-Qassim.

The Ministry of Transport & Logistics Services will procure the schemes.

The launch dates for the PPP tenders were not specified. However, MEED reported in July 2022 that through NCP, Saudi Arabia’s Matarat Holding Company was expected to start the procurement process to develop airport PPP projects in 2023.

In the initial plan, the Abha and Taif airport PPPs were scheduled to be tendered in the first half of 2023, while the Hail and Qassim airport projects were to be potentially tendered in the second half of 2023.

The P&PPP pipeline list includes:

Abha International airport

The existing Abha International airport is operating above capacity with 4.4 million passengers annually against the originally designed capacity of 1.5 million. The targeted capacity for the new airport is 8.5 million passengers a year by 2030 and 13 million passengers by 2053. The contract type is the build-transfer-operate (BTO) model and the project duration is 30 years.

Taif International airport

The capacity of the current Taif International airport is 600,000 passengers. The targeted capacity of the new airport is 4 million passengers by 2030 and 7.4 million passengers by 2053. The project will be developed under the design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) concession; its duration is 30 years.

Hail International airport

This project aims to develop the airport and service facilities following the standards approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The targeted airport capacity increase is 3 million passengers a year. The contract type, duration and launch details are not specified.

Prince Naif International airport in Al-Qassim

The scheme involves developing the airport in Al-Qassim in line with ICAO standards and increasing its capacity to 5.3 million passengers annually. The contract type, duration and launch details are not specified.

The Taif, Hail and Al-Qassim airport schemes were previously tendered and awarded as PPP projects using a BTO model.

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) awarded the contracts to develop four airport PPP projects to two consortiums in 2017. A team of Tukey’s TAV Airports and the local Al-Rajhi Holding Group won the 30-year concession agreement to build, transfer and operate airport passenger terminals in Yanbu, Qassim and Hail.

A second team, comprising Lebanon’s Consolidated Contractors Company, Germany’s Munich Airport International and local firm Asyad Group, won the BTO contract to develop Taif International airport.

These projects then stalled following the restructuring of the kingdom’s aviation sector.

Saudi Arabia has already privatised airports including the $1.2bn Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina, which was developed as a PPP and opened in 2015.

Four PPP highways schemes

The kingdom has also announced plans to tender four highway schemes under the P&PPP pipeline. The following schemes will be procured by the Ministry of Transport & Logistic Services:

  • The 136-kilometre Asir-Jizan highway will include six intersections, 18km of bridges and a 9km-long tunnel network. The project starts at Al-Farah in Asir and extends to the Red Sea through Jizan. The contract type is DFBOM, and the project duration is 30 years. The launch date is not specified.

     
  • The 570km Jeddah-Jizan highway will comprise 43 intersections, 11 wildlife crossings and 29 bridges. The project scope includes converting the current 280km of double lanes into three lanes. The contract model is not specified; the project duration is 30 years.

     
  • The 447km Yanbu-Jubail highway will contain 17 intersections, 14 wildlife crossings, four bridges, one tunnel and 18 service areas. Construction work on a 39km section towards the Al-Zulfi area has been completed. The contract model, duration and launch date are not specified.

     
  • The Jeddah-Makkah road spans a length of 64km. It consists of seven interchanges and four camel crossings. The construction is under way for 51km of the road and is being carried out in three phases. The construction works for phase four are yet to begin. The construction cost for phase four of the road will be funded by the government, similar to the ongoing construction works for phases one to three. The proposed scope of work is for the operation and maintenance of the Jeddah-Makkah road, and developing and operating motorway service areas. The contract's duration and the tender's launch date are not specified.
Other planned PPP projects

Saudi Arabia has also announced plans to tender seven PPP desalination projects.

The independent water projects (IWPs) represent an aggregate desalination capacity of 2.8 million cubic metres a day (cm/d). Owned by the Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture, the IWPs will be procured under 25-year build-own-operate (BOO) contracts.

The first project, Ras al-Khair 2 with a capacity of 600,000 cm/d, will be launched in February 2024.

This will be followed by the launch of another IWP, the 400,000 cm/d Ras al-Khair 3, in April 2024.

In March 2025, the kingdom plans to launch the Tabuk IWP with a capacity of 400,000 cm/d. The Alshuqaiq 4 IWP is set for launch in July 2025, with a capacity of 400,000 cm/d.

These schemes will be followed by the Rabigh 5 IWP, with a capacity of 400,000 cm/d, to be launched in April 2027, and the Rayis 2 IWP, with a capacity of 300,000 cm/d, set for launch in July 2035.

Finally, the Jizan IWP is set to have a capacity of 300,000 cm/d. Its launch date is not yet disclosed.

In addition, the kingdom plans to tender six wastewater treatment projects starting in 2024. The five independent sewage treatment plants (ISTPs), one small sewage treatment plant (SSTP) and collection network will treat wastewater for reuse in non-agricultural municipal and industrial applications.

