Saudi Water Partnerships Company (SWPC) has named the consortium of Engie-Nesma - Al-Ajlan as the preferred bidder for its 570,000 cubic meters per day (m3/day) Jubail 3B Independent Water Plant (IWP) project. 

The company said in a statement posted on its website last week that the preferred consortium had submitted a tariff of 1.59149 Saudi riyals/m3, equivalent to $0.41/m3, for the reverse osmosis (RO)-based desalination project. 

This compares to levelised water cost of $0.277/m3 achieved by Dubai's Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) for its RO-based Hassyan IWP last year. 

SWPC said the consortium of Aqualia-Haaco-Alfanar, which was named as the reserve bidder, submitted a tariff of 1.60451 riyals/m3 or $0.43/m3. 

The statement said the project would include a reservoir with a storage capacity equivalent to a day's production and solar power systems to reduce electricity consumption from the grid. 

Jubail 3B is scheduled to commence operations in 2023, according to past SWPC statements.  

Last year, the 600,000 m3/day Jubail 3A IWP, awarded to an ACWA-power led consortium, had achieved levelised water cost of 1.54861 riyals or $0.41 per m3. 

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Seban Scaria) 

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com) 

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