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Turkish firm secures Saudi water storage EPC contract

3 January 2024

 

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The team that won the contract to develop and operate Saudi Arabia’s first major independent strategic water reservoir (ISWR) project in Mecca has awarded the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Turkiye’s Mapa.

The team comprising the local Vision International Investment Company, Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation and the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) proposed to develop the project for SRhals18.11 ($c4.83) a cubic metre.

The Juranah ISWR scheme is the first of several reservoir projects that 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.

State water offtaker Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) signed the contract for the development of the project with the Vision Invest-led consortium on 31 December.

In November, SWPC named a second team as a reserved bidder. It comprised the local Abdul Aziz al-Ajlan Sons Company for Commercial & Real Estate Investment and Egypt’s Orascom Construction, which offered SRhals24.07696 for the contract.

The reservoir project is expected to start commercial operations in 2027.

SWPC qualified 17 companies that could bid for the contract in May 2022.

Project goals

Previously referred to as Mecca 1, the Juranah ISWR project will be implemented using a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. The scheme includes a water reservoir as well as associated infrastructure and facilities.

Juranah supports Saudi Arabia’s goal to increase municipal water storage capacity to an average of three days in 2022 and seven days by 2030.

In addition, the government aims to increase water storage capacity to an equivalent of 20 days of Hajj demand in Mecca and 40 days of Hajj demand in Medina by 2022.

Two other schemes are planned for Mecca under SWPC’s 2022 seven-year planning statement.

The Mecca 2 ISWR will have a storage capacity of 6 million cubic metres, while the Mecca 3 ISWR will have a capacity of 8 million cubic metres. 

A team of US/India-based Synergy Consulting, Canada’s WSP and the local Amer al-Amr are providing financial, technical and legal consultancy services to SWPC for the Mecca ISWR projects.

SWPC is planning to develop 11 other ISWR schemes. They are located in the Eastern Province, Medina, Qassim, Tabuk, Riyadh and Jizan, as well as in Al-Baha, Najran and Aseer.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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