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  UAE and Saudi markets remain region’s least risky for construction

  11 March 2025

  The UAE and Saudi Arabia remain the two markets in the region with the least risk, according to GlobalData’s latest Construction Risk Index report. 

  The UAE, with a risk score of 25.30, is ranked as A2, which indicates a low risk environment. The market in 2025 is supported by a buoyant property market with offplan sales driving the launch of new projects, as well as ongoing government infrastructure spending and a strong pipeline of oil and gas projects.

  Saudi Arabia, with a risk score of 37.38, is ranked as B1, indicating a moderate risk environment. The country's construction industry continues to deliver projects for Vision 2030, and while this is positive in terms of workload, the market is expected to face challenges in 2025 due to the government's plan to delay the implementation of scheduled projects.

  The reprioritisation is still ongoing, which has impacted confidence and could have negative consequences for companies working on projects that are scaled back or slowed down.

  Other GCC countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, also face varying degrees of risk. Qatar's construction industry, with a risk score of 39.03, is expected to recover in 2025, supported by investment in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and renewable energy. However, a declining trend in new investment in the non-residential building sector continues to weigh on the industry.

  With a risk score of 63.50, Egypt's construction industry is expected to face high risk due to political, economic, market, and financial issues. The country's construction industry is ranked as C2, indicating a high-risk environment.

  Globally, the construction risk outlook in Q4 2025 continues to be impacted by economic headwinds. The global average score declined marginally to 49.13 from 49.65 in Q3 2024. The Middle East and North Africa region's average risk score is 53.25, indicating a higher risk environment compared to the global average.

  With a risk score of 69.00, Iraq's construction industry continues to face persistent security challenges, regional geopolitical tensions, and political instability. The country's construction industry is ranked as C2, indicating a high-risk environment. Despite investments in reconstruction and infrastructure projects, construction remains hindered by weak governance.

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  Colin Foreman
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  Mubadala divests stake in UK’s Calisen

  11 March 2025

  Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala has completed the sale of its indirect stake in Calisen, a UK-based provider of smart meters and small-scale energy transition infrastructure assets.

  The sale marks the end of a four-year investment cycle during which Mubadala, alongside partners, worked closely with Calisen to deliver strong financial and commercial performance, the firm said.

  Mubadala's investment partners include US Blackrock-backed Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and the infrastructure business at Goldman Sachs Alternatives

  Mubadala has supported Calisen’s expansion capabilities to "unlock new growth opportunities including electric vehicle (EV) charging, the electrification of heating, solar, and battery solutions, deepening Calisen’s role in the UK's energy transition".

  A key milestone in this journey was Calisen's 2023 acquisition of MapleCo, a UK smart metering company owned by Equitix, which is now part of the shareholder group.

   With an installed base of 16 million meters, the company is well-positioned to capitalise on market trends underpinned by the ongoing energy transition as the UK advances in its journey to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

  Saed Arar, Mubadala head of infrastructure, said its successful investment in Calisen comes from selecting the right partners and business to support, and implementing active management initiatives "that were accretive to returns, de-risked the investment, and positioned Calisen well for an attractive exit".

  "This transaction aligns with our approach of capturing value through well-timed and strategic exits, while ensuring that Calisen is well-positioned for its next phase of growth," said Arar.

  The sale value was not disclosed.

  Photo credit: Mubadala

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
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  Ewec seeks firms for 3.3GW Al-Nouf power plant

  11 March 2025

  

   

  State utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has issued a request for statements of qualifications (SOQs) from firms for a contract to develop a new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power generation plant in Abu Dhabi.

  The CCGT plant will be located at the Al-Nouf complex, 30 kilometres southwest of the city of Abu Dhabi.

  The Al-Nouf 1 independent power project (IPP) will have a net generation capacity of approximately 3,300MW.

  MEED understands that Ewec is in discussions with original equipment manufacturers regarding support for the prospective bidders in terms of the procurement process for the necessary gas turbines.

  Ewec expects interested developers to submit their SOQs by 20 March and aims to issue the request for proposals before the end of March.

  The estimated bid submission deadline will be in late August.

  The Al-Nouf 1 CCGT plant is expected to reach commercial operations by June 2029.

  MEED reported in September last year that Abu Dhabi plans to procure an estimated 5,000MW of gas-fired power plant capacity, mainly to support the UAE’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

  Ewec is understood to be working with both Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) to implement the power plant projects that will support the UAE government’s AI strategy.

