GE consortium wins deal for Yanbu 4 IWP substation

US-based GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions in consortium with the local Al-Sharif Group has been awarded a contract from Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction to build a turnkey substation for the Yanbu 4 independent water producer (IWP) project

 

US-based GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions in consortium with the local Al-Sharif Group has been awarded a contract from Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction to build a turnkey substation for the Yanbu 4 independent water producer (IWP) project.

The Yanbu 4 IWP project is the first large-scale desalination project in the kingdom to have an integrated clean energy component, with a 20MW photovoltaic (PV) solar installation. The project also contains water storage tanks to maintain a capacity for two days.

The GE/Al-Sharif consortium will provide and install the full turnkey solution for the Yanbu 4 IWP substation, including a 380-110kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substation.

The estimated $450m Yanbu 4 IWP reached financial close in March.

Energy & Utilities reported in December 2019 that a consortium led by France’s Engie and local companies Nesma and Mowah had signed the water purchase agreement (WPA) for the Yanbu 4 IWP project, which will have a desalination capacity of 450,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

The successful consortium had submitted the lowest levelised tariff of 1.7446SRhala/cubic metre (SRh/cm) during a competitive bidding process.

In addition to the reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant, the consortium will develop a 600,000 cm/d pumping station and a 39km pipeline as part of the project.

According to a source close to the project, the lending group for the scheme includes MUFG, KXIM, KDB, NCB, Riyadh Bank and Standard Chartered.

SWPC appointed Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as lead and financial adviser for the Yanbu 4 IWP, with the UK’s DLA Piper and Austria’s ILF Consulting Engineers as legal and technical advisers, respectively.

The project is part of Saudi Arabia's programme to procure the majority of future desalination projects as public-private partnership (PPP) projects. The programme is being managed by the Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC).