Saudi Arabia agrees $630mln international deal for new sewage plants

The new facilities will be constructed in Madinah, Qassim, and Tabuk, and are due to come online at the end of 2024.

Saudi firm the International Water Distribution Company — "Tawzea" — will have 35 percent of shares in the projects, as will Spain’s Acciona Company.

Another Saudi company, Tamasuk, will have the remaining 30 percent, Saudi Amiantit and the Saudi Industrial Services Company "Sisco" said in a statement.

Solar energy units will also be installed to reduce electricity consumption from the grid.

Abdulrahman Bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, minister of environment, water and agriculture, tweeted that the plants were being built “within the framework of the initiatives of the Privatization Program, one of the programs of Vision 2030, and in partnership with the private sector”.

Saudi Water Partnership Company chief executive Khaled Alqureshi said the three projects will use sequencing batch reactor technology- a fill-and-draw activated sludge system for wastewater treatment, and serve beneficiaries in the Qassim and Tabuk regions.

Buraidah and Tabuk plants will be established in the Qassim and Tabuk regions, with a processing capacity of 150,000 cubic meters per day for the Buraidah-2 project and 90,000 cubic meters per day for the Tabuk-2 project, SPA reported.

The Madina project has a treatment capacity of 200,000 cubic meters per day, expandable to 375,000 cubic meters per day.