The five ISTPs represent an aggregate wastewater treatment capacity of 650,000 cm/d.

The Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture will procure the projects under build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) models.

Other projects to be tendered under the P&PPP pipeline include several medical centres, health centres, hospitals, educational buildings, schools, colleges, universities, strategic water reservoirs, marine services schemes, land ports and power stations.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10739699/main.jpg
Eva Levesque

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Oman’s growth forecast points upwards

    24 December 2025

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15306449/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • December 2025: Data drives regional projects

    23 December 2025

    Click here to download the PDF

    Includes: Top inward FDI locations by project volume | Brent spot price | Construction output

    MEED’s January 2026 report on Oman includes:

    > COMMENT: Oman steadies growth with strategic restraint
    > ECONOMY: Oman pursues diversification amid regional concerns
    > BANKING: Oman banks feel impact of stronger economy
    > OIL & GAS: LNG goals galvanise Oman’s oil and gas sector
    > POWER & WATER: Oman prepares for a wave of IPP awards
    > CONSTRUCTION: Momentum builds in construction sector

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15306140/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Local firm bids lowest for Kuwait substation deal

    22 December 2025

    The local Al-Ahleia Switchgear Company has submitted the lowest price of KD33.9m ($110.3m) for a contract to build a 400/132/11 kV substation at the South Surra township for Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW).

    The bid was marginally lower than the two other offers of KD35.1m and KD35.5m submitted respectively by Saudi Arabia’s National Contracting Company (NCC) and India’s Larsen & Toubro.

    PAHW is expected to take about three months to evaluate the prices before selecting the successful contractor.

    The project is one of several transmission and distribution projects either out to bid or recently awarded by Kuwait’s main affordable housing client.

    This year alone, it has awarded two contracts worth more than $100m for cable works at its 1Z, 2Z, 3Z and 4Z 400kV substations at Al-Istiqlal City, and two deals totalling just under $280m for the construction of seven 132/11kV substations in the same township.

    Most recently, it has tendered two contracts to build seven 132/11kV main substations at its affordable housing project, west of Kuwait City. The bid deadline for the two deals covering the MS-01 through to MS-08 substations is 8 January.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15305745/main.gif
    Edward James
  • Saudi-Dutch JV awards ‘supercentre’ metals reclamation project

    22 December 2025

    The local Advanced Circular Materials Company (ACMC), a joint venture of the Netherlands-based Shell & AMG Recycling BV (SARBV) and local firm United Company for Industry (UCI), has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the first phase of its $500m-plus metals reclamation complex in Jubail.

    The contract, estimated to be worth in excess of $200m, was won by China TianChen Engineering Corporation (TCC), a subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC), following the issue of the tender in July 2024.

    Under the terms of the deal, TCC will process gasification ash generated at Saudi Aramco’s Jizan refining complex on the Red Sea coast to produce battery-grade vanadium oxide and vanadium electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries. AMG will provide the licensed technology required for the production process.

    The works are the first of four planned phases at the catalyst and gasification ash recycling ‘Supercentre’, which is located at the PlasChem Park in Jubail Industrial City 2 alongside the Sadara integrated refining and petrochemical complex.

    Phase 2 will expand the facility to process spent catalysts from heavy oil upgrading facilities to produce ferrovanadium for the steel industry and/or additional battery-grade vanadium oxide.

    Phase 3 involves installing a manufacturing facility for residue-upgrading catalysts.

    In the fourth phase, a vanadium electrolyte production plant will be developed.

    The developers expect a total reduction of 3.6 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year when the four phases of the project are commissioned.

    SARBV first announced its intention to build a metal reclamation and catalyst manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia in November 2019. The kingdom’s Ministry of Investment, then known as the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia), supported the project.

    In July 2022, SARBV and UCI signed the agreement to formalise their joint venture and build the proposed facility.

    The project has received support from Saudi Aramco’s Namaat industrial investment programme. Aramco, at the time, also signed an agreement with the joint venture to offtake vanadium-bearing gasification ash from its Jizan refining complex.

    Photo credit: SARBV

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15305326/main.gif
    Edward James
  • QatarEnergy LNG awards $4bn gas project package

    22 December 2025

    QatarEnergy LNG, a subsidiary of state-owned QatarEnergy, has awarded the main engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for a major package for the second phase of its North Field Production Sustainability (NFPS) project.

    A consortium comprising the Italian contractor Saipem and state-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) has secured the EPCI contract for the COMP5 package. The contract value is $4bn, with Saipem declaring its share to be worth $3.1bn.

    Milan-headquartered Saipem said the contract will run for about five years. The scope of work comprises engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of two compression complexes, each including a compression platform, a living quarters platform, a flare platform supporting the gas combustion system, and the related interconnecting bridges. Each complex will have a total weight of about 68,000 tonnes.

