Saudi Arabia seeks reservoir design consultants
25 January 2024
Saudi Arabia’s Water Transmission & Technologies Company (WTTCO) has invited companies to bid for contracts to undertake two phases of strategic reservoir studies in the kingdom.
The first phase will entail the development of procedures, regulations, best practices and the selection of the best locations for strategic reservoirs and pipes feeding the reservoir. The study will also aim to explore possible alternatives to strategic reservoirs.
Bids for this phase of the project are due on 11 February.
The second-phase study will also look into developing standards and specifications for WTTCO’s planned reservoir projects, as well as studying and investigating aquifers in the kingdom and the possibility of utilising the aquifers as strategic reservoirs.
Bids for the second phase are due on 13 February.
A team comprising the local Vision International Investment Company, Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation and the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) won a contract to develop the kingdom’s first independent strategic water reservoir (IWSR) project in December.
The Juranah ISWR scheme is the first of several reservoir projects that the kingdom’s water procuring authority, the Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), intends to develop with private sector partners. It has a reservoir capacity of 2 million cubic metres and an operational tank capacity of 500,000 cubic metres.
As of 2022, the total reservoir capacity in Saudi Arabia sits at 23.3 million cubic metres. Mecca has the highest share of almost 44%, followed by Riyadh at 29%.
Saudi Arabia’s National Water Strategy set a strategic storage target for 2028 equivalent to seven days of municipal water demand.
With municipal water demand expected to reach about 17 million cubic metres a day in 2028 at the national level, Saudi Arabia is looking to increase its strategic storage capacity to about 112 million cubic metres by 2028, SWPC’s latest Seven-Year Planning Statement reveals.
According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, an estimated $3.1bn-worth of water storage projects are being planned in Saudi Arabia.
These include reservoirs, dams and water storage tanks.
Exclusive from Meed
-
Hyundai E&C signs $725m Saudi high voltage deal
13 November 2024
-
Chinese-led consortium wins $262m Algeria rail deal
13 November 2024
-
Hatta hydropower plant heads for trial operation
13 November 2024
-
Bahrain invites independent water prequalifications
13 November 2024
-
Neom replaces CEO
12 November 2024
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
-
Hyundai E&C signs $725m Saudi high voltage deal
13 November 2024
Register for MEED's 14-day trial access
South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C) has won a KRW1tn ($725m) contract to build a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) network project in Saudi Arabia.
The contract forms part of a 1,089-kilometre (km), 500-kilovolt (kV) HVDC transmission line connecting Riyadh Power Plant 14 (PP14) to the Kudmi substation in southwest Saudi Arabia.
Related read: Interconnection vital to GCC energy future
The company signed the contract to build the transmission line's first package, which extends over 369km, with National Grid, the power transmission unit of state utility Saudi Electricity Company (SEC).
The lump sum turnkey project is expected to be completed by January 2027.
Hyundai E&C said the project will utilise a double bipole HVDC system with a power transmission capacity of 4,000MW.
Regarded as a next-generation electricity transmission technology, an HVDC transmission system is ideal for renewable energy such as solar or wind power. It uses direct current for electricity transmission, with voltages between 100kV and 800kV.
An HVDC system is often referred to as a 'power superhighway', transporting significantly more power over greater distances than the common high-voltage alternating current line, and incurs lower power losses.
The South Korean contractor said it has completed 35 transmission line projects in Saudi Arabia in the past 50 years.
Related read: Hitachi Energy rides HVDC boom
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12909551/main.jpg -
Chinese-led consortium wins $262m Algeria rail deal
13 November 2024
Register for MEED's 14-day trial access
Algeria’s Anesrif has awarded a $262m construction contract to a consortium led by the China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
The CRBC-led consortium includes China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Algeria’s EPE SNTP.
The contract covers construction work for the Bouchegouf-Souk Ahras-Drea railway section, with a total length of 121 kilometres (km). It is scheduled to be completed in 32 months.
This contract is the latest example of Chinese companies undertaking major projects in Algeria.
MEED reported in January this year that Algeria had selected a team of Beijing-headquartered China Railway Construction Corporation and local contractor Cosider Travaux Publics for a contract to build a 575km railway line.
The line will connect the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine in Western Algeria’s Tindouf Province with the national rail network at Bechar.