  Taqa is conducting final negotiations for a contract to build an open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) power generation plant in Abu Dhabi's Al-Dhafra region, MEED recently reported.

  The Al-Dhafra OCGT plant project is being tendered on a fast-track basis and is expected to have an installed capacity of 1,000MW-1,100MW.

  Engineering, procurement and construction contractors are understood to have submitted their proposals for the contract in September last year. 

  In January, Ewec and Masdar announced a project to build a solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (bess) project that will enable the round-the-clock supply of 1GW of solar power. It will comprise a 5GW solar PV plant and 19 gigawatt-hour bess plant.

  Taweelah C

  Ewec received a single proposal for a contract to develop the Taweelah C IPP project in late February.   

  The Taweelah C IPP will have a generation capacity of up to 2,500MW and is expected to reach commercial operations in the third quarter of 2028.

  Industry sources suggest that UAE-based Etihad Water & Electricity (Ethad WE) submitted the lone bid for the contract.

  The Taweelah C IPP is the first gas-fired power plant project to be procured by Abu Dhabi since 2020, when Ewec awarded Japan’s Marubeni Corporation the contract to develop the Fujairah 3 IPP.

  Taqa fiscal standing

  Taqa completed its full 2024 fiscal year with a net income of AED7.1bn ($1.9bn), on the back of revenues that reached AED55.2bn.

  This net income was only 1.5% higher than the year before, excluding one-off items worth AED10.8bn related to the acquisition of a 5% stake in Adnoc Gas and a AED1.1bn deferred tax charge due to the introduction of corporate tax in the UAE.

  The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 5.9%, to AED21.4bn, in 2024. This declined by 31% compared to the year before, if the AED10.8bn acquisition of a 5% stake in Adnoc Gas is considered.

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  READ THE MARCH MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – clck here to view PDF

  Chinese contractors win record market share; Cairo grapples with political and fiscal challenges; Stronger upstream project spending beckons in 2025

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA 1: Chinese firms dominate region’s projects market > AGENDA 2: China construction at pivotal juncture > LIBYA: Uncertainty and instability damage Libyan oil sector optimism > UPSTREAM 1: Offshore oil and gas sees steady capex > UPSTREAM 2: Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance > BAPCO: Bahrain to benefit from $7bn project by year’s end > MASDAR: Masdar meets renewable’s moonshot challenge > DIRIYAH: Diriyah CEO sets the record straight > SAUDI POWER: Saudi power projects hit record high > AUTOMOTIVE: Saudi Arabia gears up to lead Gulf’s automotive sector > EGYPT: Egypt battles structural issues > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf hits six-month growth streak > CONTRACT AWARDS: High-value deals signed in power and industrial sectors > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: Trump’s foreign policy shakes global relations

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
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  Nuclear project may feature in Trump’s Riyadh visit

  10 March 2025

  

   

  Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear power plant project may feature in the planned visit of US President Donald Trump to Riyadh within the next six weeks, industry sources tell MEED.

  "I think the main agenda will be Russia, Ukraine and Middle East peace, but energy cooperation – such as the nuclear industry – could also be discussed," one source says.

  Trump has said he will likely visit Saudi Arabia on his first overseas trip within the next month and a half, as he did during his first term of office.

  Trump's first overseas trip of his first term was to Riyadh in 2017, to announce Saudi investments estimated at the time to be worth $350bn.

  His next visit is contingent upon the signing of deals with Riyadh for investments of more than $1tn in the US economy, according to reports.

  "I doubt whether the [Saudi] nuclear programme will be on the agenda, but one never knows," says another source familiar with Saudi Arabia's nuclear power plant project. "[Trump] may use the nuclear [project] as a deviation from the main agenda of the talks."

  Saudi Arabia is hosting talks between top US and Ukrainian diplomats this week regarding the potential of peace between Moscow and Kyiv. 

  Duwaiheen nuclear power plant

  Saudi Arabia restarted procurement proceedings for its first large-scale nuclear power plant project in Duwaiheen in 2022.

  The bid deadline for the main contract to build the project, which will be located close to the border with Qatar, has been extended several times.

  The ongoing conflict between Israel, Gaza and other neighbouring countries appears to have contributed to the extended procurement timeline of the Duwaiheen nuclear plant project.

