Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), the principal offtaker for water and wastewater projects in Saudi Arabia, announced on Thursday its preferred and reserve bidders for the 300,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day) Ras Mohaisen Independent Water Plant (IWP) project.

The Saudi consortium of ACWA Power, Haji Abdullah Alireza & Partners Company and AlKifah Holding has been appointed as the preferred bidder while Spanish infrastructure company Acciona has been appointed as the reserve bidder for the IWP project located 300km south of Makkah on the Red Sea coast in the Western Province.

In April 2024, SWPC had announced that it received two bids for the IWP project.

The notice didn’t disclose the levelised tariffs but stated the desalination project, based on sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology, will be developed in two phases: Phase 1 will have a capacity of 100,000 m3/day while Phase 2 will have a capacity of 200,000 m3/day. 

The scope of the project also includes storage tanks with a capacity of 600,000 m3, equivalent to two operating days, an electrical substation facility and 17km power transmission line.

The project will serve one million people across the regions of Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Al-Baha. It will also be linked to Ras Mohaisen – Baha –Makkah Water Transmission Pipeline and Hali Dam Water Transmission Pipeline.

SWPC had previously stated that the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the project is expected to be in the second quarter of 2028.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) for Ras Mohaisen IWP was issued in December 2022. 

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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