The project will facilitate transporting materials from the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine to industrial centres and ports along Algeria’s national rail network.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12908841/main5239.gif -
Hatta hydropower plant heads for trial operation
13 November 2024
Construction work on Dubai’s Hatta pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant is 94.15% complete, and generator installations are under way in preparation for a trial operation in the first quarter of 2025.
According to the state utility, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa), the plant’s upper dam, which includes a 72-metre-high main wall and a 37-metre-high side dam, has also been filled.
The plant will have a production capacity of 250MW, a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours and a lifespan of up to 80 years.
The state utility awarded the contract to build the plant to a consortium of Austrian firms Strabag and Andritz and Turkey’s Ozkar in August 2019.
Dewa said on 12 November that the AED1.421bn ($387m) project is expected to be fully completed by the end of the second quarter of 2025.
The hydroelectric power plant is designed as an energy storage facility with a turnaround efficiency of 78.9%.
It uses the potential energy of water stored in the upper dam, converting it into kinetic energy as the water flows through a 1.2-kilometre subterranean tunnel.
This kinetic energy rotates the turbines, converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, which can be delivered to Dewa’s grid within 90 seconds to meet demand.
To store energy, clean power generated at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park will be used to pump water back to the upper dam, converting electrical power into kinetic energy during the process.
Dewa said the project is part of a comprehensive vision to develop Hatta and enhance its sustainable development, including the creation of job opportunities for Emiratis.
It added that the project “also supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050”.
Through the project, Dewa aims to diversify energy production from renewable and clean sources in Dubai. These include different available technologies, such as solar photovoltaic panels and concentrated solar power, as well as the use of renewable energy to produce green hydrogen.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12908014/main.jpg -
Bahrain invites independent water prequalifications
13 November 2024
Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA) has invited interested firms to prequalify for a tender to develop the state’s first independent water project (IWP).
The Al-Hidd seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant is expected to have a production capacity of about 60 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) of potable water.
The client expects firms to submit their statements of qualifications (SOQs) by 18 December.
The facility will be developed on a brownfield site and is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2028. It will help expand Bahrain’s water infrastructure to meet projected demand based on its 2030 master plan.
The Al-Hidd IWP will be developed using a build, own and operate (BOO) model for 20 to 25 years.
EWA has also issued the prequalification request for another BOO project, MEED reported on 11 November.
The Sitra independent water and power project (IWPP) is a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant expected to have a production capacity of about 1,200MW of electricity. The project’s SWRO desalination facility will have a production capacity of 30MIGD of potable water.
The plant is Bahrain’s fourth IWPP, replacing the previously planned Al-Dur 3. The Sitra IWPP is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2029.
Sixty representatives from utility developers and contracting firms attended a market-sounding event for the two separate utility BOO projects in Manama on 21 October.
The firms that sent representatives to the event included France’s Engie, Japan’s Mitsui, Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, AlJomaih Electricity & Water Company and Ajlan & Bros, and Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation, among others, said sources.
EWA’s transaction advisory team for the two BOO projects comprises KPMG Fakhro as the financial consultant, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff as the technical consultant and Trowers & Hamlins as the legal consultant.
MEED understands that EWA’s Sitra IWPP will likely be Bahrain’s last CCGT plant project. Solar power is expected to account for all future electricity generation capacity.
Bahrain aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12907891/main.gif -
Neom replaces CEO
12 November 2024
Register for MEED's 14-day trial access
Nadhmi Al-Nasr has left his role as Neom CEO and will be replaced by Aiman Al-Mudaifer as acting CEO of the company developing the $500bn project in northwestern Saudi Arabia, which includes The Line, Trojena and Oxagon.
In a statement published online, Neom said: “The Neom Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Eng. Aiman Al-Mudaifer as acting CEO of the company. Eng. Al-Mudaifer assumes leadership of Neom, following Nadhmi Al-Nasr’s departure.”
The statement added: “As Neom enters a new phase of delivery, this new leadership will ensure operational continuity, agility and efficiency to match the overall vision and objectives of the project.”
Al-Mudaifer has been head of the Public Investment Fund’s local real estate division since 2018, and the Neom statement says he has a deep and strategic understanding of Neom and its projects.
Neom has attracted significant criticism over the past year as it grapples with major programmes of construction work such as The Line. In a statement announcing the appointment of consultants for work on The Line on 11 November, Neom said it “is currently focused on the initial phases of infrastructure and enabling works for the new city”.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12902059/main.jpg