    Offshore installation operations will be carried out by Saipem’s De He construction vessel in 2029 and 2030.

    MEED previously reported that the following contractors submitted bids for the NFPS phase two COMP5 package:

    • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
    • McDermott (US)
    • Saipem/China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (Italy/China)

    QatarEnergy LNG, formerly Qatargas, is said to have issued the tender for the NFPS phase two COMP5 package in the first quarter of the year.

    Contractors submitted technical bids for the COMP5 package in late June, while commercial bids were submitted by 8 October, as per sources.

    Based upon initial evaluation of bids by QatarEnergy LNG, L&TEH has emerged as the lowest bidder for the COMP5 package, followed by McDermott, with the consortium of Saipem and COOEC in third place, MEED reported in late October.

    In the weeks following that, the project operator is said to have engaged all bidders for a final round of negotiations, during which the consortium of Saipem and COOEC is believed to have “clinched the deal”, according to sources.

    The detailed scope of work on the COMP5 package covers the EPCI work on the following:

    • Two gas compression platforms, each weighing 30,000-35,000 tonnes, plus jacket
    • Two living quarters platforms, plus jacket
    • Two gas flare platforms, plus jacket
    • Brownfield modification work at two complexes
    NFPS scheme

    QatarEnergy’s North Field liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion programme requires the state enterprise to pump large volumes of gas from the North Field offshore reserve to feed the three phases of the estimated $40bn-plus programme.

    QatarEnergy has already invested billions of dollars in engineering, procurement and construction works on the two phases of the NFPS project, which aims to maintain steady gas feedstock for the North Field LNG expansion phases.

    The second NFPS phase will mainly involve building gas compression facilities to sustain and gradually increase gas production from Qatar’s offshore North Field gas reserve over the long term.

    Saipem has been the most successful contractor on the second NFPS phase, securing work worth a total of $8.5bn.

    QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem a $4.5bn order in October 2022 to build and install gas compression facilities. The main scope of work on the package, which is known as EPCI 2, covers two large gas compression complexes that will comprise decks, jackets, topsides, interconnecting bridges, flare platforms, living quarters and interface modules.

    The gas compression complexes – CP65 and CP75 – will weigh 62,000 tonnes and 63,000 tonnes, respectively, and will be the largest fixed steel jacket compression platforms ever built.

    Following that, Saipem won combined packages COMP3A and COMP3B of the NFPS project’s second phase in September last year.

    The scope of work on the combined packages encompasses the EPCI of a total of six platforms, approximately 100 kilometres (km) of corrosion resistance alloy rigid subsea pipelines of 28-inches and 24-inches diameter, 100km of subsea composite cables, 150km of fibre optic cables and several other subsea units.

    Separately, QatarEnergy LNG awarded McDermott the contract for the NFPS second phase package known as EPCI 1, or COMP1, in July 2023. The scope of work on the estimated $1bn-plus contract is to install a subsea gas pipeline network at the North Field gas development.

    In March this year, India’s Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) won the main contract for the combined 4A and 4B package, which is the fourth package of the second phase of the NFPS project and is estimated to be valued at $4bn-$5bn.

    The main scope of work on the package is the EPCI of two large gas compression systems that will be known as CP8S and CP4N, each weighing 25,000-35,000 tonnes. The contract scope also includes compression platforms, flare gas platforms and other associated structures.

    LTHE sub-contracted detailed engineering and design works on the combined 4A and 4B package to French contractor Technip Energies.

    NFPS first phase

    Saipem is also executing the EPCI works on the entire first phase of the NFPS project, which consists of two main packages.

    Through the first phase of the NFPS scheme, QatarEnergy LNG aims to increase the early gas field production capacity of the North Field offshore development to 110 million tonnes a year.

    QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem the contract for the EPCI package in February 2021. The package is the larger of the two NFPS phase one packages and has a value of $1.7bn.

    Saipem’s scope of work on the EPCI package encompasses building several offshore facilities for extracting and transporting natural gas, including platforms, supporting and connecting structures, subsea cables and anti-corrosion internally clad pipelines.

    The scope of work also includes decommissioning a pipeline and other significant modifications to existing offshore facilities.

    In addition, in April 2021, QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem two options for additional work within the EPCI package, worth about $350m.

    QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem the second package of the NFPS phase one project, estimated to be worth $1bn, in March 2021.

    Saipem’s scope of work on the package, which is known as EPCL, mainly covers installing three offshore export trunklines running almost 300km from their respective offshore platforms to the QatarEnergy LNG north and south plants located in Ras Laffan Industrial City.

    Saipem performed the front-end engineering and design work on the main production package of the first phase of the NFPS as part of a $20m contract that it was awarded in January 2019. This provided a competitive advantage to the Italian contractor in its bid to win the package.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15305330/main2239.jpg
    Indrajit Sen