  It is understood that Riyadh is using its nuclear power plant project, along with its plan to enrich uranium sources as part of its industrial strategy, as a bargaining chip with the US government. The White House is pushing for the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and is opposed to uranium enrichment.

  A month before the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas started, it was reported that senior Palestinian officials were in Riyadh for talks with senior Saudi and US officials. According to a BBC report in September 2023, the Palestinians were negotiating for hundreds of millions of dollars and more control of land in the occupied West Bank in the event of a three-way deal between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US.

  On 14 October 2023, Saudi Arabia suspended the talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel, which it has never officially recognised as an independent state.

  Westinghouse-Kepco dispute resolution

  In January, US-headquartered Westinghouse Electric Company resolved its long-running intellectual property dispute with Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP).

  Westinghouse initiated legal action in the US in 2022 to block Kepco and KHNP from distributing without permission nuclear technology for which it claimed ownership rights.

  Westinghouse’s argument was based on the claim that the Korean nuclear reactor model APR1400 relied on the firm's original design and technology, and that the two South Korean companies should be responsible for any damages resulting from the export of APR1400-modelled nuclear reactors.

  In response, KHNP filed countersuits in the US to compel Westinghouse to withdraw the case, while simultaneously seeking an out-of-court resolution.

  KHNP asserted that it possessed the necessary licences to use the technology, enabling the firm to export it without Westinghouse’s permission. KHNP argued that it should not be held accountable for royalty payments.

  Both Kepco and Westinghouse expressed interest in developing Saudi Arabia’s first large-scale nuclear power plant in Duwaiheen, although Westinghouse has since dropped out of the race, according to sources.

  ---

  READ THE MARCH MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – clck here to view PDF

  Chinese contractors win record market share; Cairo grapples with political and fiscal challenges; Stronger upstream project spending beckons in 2025

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA 1: Chinese firms dominate region’s projects market > AGENDA 2: China construction at pivotal juncture > LIBYA: Uncertainty and instability damage Libyan oil sector optimism > UPSTREAM 1: Offshore oil and gas sees steady capex > UPSTREAM 2: Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance > BAPCO: Bahrain to benefit from $7bn project by year’s end > MASDAR: Masdar meets renewable’s moonshot challenge > DIRIYAH: Diriyah CEO sets the record straight > SAUDI POWER: Saudi power projects hit record high > AUTOMOTIVE: Saudi Arabia gears up to lead Gulf’s automotive sector > EGYPT: Egypt battles structural issues > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf hits six-month growth streak > CONTRACT AWARDS: High-value deals signed in power and industrial sectors > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: Trump’s foreign policy shakes global relations

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
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  Saudi power sector enters busiest year

  10 March 2025

  

   

  Contracts worth more than $90bn are under execution in Saudi Arabia’s power sector, making 2025 the busiest year ever for generation and transmission capacity buildout in the kingdom.

  The construction of conventional and renewable power generation plants accounts for two-thirds, or 66%, of the contracts under execution, while transmission and distribution projects account for the rest, based on the latest available data from regional project tracker MEED Projects.

  In addition to gas-fired and renewable energy generation plant projects, the kingdom has awarded several contracts in the past two years to modernise and expand its domestic grids in light of the solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power plants, and industrial complexes, which are being built in remote areas – as well as Riyadh's plan to trade electricity beyond the kingdom's GCC partners and with countries such as Egypt.

  In the past 12 months, the kingdom also awarded the first contracts to build on-grid battery energy storage system (bess) facilities, in line with fostering greater grid flexibility and countering the intermittency of renewable power.

  “It has been a very, very busy year, despite some projects – particularly those catering to Neom – being re-scoped,” notes a Dubai-based senior executive with a transaction advisory firm.

  The $500bn Neom gigaproject in southwestern Saudi Arabia aims to be powered 100% by renewable energy, which it initially expected to generate independently.

  However, ongoing discussions are understood to include an option to meet future demand through renewable power sourced from the grid.

  Overall, combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) projects – procured on either an independent power project (IPP) or engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model – account for 56% of the total power generation contracts under execution in Saudi Arabia, with solar and wind accounting for the remaining 44%.

  The principal buyer, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), awarded contracts for two pairs of CCGT plants – projects one and two of the Rumah and Nairiyah schemes – last year.

