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.
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
-
-
-
-
-
Firms submit Jeddah distribution centre bids4 May 2026
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Parsons wins role on Elon Musk-backed Dubai Loop project
4 May 2026
US-based Parsons Corporation has been appointed to deliver programme management services for the Dubai Loop transportation system.
The contract was awarded by Elon Musk-backed firm The Boring Company, which signed a construction agreement with Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in February.
Parsons’ scope of work includes independent design verification, stakeholder management, permitting and no-objection certificate (NOC) support, and multidisciplinary design reviews for the project’s first phase.
The first phase comprises a 6.4-kilometre route with four stations, linking the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Dubai Mall.
Stations will be located at DIFC 2, ICD Brookfield Place, Dubai Mall Zabeel Parking and Burj Khalifa.
The first phase is expected to cost about AED565m ($154m) and to be delivered within one year after design work and other preparations are completed. Tunnelling is expected to begin in the second half of this year.
Next phase
The second phase will connect Dubai World Trade Centre and DIFC with Business Bay.
The tunnels will extend up to 22km and include 19 stations.
The total cost across both phases is expected to be around AED2bn ($545m), with completion scheduled within three years.
The pilot route is expected to serve around 13,000 passengers a day, while the full route is projected to have a capacity of about 30,000 passengers a day.
The RTA and The Boring Company signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai in February last year to explore the development of the Dubai Loop transportation system.
The Dubai Loop is expected to be similar to The Boring Company’s Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC) Loop project. The LVCC Loop is a 2.7km underground tunnel system that connects different convention centre halls, reducing walking time across the site to about two minutes.
The LVCC Loop has been in operation since 2021. It uses Tesla Model 3 cars to carry passengers between five stations. The Boring Company began construction in November 2019 at an estimated cost of $49m.
.gif)
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16672074/main.jpg -
Humain tenders infrastructure for 6GW data centre campus
4 May 2026
Saudi artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company Humain, owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has issued a tender inviting firms to develop infrastructure for its planned 6GW hyperscale AI data centre campus in Riyadh.
The project will be delivered on an early contractor involvement (ECI) basis. Under the ECI process, selected contractors are required to submit methodologies and design proposals, after which one team will be selected to deliver the construction works.
Firms have until 8 May to submit proposals.
The development will be built on a 24-square-kilometre site in the Al-Saad area in east Riyadh. It will be delivered in two phases across six plots, each with a capacity of 1GW.
The scope of infrastructure work covers:
- Construction of 380kV/132kV/33kV electrical distribution network, two substations with a capacity of 500MVA and 200MVA, bulk supply point (2,000MVA)
- Water network and fire protection systems
- Sewage treatment plant and wastewater network
- Stormwater systems
- Roads
- Underground cable and fibre optic networks
- Landscaping works
The client is being supported by Canadian engineering firm Hatch, France’s Egis and US-based firm JLL.
Humain was launched in May last year to operate and invest across the AI value chain.
Humain is building full-stack AI capabilities across four core areas: next-generation data centres, hyper-performance infrastructure and cloud platforms, and advanced AI models, including Allam.
Also in May 2025, Humain signed preliminary deals with US chipmakers AMD and Nvidia to build multibillion-dollar advanced digital infrastructure in the kingdom.
AMD said it will invest up to $10bn to deploy 500MW of AI compute capacity in Saudi Arabia over the next five years.
In October, PIF and Saudi Aramco signed a non-binding term sheet setting out key terms under which Aramco would acquire a minority stake in Humain, with PIF retaining majority ownership.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16671267/main.jpg -
Abu Dhabi selects consortium for 2.5GW Taweelah C IPP
4 May 2026
Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access
A consortium of Al-Jomaih Energy & Water Company (Saudi Arabia) and Sembcorp Industries (Singapore) has been selected to develop the Taweelah C independent power producer (IPP) project in Abu Dhabi.
The consortium will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) in mid-May, a source told MEED.
The combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant will have a capacity of 2.5GW. It will be located at the Al-Taweelah power and desalination complex, about 50 kilometres northeast of Abu Dhabi city.
It is understood that China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) will be the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
Last September, MEED reported that state offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) had received three bids for the facility.
The bidders included:
- Al-Jomaih Energy & Water Company / Sembcorp Industries
- Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) / Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation / Korean Midland Power
- Korea Western Power Company / Etihad Water & Electricity (UAE) / Kyuden International (Japan)
At the time, Mohamed Al-Marzooqi, chief asset development and management officer at Ewec, said the bids would make Taweelah C “one of the lowest tariff CCGT projects in the region”.
The carbon-capture-ready facility had been scheduled to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2028.
This was based on the initial timeline for a PPA to be signed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Taweelah C is part of Ewec’s wider programme to support the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative and the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035.
Ewec plans to raise solar power capacity to 18GW and wind capacity to 2.6GW by 2035, while reducing the carbon intensity of its power generation by more than half compared to 2019.
Ewec is also expanding its low-carbon water desalination capacity, with the Taweelah reverse osmosis (RO) plant already operating as the world’s largest RO facility and additional projects, such as the Mirfa 2 RO and Shuweihat 4 RO, under way.
By 2030, it expects 95% of Abu Dhabi’s installed water capacity to come from RO technology.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16670622/main0858.jpg -
Dubai launches Blue Line metro tunnelling works
4 May 2026
Dubai has announced the launch of tunnelling works for the Dubai Metro Blue Line extension project.
In a post on X, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced the start of operations of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has named ‘Al-Wugeisha’.
The TBM is 163 metres long, weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and will operate around the clock. The post added that its average excavation rate ranges from 13 to 17 metres a day.
The Blue Line will connect the existing Red and Green lines. It will be 30 kilometres (km) long, with 15.5km underground and 14.5km above ground.
The line will have 14 stations, seven of which will be elevated. There will be five underground stations, including one interchange station, and two elevated transfer stations connected to the existing Centrepoint and Creek stations.
In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn ($5.5bn) main contract for the construction of the project to a consortium comprising Turkiye’s Limak Holding and Mapa Group, along with the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC).
The consortium is responsible for all civil works, electromechanical works, rolling stock and rail systems. After completing the project, it will assist with maintenance and operations for an initial three-year period.
According to an official statement, the Blue Line will have a capacity of 46,000 passengers an hour in both directions.
The project is scheduled for completion in September 2029.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16670584/main.jpeg -
Firms submit Jeddah distribution centre bids
4 May 2026
Contractors submitted bids on 26 April for an estimated SR140m ($37m) contract to build a distribution centre in Jeddah.
Saudi Logistics Services Company (SAL) launched the tender on 11 March, as previously reported by MEED. The project will cover an area of about 37,000 square metres. Egyptian firm Cosmos-E Engineers & Consultants has been appointed as the project consultant.
This tender follows the start of construction by Egyptian contractor Rowad Modern Engineering, a subsidiary of Elsewedy Electric Group, on the expansion of SAL’s facilities at King Khalid International airport in Riyadh. The scope of work includes rehabilitating and upgrading existing infrastructure, as well as constructing new supporting facilities and services.
SAL also launched the tendering process in September last year for its SR4.2bn ($1bn) logistics zone in northern Riyadh, MEED previously reported. UAE-based Global Engineering Consultants is the consultant for that development.
The logistics hub aims to meet demand for customised warehouses near King Khalid International airport and the Riyadh Metro. The project aligns with Vision 2030 and the National Transport & Logistics Strategy, which aims to strengthen the kingdom’s logistics sector and enhance Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16670338/main.gif