ENGIE-led group closes financing for KSA’s largest solar-powered desalination plant
Project is part of the water schemes developed under public-private partnership
The Saudi Water Partnership Co., in association with a consortium led by Franceheadquartered ENGIE has achieved financial close on the Jubail 3B Independent Water Project, the largest solar-powered water desalination project in the Kingdom.
The project is part of the water schemes in Saudi Arabia developed under the public-private partnership structure, ENGIE said in a statement.
The consortium is developing and financing the desalination
plant, which will be operated and maintained by ENGIE. The Jubail 3B project was awarded by SWPC as a build, own, operate contract, with commercial operation expected in 2024, it said.
ENGIE holds 40 percent of the project, while Saudi-based Nesma Co. and Abdulaziz Al Ajlan Sons for Commercial and Real Estate Investment hold 30 percent each.
On April 29, SWPC awarded the ENGIE-led consortium a 25-year water purchase agreement, and the contract was signed on June 22.
SWPC’s CEO Khalid Al-Quraishi noted that “despite the fluctuations, liquidity crises and changing global market conditions, SWPC succeeded in completing the financial closure in close cooperation with the consortium and the group of lenders.”
SWPC said Jubail 3B will also include a 60 MW peak capacity solar photovoltaic facility — the largest in-house solar capability for a desalination plant in the Kingdom — to reduce the cost of electricity per m3, and a reservoir with a storage capacity equivalent to a day’s production.
Located 65 km north of Dammam airport, the plant will produce 570,000 m3/day of potable water through reverse osmosis technology to supply the cities of Jubail and Dammam.
Turki Al-Shehri, the chief executive of ENGIE in Saudi Arabia, earlier told Arab News: “Our growth expectations are continuing to meet our customers’ needs. We operate today in 17 cities and the main growth will come through acquisition.” “Saudi Arabia is the biggest market in the region today, and if you look at the total capacity it will rank second.
“In the next five years, it will be 60 percent of the total market in the entire Middle East. “The Ministry of Energy has already announced a target that was revised upwards from a target of 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the electricity network will come from renewables, or 100 gigawatts by 2030.”