New bid deadline set for Qiddiya entertainment city utilities PPP package
Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a fully owned company of sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund (PIF), has extended the bid submission date for the public-private partnership (PPP) utilities package on the Qiddiya entertainment city.
According to sources close to the project, the two bidding consortiums now have until 30 June to submit proposals for the PPP package. The deadline was extended from the previous submission date of 7 June. The extension marks the second time that the bid deadline has been moved, with bids originally due on 20 April.
The two groups bidding for the contract are led by the local firms Acwa Power and Alfanar.
The PPP package will include power generation capacity, water desalination capacity, waste management and wastewater treatment facilities.
The first phase of the Qiddiya development, scheduled for opening in 2023, will include 45 projects across the hospitality, entertainment and sport sectors. A total area of 103 square kilometres (sq/m) will be developed over the 334 sq/m site.
The Qiddiya entertainment complex will be developed through several development nodes, including a resort core, motion zone, eco zone, golf community and aerodrome and airfield. The project will also include significant real estate schemes, including a 5-star golf and entertainment resort, a 4-star waterpark resort and major commercial and residential real estate offerings.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is planning to develop integrated utilities infrastructure through PPP models at three of its megaprojects.
One of these is The Red Sea Tourism Development on the west coast of the kingdom.
In May, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) has received bids from two groups for the planned first phase utilities package on the Red Sea Tourism development on the west coast of the kingdom.
According to sources close to the project, the client received online proposals from the following two consortiums:
- Acwa Power (local) /Energy China
- Engie (France)/Masdar (UAE)/Power China/Mihaona (local) /Saudi Tabreed (local)
Three groups had been prequalified to participate in the tender.
It is believed to be the first major utility-scale project in the region for which paperless bids have been submitted. The decision to accept online proposals was granted in response to the ongoing restrictions of movement measures in place to protect against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.
The PPP contract will include the provision of power and water production, sewage treatment and solid waste treatment. The Red Sea Development Company is owned by sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund (PIF), and the PIF will provide the guarantee for the 25-year offtake agreement.
Under the first phase of the Red Sea development, which is due to be commissioned in 2022, power generation capacity will be required to service a peak demand of 210MW. Power is planned to be generated for the first phase from photovoltaic (PV) solar, wind energy, energy storage batteries and biofuel emergency power.
Under the second phase, which is due to be commissioned by 2030, power generation capacity will be required to meet peak demand of 360MW. The client is planning for geothermal and concentrated solar power (CSP) to add additional capacity by 2030.
For water production, two seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants will be developed with a capacity of 30,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) under the first phase. The demand will be split between potable water, 21,000 cm/d, and irrigation top-up, 9,000 cm/d.
Under the second phase, an additional SWRO plant will be developed in addition to brine squeezer and chlor-alkali technologies to meet expected demand of up to 50,000 cm/d, split 39,000cm/d and 11,000cm/d between potable water and irrigation top-up respectively.
The selected developer will also be required to provide a sewage treatment plant (STP) with a capacity to treat up to 18,000 cm/d of sewage under the first phase of the project through a constructed wetlands scheme. The peak sewage flow of the development is expected to reach 34,000 cm/d by 2030.
For the waste treatment development, the PPP contract will cover collection, automatic recovery and waste-to-energy production for up to 30 tonnes per day (t/d) under the first day. This will rise to 55 t/d by 2030,
TRSDC was established in line with the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic reform plan to diversify the country’s economy and increase the kingdom’s tourism sector.
Under the first phase development, TRSDC is planning to develop five islands, two inland sites and deliver 3,000 hotel keys to accommodate 300,000 visitors a year by 2022. By 2030, the client hopes to have developed 22 islands, six inland sites and have delivered 8,000 hotel rooms to service up to 1 million visitors a year.
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