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 500MW solar project secures financing

    8 December 2023

    Oman's Manah 1 solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power producer (IPP) project has signed financing deals worth $302m with France's Societe Generale, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) and Bank Muscat.

    The Manah 1 IPP developers and investors, comprising Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo) and France's EDF Renewables, signed the deal on 6 December.

    According to a local media report citing a Kowepo statement, the Korea Eximbank plans to provide $170m in project financing.  

    A team comprising EDF Renewables and Kowepo started mobilising to construct the 500MW Manah 1 solar IPP project in Oman, as MEED reported in September.

    The solar power plant will span over 7.8 square kilometres in Oman’s Al-Dakhiliyah governorate. 

    The developer intends to deploy over 1 million bifacial photovoltaic (PV) modules mounted on a single-axis tracker system for the plant.

    A project company, Wadi Noor Solar Power Company, has been formed to deliver and operate the project for 20 years.

    The company will work with Australia-headquartered Worley, which has recently been appointed as the owner engineer for the project.

    Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) signed the 20-year power-purchase agreements (PPA) for the Manah 1 and Manah 2 solar IPP projects in March this year.

    Both plants are expected to be operational by 2025.

    A team of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) and China-headquartered Jinko Power Technology was awarded the 500MW Manah 2 solar PV IPP contract.

    Manah 1 and 2 were previously named Solar IPP 2022 and 2023.

    To be located 150 kilometres southwest of Muscat, the Manah 1 and 2 solar projects comprise the second utility-scale renewable energy projects to be tendered by OPWP, after Ibri 2, which has been operational since 2021.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11358677/main.jpg
    Jennifer Aguinaldo
  • Masdar and OMV sign green hydrogen agreement

    8 December 2023

    Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Austrian energy and chemicals firm OMV have signed a preliminary agreement to partner in the production of green hydrogen for the decarbonisation of industrial processes in OMV’s refineries.

    The non-binding heads of terms (HoT) agreement forms the basis of a joint agreement to develop an industrial large-scale electrolysis plant, which will be powered by renewable energy, Masdar said in a statement on 8 December.

    The statement added that the partners will collaborate to develop the project and plan to make a final investment decision in the second half of 2024.

    The HoT signing follows an initial memorandum of understanding (MoU), which the two parties signed in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

    The agreement with OMV is a step in the right direction towards building a robust hydrogen value chain and supports Masdar's ongoing aim of 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum globally by 2030, according to Masdar's chief green hydrogen officer, Mohammad Abdelqader el-Ramahi.

    Green hydrogen oasis

    According to MEED data, there are at least 12 known and planned green hydrogen projects in the UAE, with a budget of at least $12bn.

    In addition to the planned $5bn green hydrogen hub planned by Masdar and French utility developer and investor Engie, the other major planned green hydrogen projects in Abu Dhabi involve its largest industrial firms, including Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), Emirates Steel, Fertiglobe and Brooge.

    One of these projects, the 150MW green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility planned in Ruwais, is expected to reach a financial investment decision (FID) shortly.

    The UAE's Green Hydrogen Strategy envisages the production of 1.4 million tonnes a year (t/y) of hydrogen by 2031, with green hydrogen accounting for 70 per cent of the target.

    This is expected to increase to 7.5 million t/y by 2040 and 15 million t/y by 2050. 

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11358471/main.jpg
    Jennifer Aguinaldo
  • Sheikh Mohammed inaugurates Dubai CSP plant

    7 December 2023

    Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has inaugurated the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park in Dubai.

    The 950MW fourth phase of the MBR solar park required an investment of AED15.78bn ($4.34bn).

    It uses hybrid technologies: 600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from the CSP tower, and 250MW from solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

    The independent power producer (IPP) project features the tallest solar tower in the world, at 263.126 metres, and a thermal energy storage facility with a capacity of 5,907 megawatt-hours (MWh), the world's largest according to the Guinness World Records.

    The project covers an area of 44 square kilometres. It features 70,000 heliostats that track the sun’s movement. The molten salt receiver (MSR) on top of the solar power tower is the core and the most important part of the CSP plant. It receives solar radiation and turns it into thermal energy.

    The MSR contains over 1,000 thin tubes that enable the absorption of sun rays and their transfer to the molten salt within these tubes.

    The project can power approximately 320,000 residences with clean and sustainable energy. It will reduce carbon emissions by about 1.6 million tonnes annually.

    The completion of the project's fourth phase brings the total capacity of the MBR solar park to 2,863MW so far. The phases and their capacities are:

    • 13MW solar PV phase one: Completed in 2013
    • 200MW solar PV phase two: Commissioned in 2017
    • 800MW solar PV phase three: Commissioned in 2020
    • 950MW hybrid CSP/solar PV phase four: Inaugurated in 2023
    • 900MW solar PV phase five: Commissioned in 2023

    Dewa is aiming for the MBR development to reach 5,000MW of capacity by 2030. It recently awarded the UAE-based Masdar the contract to develop the solar park's sixth phase, which has capacity of 1,800MW.

