Three teams eye Jubail-Buraydah contract

11 July 2024

At least three teams are expected to submit proposals for a contract to develop and operate Saudi Arabia’s second independent water transmission pipeline (IWTP) project, which links Jubail and Buraydah.

The planned Jubail-Buraydah IWTP is a 603-kilometre (km) pipeline that can transmit 650,000 cubic metres of water a day.

It is larger than the kingdom's first IWTP linking Rayis and Rabigh, which a consortium including the local Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies Company and Spain's Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios will develop and operate at a cost of SR7.78bn ($2bn).

The state offtaker, Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), expects to receive bids for the Jubail-Buraydah IWTP contract by mid-July.

MEED reported in February that at least three consortiums were forming to bid for the contract. More recent market feedback indicates the following consortiums are likely to bid for the contract: 

  • Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies (local) / Acciona (Spain) / Cobra Instalaciones (Spain) 
  • Nesma Company (local) / Aljomaif Energy & Water (Jenwa, local) / Buhur Investment (local)
  • Vision Invest (local) / Taqa (UAE)

SWPC issued the request for proposals for the Jubail-Buraydah IWTP scheme to the prequalified bidders in October last year.

The state water offtaker qualified 22 companies to bid for the contract in April 2022. 

The transaction advisory team for the client comprises US/India’s Synergy Consulting as financial adviser and the local Amer Al-Amr and Germany’s Fichtner Consulting as legal and technical advisers, respectively.

SWPC’s obligations under the water transfer agreement will be guaranteed by a credit support agreement entered into by the Finance Ministry on behalf of the Saudi government.

The project is part of the kingdom’s National Water Strategy 2030, which aims to reduce the water demand-supply gap and ensure desalinated water accounts for 90% of national urban supply to reduce reliance on non-renewable ground sources.

SWPC’s Seven-Year Planning Statement calls for developing eight IWTP projects by 2028.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo
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