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SWCC receives bids for four desalination plants

21 May 2024

 

Saudi Arabia's main producer of desalinated water, Saline Water Conversion Company (SWCC), has received bids for four seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants with a total combined capacity of about 2 million cubic metres a day (cm/d)

According to an industry source, bids were submitted on 14 May for the Yanbu SWRO project, which has a baseline capacity of 300,000 cm/d.

Bids were submitted five days later for three SWRO facilities. The tendered projects and their water desalination capacities are:

  • Shuaiba 6 SWRO: 545,000 (cm/d)
  • Ras Al Khair SWRO: 600,000 cm/d
  • Jubail SWRO: 600,000 cm/d

The four contracts are being procured using an engineering, procurement and construction model, in contrast to the SWRO facilities being procured on a public-private partnership basis by the state offtaker, Saudi Water Partnership Company.

SWCC has tendered the contract to build the Shuaiba 6 SWRO before.

It was most recently tendered in 2022, with a team comprising the local firms Wetico and Alfanar, and Italy's Fisia Italimpianti submitting bids for the contract.

SWCC is the world's largest producer of desalinated water with a capacity of at least 6.6 million cm/d. Plants utilising older and energy-intensive techniques such as multi-stage flash technology account for the majority of its current capacity.

According to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects, SWCC has awarded several SWRO plants in the past few years, including:

  • Ras Al Khair production system expansion: 200,000 cm/d
  • Jubail SWRO plant: 1,000,000 cm/d
  • Shuqaiq 1 SWRO plant: 400,000 cm/d.

MEED's April 2024 special report on Saudi Arabia includes:

> GVT & ECONOMY: Saudi Arabia seeks diversification amid regional tensions
> BANKING: Saudi lenders gear up for corporate growth
> UPSTREAM: Aramco spending drawdown to jolt oil projects
> DOWNSTREAM: Master Gas System spending stimulates Saudi downstream sector
> POWER: Riyadh to sustain power spending
> WATER: Growth inevitable for the Saudi water sector
> CONSTRUCTION: Saudi gigaprojects propel construction sector
> TRANSPORT: Saudi Arabia’s transport sector offers prospects

 

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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