    Project background

    Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) awarded a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and China's Silk Road Fund the contract to develop a 700MW CSP plant with storage for the fourth phase scheme in November 2017. Since then, the project has been expanded to include a 250MW solar PV component.

    Acwa Power then awarded Shanghai Electric the $3.8bn EPC contract for the hybrid CSP/PV plant in early 2018.

    The project reached financial closure in March 2019. The cost will be met through $2.9bn of debt and $1.5bn of equity.

    According to the project structure, Dewa is to provide $750m, or half of the project equity. Project developers Acwa Power and the Silk Road Fund will provide 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of the remaining equity.

    The fourth phase project achieved a tariff of 7.3 $cents a kilowatt hour ($c/kWh) for the CSP component and 2.4$c/kWh for the PV capacity, two of the lowest tariffs for CSP and PV solar technology in the world at the time of award.

    Dewa holds a 51 per cent stake in the project company, Noor Energy 1, set up to develop the plant, with Acwa Power and the Silk Road Fund holding the remaining stake. The developer consortium has signed a 35-year power-purchase agreement to supply power to Dubai’s grid.

    Photo: Wam

     

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11354147/main.jpg
    Jennifer Aguinaldo
  • Firms win Saudi Landbridge

    7 December 2023

     

    Register for MEED’s guest programme 

    The team of US-based Hill International, Italy’s Italferr and Spain’s Sener has been awarded the contract to provide project management services for the estimated $7bn Saudi Landbridge project.

    The Landbridge is a rail project that will connect the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia in the west and the Gulf coast in the east. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects planned in Saudi Arabia. The scheme is being implemented by the Saudi Railway Company (SAR).

    Project scope

    The project comprises six lines. The first line involves upgrading the Jubail Industrial City internal network, which is currently under construction. It will require 10 kilometres (km) of track to be built.

    The second is the upgrade of the Jubail to Dammam railway line, which is also currently under construction. It will require 35km of track to be built.

    The third line involves the upgrade of the Dammam to Riyadh railway line, with 87km of track to be built. 

    The fourth line, known as the Riyadh bypass, is from the existing network in the north of the city to the south. It is split into two packages: the first has 67km of track, and the second has 35km.

    The fifth line is a link from Riyadh to Jeddah and then on to King Abdullah Port with three stations at Jamuma, Moya and Al-Doadmi. The Riyadh to Jeddah line will have 920km of track, and the Jeddah to King Abdullah Port link will have 146km of track.

    The sixth line is a new 172km line from King Abdullah Port to Yanbu Industrial City.

    There will also be seven logistics centres: Jubail Industrial City Logistics Centre, Damman Logistics Dry Port, a relocated Riyadh Dry Port, King Khalid Airport Logistics Centre in Riyadh, Jeddah Logistics Dry Port, King Abdullah Port Logistics Centre and Yanbu Industrial City Logistics Centre.

    Contractor negotiations

    MEED reported in November that negotiations with the Saudi China Landbridge Consortium that will build the rail link are in the final stages.

    The consortium signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the project on a public-private partnership basis in October 2018. It was formed by SAR and China Civil Engineering Construction Company.

    Al-Ayuni Contracting was named as the local partner for the consortium. Other members include French firms Systra and Thales; Canada’s WSP; Aldhabaan & Partners, the local partner of UK legal consultancy Eversheds & Sutherland; ALG Infrastructure; and Calx Consultancy.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11354086/main.jpg
    Colin Foreman
  • Siemens Energy wins five Iraq substation contracts

    6 December 2023

    Register for MEED's guest programme 

    Iraq's Electricity Ministry has awarded Germany-headquartered Siemens Energy a contract to deliver five high-voltage substations on a turnkey basis in Iraq.

    The 400-kilovolt (kV) substations will be installed in Baghdad, Diyala, Najaf, Karbala and Basra.

    Each substation will have a capacity of 1,500MW. Work on the substation projects is expected to commence in early 2024.

    German export credit agency Allianz Trade Trust, formerly Euler Hermes, will provide most of the project financing in collaboration with Iraq's Finance Ministry.

    MEED understands the substations address the increasing demand for power transmission in Iraq, providing power to around 2.5 million homes.

    On 5 December, a consortium led by K&K Group, which includes Siemens Energy, announced that it is moving ahead with a detailed study for an electricity corridor, known as Green Vein, whose initial stage will have the capacity to transmit up to 3GW of clean electricity from Egypt to Italy.

    Italian companies Cesi and Prysmian Group comprise the rest of the consortium planning to develop the Green Vein project.

    It entails the installation of a submarine high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) cable, which extends approximately 2,800 kilometres and reaches sea depths of up to 3,000 metres.

    The cable will connect the West Sohag area in Egypt to the Dolo substation near the Mestre Industrial Area in Italy.

    The project's initial capacity of 3GW equates to approximately 5 per cent of Italy's peak electricity demand.

    Image: Pixabay

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11352608/main.jpg
    Jennifer Aguinaldo