  SPPC also signed the offtake agreements for four solar PV IPPs, which were tendered under the fifth round of the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP). These were contracts for the 2GW Al-Sadawi, 1.25GW Al-Masaa, 500MW Al-Henakiyah 2 and 300MW Rabigh 2 solar IPPs.

  An EPC contract for a high-voltage, direct current transmission network connecting the kingdom’s central and southern electricity grids was also one of the largest deals signed last year in the kingdom.

  In the second half of 2024, the developer arm of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) selected the preferred bidders for several greenfield CCGT expansion plants: Ghazlan 1 and 2, Riyadh PP12 and Marjan.

  SEC subsidiary National Grid also awarded the second phase of its bess projects that are being procured on an EPC basis to local firm AlGihaz Holding last year. The three battery energy storage facilities, each with a capacity of 800MW, or about 2,600 megawatt-hours, are to be located in Najran, Khamis Mushait and Madaya.

  The extent of work on hand is exerting pressure on contractor capacity, according to some experts.

  "I think the Chinese EPC contractors are already at capacity, so SEC has started tapping Egyptian and Spanish EPC contractors," an industry source told MEED, referring to Tecnicas Reunidas, Orascom and Elsewedy, which are understood to have been selected last year to undertake the EPC contracts for several CCGT plants that SEC is developing.

  South Korean EPC contractors are also executing several cogeneration and generation power plants in the kingdom.

  Outlook

  The need to expand, connect and stabilise the kingdom’s electricity grid will be a primary preoccupation for Saudi utility stakeholders in the short to medium term.

  This is crucial given the large capacity of renewable energy power generation plants that are scheduled to come on stream, and as the kingdom deploys new gas-fired plants in line with its need to displace liquid fuel in some of its ageing fleet.

  Oil fuel still accounted for 36% of Saudi Arabia's total electricity generation in 2023, at 422.9 terawatt-hours, according to the Energy Institute.

  Data from MEED Projects suggests that at least $68bn-worth of power generation and transmission contracts are in the pre-execution phase as of March 2025.

  Clean energy fuel-powered plants, using solar, wind, hydro and nuclear, dominate the $47bn-worth of planned power generation units, with thermal plants accounting for just 13% of the total.

  This signals a shift to clean energy, despite the overall figure excluding a significant volume of renewable energy projects that are still in the concept stage. This is in line with a plan by the Energy Ministry to procure up to 20GW of renewable energy capacity annually until 2030, subject to demand growth.

  Planned transmission and distribution projects, including several independent battery energy storage projects, together account for about $21bn of contracts that have yet to be awarded.

  Local developers

  Local companies are increasingly visible in the procurement proceedings for new power generation and transmission plants in the kingdom.

  The decisions made by several European and Japanese developers to retreat from thermal power plant tenders that do not offer a clear carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) path – which would be necessary for them to meet their 2045 or 2050 net-zero targets – has contributed to this trend.

  The exclusion of dominant utility developer Acwa Power in the prequalification process for the NREP’s fifth and sixth procurement rounds has also opened up opportunities for other international and local developers that are keen to win more contracts in Saudi Arabia.

  Aljomaih Energy & Water, Ajlan & Brothers, Alfanar, Algihaz and SEC’s developer arm have been pursuing new contracts, usually in cooperation with an international developer.

  Battery energy storage

  Large-scale solar PV projects and limited wind capacity in the kingdom create a major market for battery energy storage going forwards.

  Independent battery energy storage projects, in particular, offer neutral opportunities for both international and local developers, and are expected to attract more bidders compared to conventional thermal or standalone solar PV projects.

  “We are definitely interested,” says a senior executive with a European utility developer, referring to the first phase of the kingdom’s independent storage provider (ISP) programme.

  In addition to its net-zero merits, the ISPs will follow the same model as an IPP project, where the successful bidders will hold 100% equity in the special purpose vehicles set up to develop and operate the project.

  While such strong interest is expected to benefit the principal buyer, which can expect to receive competitive prices from bidders, an over-competitive or crowded landscape could also be off-putting to developers and investors that are keen to maintain their internal rate of return, or which are shifting their global focus to other geographies.

  “We prefer to wait and see,” one source tells MEED, indicating that their company does not intend to participate in upcoming battery tenders, not only in Saudi Arabia but also in other GCC states.

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo