Five groups submit bids for Yanbu 4 independent water project

Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has received bids from five groups for the Yanbu 4 independent water project (IWP).

The lowest levelised tariff of 1.7446SRhala/cubic metre (SRh/cm) was submitted by a consortium of France’s Engie and the local Mowah.

The lowest tariff was marginally lower than the 1.7775SRh/cm submitted by the second lowest bidder, a consortium of Spain’s FCC Aqualia, and local firms HAACO and Alfanar.

The full list of bidders and prices is:

 

• Engie (France)/ Mowah (local), 1.7446SRh/cm
• FCC Aqualia (Spain)/ HAACO (local)/ Alfanar (local), 1.7775SRh/cm
• Acwa Power (local), Al-babtain (local), GIC (Kuwait), 1.8435SRh/cm
• Marubeni Corporation (Japan)/ Marafiq (local), 1.9168SRh/cm
• Veolia (France), Al-Khorayef (local), Al-Bawani (local), 2.0242SRh/cm

 

The project will be developed with a concession period of 25 years, under which the successful developer will sign a water purchase agreement (WPA) with the Saudi government.

SWPC has appointed Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as lead and financial adviser, with the UK’s DLA Piper and Austria’s ILF Consulting Engineers as legal and technical advisers, respectively.

In December last year, SWPC received proposals from four bidders for the 600,000 cm/d Jubail 3A IWP.

SWPC had prequalified 10 groups to participate in the tender. The client previously set a target of shortlisting developers by 15 January 2020, and is targeting to sign project agreements by 1 March with financial close set for 1 June. The project is due to be fully operational by 30 December 2022.

SWPC, which was formerly called Water Electricity Company (WEC), previously prequalified 10 developers to participate in the tender for the Jubail 3A and the Jubail 3B IWP projects.

The Jubail 3B IWP is planned to have a capacity of 570,000 cm/d and is expected to be tendered in the first quarter of 2019. India’s Synergy Consulting has been appointed as lead and financial adviser for the Jubail 3 A and B projects. UK-based law firm DLA Piper has been appointed as legal adviser and UK-based Atkins is technical adviser for the planned projects.

The Jubail 3 scheme had originally been planned as an independent water and power project (IWPP) with a 1.17 million cm/d desalination capacity and a power component of 3,000MW. However, the plans were revised and SWPC is proceeding with the projects as two separate water projects, dropping the power generation component.

The successful bidders will sign a 25-year water purchase agreement with SWPC for the Jubail IWPs. SWPC’s obligations under the projects will be guaranteed by the Saudi government.

The Jubail 3 scheme had originally been planned as an independent water and power project (IWPP) with a 1.17 million cm/d desalination capacity and a power component of 3,000MW. However, the plans were revised and SWPC is proceeding with the projects as two separate water projects, dropping the power generation component.