News
-
GCC reviews first phase of water interconnection study Administrator17 August 2026
The GCC General Secretariat has completed the first phase of a study examining the feasibility of developing water interconnection projects between GCC member states.
A two-day workshop reviewing the study’s findings concluded on 12 August at the headquarters of the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The GCC General Secretariat organised the workshop in cooperation with GCCIA, with representatives from relevant authorities and experts in water, infrastructure and water security taking part.
Participants reviewed the first phase findings, including an assessment of existing water supply infrastructure and the actual water needs of GCC member states. They also discussed the technical requirements and data needed to complete the study.
The study is intended to identify practical options and feasible solutions for developing a regional water interconnection network. This includes establishing an implementation roadmap.
The initiative aims to improve the GCC states’ ability to respond to emergencies and crises and support continuity of water supplies.
First meeting
The workshop followed a virtual meeting on 22 July between the GCC General Secretariat and Saudi Arabia’s water authorities as part of the study.
That meeting, which also involved consultancy Artelia, reviewed the study’s methodology and implementation stages. These include assessing existing water systems across GCC states, their resilience and emergency readiness, and developing technical options for bilateral water interconnection projects.
In Saudi Arabia, the study is focused primarily on the Eastern Province and Riyadh. It is assessing water production and desalination facilities, transmission pipelines, strategic reservoirs, pumping stations and existing and planned projects.
The study is also examining potential bilateral connections between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, as well as the possibility of a connection with the UAE.
The 22 July meeting also discussed potential connection points and routes, water flow directions and the possibility of designing interconnection pipelines to operate in both directions.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18802726/main.jpg -
Neom’s next phase is crucial to green hydrogen pipeline Administrator17 August 2026
Commentary
Mark Dowdall
Power & water editorThe completion of construction at Neom Green Hydrogen comes at an important point for Saudi Arabia’s wider hydrogen ambitions.
The project has already shown that a large green hydrogen scheme can secure financing by reaching financial close in 2023 with long-term offtake from Air Products.
With the facility now moving into commissioning ahead of a targeted commercial operations date next year, Neom could soon give lenders and developers real evidence on the performance, costs and risks of a large-scale green hydrogen project.
That could be important for projects still moving through development. Acwa’s Yanbu Green Hydrogen Hub, for example, is targeting commercial operations in 2030.
The project has brought in Germany’s EnBW as a co-developer and minority investor and Japan’s Itochu as a co-developer, investor and offtaker. Acwa is targeting production of 2.5 million tonnes a year of green ammonia from the hub.
Saudi Arabia is also putting more of the framework around the industry in place. In July, the government granted Acwa exclusive rights to export green hydrogen produced in the kingdom along with its derivatives, including green ammonia, methanol and fuels.
However, partnerships and policy support alone will not remove the commercial questions facing projects. Yanbu still needs to progress through development and secure the financing needed to move into construction.
Neom’s financing structure and 30-year offtake may be specific to the project, but its operating performance should give future developers and lenders a clearer reference point for assessing production, reliability and costs.
While Neom will not make the next projects bankable on its own, if it stays on track and performs as expected, it could give lenders a stronger basis for assessing projects that follow. In the long-run, this could be one of its most important contributions.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18800285/main.jpg -
Five bid for King Salman Bay construction work Administrator17 August 2026
Five teams have submitted bids for the contract covering the marine infrastructure works at King Salman Bay on the Red Sea coast, north of Jeddah.
MEED understands that the bids were submitted on 31 July.
The bidders include:
- Deme / Archirodon (Belgium/Netherlands)
- Van Oord (Netherlands)
- Abdulmohsen Altamimi / NMDC Group (local/UAE)
- Urbacon / Negida Contracting (Qatar/Egypt )
- Modern Building Leaders / China Harbour (local/China)
The scope includes dredging and earthworks, as well as quay wall and edge protection works spanning about 11 kilometres.
King Salman Bay is expected to be a waterfront development that aims to reshape the city’s northern Red Sea frontage into a mixed-use destination, anchored by public-realm improvements and leisure-led development.
Saudi gigaproject developer Red Sea Global (RSG) is developing the project.
The latest development follows RSG’s award of an estimated SR100m ($27m) contract to construct a solid waste management centre at its Red Sea Project. The scope includes four buildings: a materials recycling facility, a transfer station, an administration building and a vehicle maintenance building.
In October last year, MEED reported that RSG had secured a SR6.5bn ($1.7bn) credit facility to further develop Amaala, its luxury tourism destination on Saudi Arabia’s northwestern Red Sea coast.
READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFSaudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034> MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge> INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil> LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection> INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solarTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18800910/main.jpg -
PDO allows more time for Al-Ghubar field project prices Administrator17 August 2026
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has allowed contractors additional time to prepare commercial bids for a project to build a new facility to handle additional oil production from the Al-Ghubar field in the sultanate.
The Al-Ghubar field is located in the Ghaba Salt Basin at Qarn Alam, within majority state-owned PDO’s Block 6 concession area.
The Al-Ghubar gas-oil gravity drainage (GOGD) facility will be designed as a sour (hydrogen sulphide) facility and is expected to handle maximum oil production of 1,800 standard cubic metres a day (cm/d), a maximum total water flow rate of 10,421 standard cm/d, and maximum gas lift of 256,934 standard cm/d. Production from the planned Al-Ghubar GOGD facility will be exported to PDO’s main oil line.
Following receipt of the technical bids for the project in July, PDO granted contractors additional time – until 16 August – to submit commercial bids for the project, MEED recently reported.
The project operator has now extended the deadline for submitting commercial bids to 1 September, sources told MEED.
PDO floated the tender for the Al-Ghubar GOGD facility project in March, setting an initial bid submission deadline of 4 May, MEED previously reported.
PDO later extended the deadlines for submission of technical and commercial bids to 26 July and 7 August, respectively. Contractors submitted technical proposals by the revised deadline, according to sources.
The following contractors, among others, are understood to be bidding for the project:
- Archirodon (Greece)
- Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Egypt) / Petrojet (Egypt)
- Jereh (China)
- Kent (UAE)
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
The scope of work on the Al-Ghubar GOGD facility project covers the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the following:
- On-plot scope consists of:
- Production separator
- Test separator
- Concentric wash tank
- Wet oil pump
- Water bath heater
- Surge tank
- Gas injection/gas lift compressor (centrifugal)
- Utilities (Instrument Air compressors, chemical injection skids, drain system, vent system)
- Suction scrubber
- Air coolers
- Discharge scrubbers
- Condensate flash drum
- Atmospheric pressure knock-out drum
- Flare system
- Gas heater
- Water disposal pump
- Oil shipping pump
- New 132kV substation and plant substation (housing 6.6kV & 415-Volt switchboard)
- New control room
- Off-plot scope consists of:
- Off-plot pipeline network (bulk header, test header, gathering infrastructure/ gathering line header, instrument air header, water disposal header)
- Two remote manifold stations
- Tie-in connection to main oil line
- Tie-in to gas network pipeline
PDO previously intended to tender the Al-Ghubar GOGD project under its framework structure with selected EPC contractors, but eventually tendered it separately.
PDO is the operator of the Block 6 hydrocarbons concession in Oman, which is the sultanate’s largest and most prolific concession. Situated onshore and covering an area of 75,119 square kilometres, Block 6 contains 202 oil fields and 43 gas fields, with PDO producing a total of approximately 680,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil and condensates from those fields.
The Omani government holds a 60% stake in PDO through Energy Development Oman (EDO). The other shareholders are UK-based Shell (34%), France’s TotalEnergies (4%) and Thailand’s state-owned PTTEP (2%).
ALSO READ: PDO floats tender for major flare gas monetisation scheme
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18799485/main.jpg -
L’imad eyes full takeover of AD Ports Group Administrator17 August 2026
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor, L’imad Holding, has announced its intention to take full ownership of AD Ports Group by offering to acquire the remaining 24.6% of its publicly listed shares through a voluntary, conditional, all-cash tender offer.
The bid will be launched via L’imad’s wholly owned unit, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), which already controls 75.42% of AD Ports Group. The offer seeks to acquire 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital and take the port operator private.
Shareholders would be offered AED6.25 per share in cash. L’imad said the offer provides investors with “an attractive opportunity to realise certain and immediate value”.
Based on the proposed terms, the transaction values the remaining free float at about AED31.8bn ($8.66bn).
Rothschild & Co’s local office has been appointed financial adviser.
Emirates NBD Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank will act as joint lead receiving banks, while Emirates NBD Capital and First Abu Dhabi Bank will serve as joint lead managers.
Cairo-headquartered EFG Hermes has been appointed co-lead manager, and UK-based Allen Overy Shearman Sterling is acting as legal adviser.
The move comes shortly after AD Ports Group posted its strongest quarterly performance to date, reporting an 88% increase in second-quarter net profit to AED836m ($227m).
Revenue for the second quarter of this year rose 47% to $2bn, supported by gains across maritime and shipping, economic cities and free zones, and logistics.
In January, Abu Dhabi approved plans to consolidate ADQ’s investment portfolio into L’imad Holding under the chairmanship of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
L’imad has been mandated to build, develop and manage a diversified portfolio of assets and projects in priority sectors in the UAE and internationally, with a focus on infrastructure and real estate, financial services, and asset and investment management.
Once fully consolidated, the platform will encompass more than 25 investment companies and platforms, alongside over 250 subsidiaries.
L’imad’s portfolio includes Taqa (utilities and power), Modon Properties (real estate), Etihad Airways (aviation), PureHealth (healthcare), Etihad Rail (transport infrastructure), Wio Bank (digital finance), AD Ports (logistics and maritime trade), McLaren (motorsport) and Louis Dreyfus (agricultural commodities).
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18798489/main.jpg -
Saudi firms to build Expo 2030 power infrastructure Administrator17 August 2026
Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access
Saudi Energy, formerly Saudi Electricity Company, has named four contractors that will deliver electricity infrastructure for the Expo 2030 Riyadh site.
The local Al-Babtain, Haif Company, Alfanar and Trading & Development Partnership (TDP) will construct several substations and connect them to the national grid under an agreement signed between Saudi Energy and Expo 2030 Riyadh Company (ERC).
Saudi Electricity Projects Development Company (PDC), Saudi Energy’s project development arm, will oversee implementation.
The scope includes a main 380/132kV supply station and three primary 132/13.8kV substations as well as associated electricity infrastructure.
In March, MEED reported that Saudi Energy was moving forward with procurement of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for three 132/13.8kV substations in Riyadh to support Expo 2030.
The latest agreement is understood to relate to the same substations. According to sources, nine companies submitted bids for the project in June.
These included the following local firms: Al-Babtain Contracting, Al-Gihaz Holding, Al-Haider Company, Alfanar Projects, Haif Company, Mohammed Al-Ojaimi Group, Nesma Infrastructure & Technology and Tareg Al-Jaafari Contracting Establishment.
India’s Larsen & Toubro also submitted a bid for the project.
The infrastructure will provide electricity to the Expo site ahead of the event and allow testing and trial operations to be completed before the Expo opens.
In January, the local firm Nesma & Partners won an estimated SR1bn ($267m) contract to deliver the initial infrastructure works at the Expo site.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is scheduled to take place from 1 October 2030 to 31 March 2031. The event is expected to attract about 42 million visits and will involve 197 participating countries.
READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFSaudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034> MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge> INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil> LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection> INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solarTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18798653/main.jpg -
Design contract awarded for Algerian gas project Administrator17 August 2026
Indonesia’s Synergy Engineering has been provisionally awarded a design contract for a planned gas project in Algeria.
The front-end engineering and design (feed) contract was awarded by Pertamina Algeria Eksplorasi Produksi (PAEP), which is a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state-owned energy company.
The contract was awarded by PAEP in association with Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach and Spain’s Repsol.
Sonatrach, Pertamina and Repsol are partners in Block 405a of the Menzel Ledjmet Nord (MLN) field.
The feed contract covers developing a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant and a water injection facility at the MLN field as part of the field’s fifth development phase.
Block 405a is situated onshore in the Illizi-Ghadames Basin in eastern Algeria. It comprises eight oil and gas fields split over three onstream development areas.
Algeria is home to Africa’s second-largest proven natural gas reserves after Nigeria. It is also Africa’s largest natural gas producer.
Amid ongoing issues exporting oil and gas from the GCC due to disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Algeria is seeking to increase its oil and gas exports to meet European demand.
In July, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune oversaw the signing of dozens of bilateral agreements as part of a wider push to bolster political and economic ties between Germany and Algeria.
The agreements included several focused on oil, gas and energy.
On 2 July, Sonatrach delivered its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) directly to Germany’s Wilhelmshaven 1 floating LNG import terminal.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18756842/main.jpg -
PowerChina wins $1.32bn deal for Iraq water project Administrator17 August 2026
A subsidiary of China Power Construction Corporation (PowerChina) has won a contract to develop the water transmission system for a seawater desalination project in Iraq.
The project is known as the Basra Seawater Desalination Project (BSDP). The contract, awarded by Iraq’s Al-Ridha Group, is worth RMB8.925bn ($1.32bn), according to a statement from PowerChina.
The PowerChina subsidiary that secured the contract is China Water Resources & Hydropower Fifth Engineering Bureau Company.
Located in Iraq’s Basra Province, the project’s main scope involves designing and constructing a water transmission system with a daily supply capacity of 1 million cubic metres.
This includes approximately 240 kilometres of transmission pipeline, one main pumping station and nine receiving pumping stations.
The project duration comprises a six-month limited commencement period and a 1,350-day main construction period, followed by a 24-month defects liability period.
The contract has been signed, but work commencement is subject to certain preconditions, according to the statement.
Desalination projects
The contract signed with Al-Ridha Group is a subcontract for the water conveyance system under the wider Basra desalination project.
Iraqi officials have described the project as one of the world’s largest of its kind.
The BSDP is one of two major desalination projects currently under development in Iraq. The other is the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP).
In September last year, Iraq’s state-owned Basra Oil Company and China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering signed a $2.5bn contract to build a 950km seawater pipeline network to supply a planned water processing facility that is part of the CSSP.
Austria’s ILF Consulting Engineers will supervise the project.
Water from the processing plant is expected to be injected into some of the country’s largest oil fields, including Rumaila, Zubair, West Qurna 1, West Qurna 2 and Majnoon. It is also expected to be used in the Maysan and Dhi Qar fields.
According to a statement from Iraq’s Oil Ministry, the injected water will help maintain reservoir pressure and sustain crude oil production at these fields.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18757691/main.jpg -
Contractors win construction packages for Egypt’s Ras El-Hekma Administrator17 August 2026
Egypt’s Rowad Modern Engineering has announced that it has won new contracts to undertake construction works on two packages at the Ras El-Hekma master development on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
Ras El-Hekma’s master developer, Modon Holding, awarded the contracts.
The first contract covers construction works for Area 2 of the Wadi Yemm basement. The scope includes constructing multilevel basement structures that will support upcoming developments at the site.
Rowad Modern Engineering is delivering the project in a joint venture with Lebanon’s Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC).
The second contract covers substation works, to be delivered in a joint venture with local contractor Elsewedy Electric.
Wadi Yemm is the first of the 17 planned precincts to move into active delivery. It is a mixed-use cultural and hospitality district, anchored by the Ras El-Hekma Lighthouse and a 10,000-seat amphitheatre, designed to host cultural and entertainment programmes.
Ras El-Hekma is located on a spur of land on Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coastline, about 240 kilometres west of Alexandria.
Abu Dhabi-based holding company ADQ appointed Modon Holding as the master developer for the Ras El-Hekma project in 2024. Modon will oversee the overall development, which covers more than 170 million square metres (sq m).
Modon will develop the first phase of the project, covering 50 million sq m. The remaining 120 million sq m will be developed in partnership with private developers under the supervision of the recently established ADQ subsidiary Ras El-Hekma Urban Development Project Company and Modon.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18790805/main.jpg -
Dubai tenders stormwater drainage projects Administrator14 August 2026
Dubai Municipality has issued three tenders for stormwater and sewerage infrastructure projects serving Hind City, Dubailand and surrounding areas.
The projects cover drainage networks for Hind 4, connections to the stormwater network in Dubailand and a stormwater trunk line serving Hind 3, Hind 4 and Umm Al-Daman.
The three tenders were issued through the municipality’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department.
All three have bid submission deadlines of 10 September.
Hind 3 and Hind 4 are two of four zones within Hind City. The Dubai government renamed the Al-Minhad area and surrounding areas as Hind City in 2023. The 83.9-square-kilometre area is served by Emirates Road, Dubai–Al-Ain Road and Jebel Ali–Lehbab Road.
The DS-316-C1 project covers the construction of sewer and stormwater networks in Hind 4. The stormwater network will include gravity drainage pipelines with diameters of up to 1,600 millimetres (mm), while the sewer network will include pipelines of up to 800mm.
The TF-24-C1 project will connect developers’ areas in Dubailand to the stormwater network. It includes 18 kilometres (km) of stormwater drainage pipelines with diameters of up to 1,800mm and 3.5km of gravity sewer pipelines with diameters of up to 1,000mm.
The TF-25-C1 project involves the construction of a 9.2km stormwater trunk line serving Hind 3, Hind 4 and Umm Al-Daman. The trunk line will include gravity drainage pipelines with diameters of up to 2,800mm. It will also serve main roads along its alignment, including sections of Dubai–Al-Ain Road, and is designed to accommodate stormwater flows from part of Emirates Road.
The projects are intended to strengthen flood resilience and improve the reliability of Dubai’s drainage infrastructure.
Latest awards
Dubai has continued to accelerate investment in stormwater infrastructure under the Tasreef programme in recent months.
In July, MEED exclusively reported that Dubai Municipality had awarded the estimated $100m engineering, procurement and construction contract for the TF-15-C1 package of its Tasreef rainwater drainage network programme to local firm DeTech Contracting.
The municipality has also recently awarded the TF-15-C2 and DS-204-C1 packages to China State Construction Engineering Corporation and Nael Construction & Contracting, respectively.
The overall masterplan aims to expand Dubai’s rainwater drainage capacity by 700% by 2033 and serve the emirate for the next century.
READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFSaudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034> MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge> INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil> LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection> INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solarTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18585485/main.jpg