Saudi Arabia to invite interest in Ras Mohaisan IWP

According to sources close to the project, SWPC is planning to issue the EOI imminently for the 300,000 cm/d Ras Mohaisan desalination project, which will be located in the Mecca province

The Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) is preparing to issue the expression of interest (EOI) in the planned 300,000 cubic metre a day (cm/d) Ras Mohaisan independent water project (IWP).

According to sources close to the project, SWPC is planning to issue the EOI imminently for the Ras Mohaisan project, which will be located in the Mecca province. KPMG has been appointed as financial advisor, with UK-based Eversheds Sutherland as legal advisor.

On its website, SWPC has stated that the planned commissioning date for the IWP is 2022.

The Ras Mohaisan project is part of the kingdom’s programme to develop 16 IWPs to service areas across the kingdom.

Although Riyadh successfully implemented the independent water and power project (IWPP) model between 2004 and 2010, awarding contracts for three large power and water cogeneration projects during this period, that majority of the kingdom’s desalination capacity had been delivered through government-funded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.

As with most of the kingdom’s utilities sector, the push towards utilising public-private partnership (PPP) models to develop power and water projects has been swift since the fall in oil prices in 2014 and the subsequent launch of the Vision 2030 economic reform plan in 2016.

The kingdom awarded the contract for its first PPP standalone desalination plant, the $700m Rabigh 3 IWP in late December 2019. An Acwa Power-led consortium will develop the 600,000 cm/d plant, one of the largest reverse osmosis (RO) plants in the world.

The kingdom also awarded a contract for the development of the 450,000 cm/d Shuqaiq 3 IWP in the first quarter of 2019 to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Japan’s Marubeni and the local Rawafid Alhadarah.

In April 2020, SWPC signed water purchase agreement (WPA) with a consortium led by the local Acwa Power for the planned 600,000 cm/d Jubail 3A IWP.

The Jubail 3B IWP is planned to have a capacity of 570,000 cm/d, with bids due on 1 October.