MATTER of expertise

A major player in the water and wastewater segment in the Kingdom, Miahona targets upcoming PPP megaprojects.

Would you tell us about Miahona’s positioning in the market and its primary expertise?

Miahona is the water and wastewater vertical of Vision Invest focused on developing and operating in municipal, commercial, and industrial segments. We cover the entire water value chain, from water extraction to production and distribution, including metering, billing, customer sales, collection and treatment of wastewater, selling recycled water for non-potable uses, and sludge disposal. Miahona’s focus business model is PPP structured projects that bring value to the client and shareholders. As a developer, we seek bankable, guaranteed off-take structure as our main driver, though we do have ongoing businesses where we take a market risk, especially when a project is driven by a strategic partnership or long-term objectives. Presently, Miahona’s key targets are municipal wastewater BOTs, municipal and industrial distribution concessions, and strategic giga projects. We have ongoing water and wastewater concessions in Jeddah, Dammam, and Al Ahsa industrial cities through our subsidiary, Industrial Cities Development and Operating Company (ICDOC). This is a real success story for Miahona because we have been serving the industrial cities for close to 20 years and have proven our reliability and strong commitment to our customers.

How are you expanding your operations into the municipal and commercial sectors?

We currently target the recently announced wastewater independent sewage treatment plant projects being tendered by Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC). It is a core business focus, and we are here to support the government’s vision and privatization program. In the water distribution business, Miahona is keen to participate in NWC’s distribution privatization program that will commence with the upcoming management, operation, and maintenance contracts for the six regional clusters of the Kingdom. We have formalized our partnership with strong international players, namely Saur and Manila Water. Our three-party consortium brings extensive and varied experience in water management in developed countries as well as emerging countries in addition to Miahona’s know-how of the water sector in the Kingdom.

What is your approach to technological innovation to stay competitive?

It is all about providing the right service and the right quality at a competitive price. We particularly have to consider the reliability of the technology we adopt, so it is not easy to introduce any un-commercialized or unproven technology. One of the main drivers of successful project delivery is proper risk allocation, which is demonstrated by proven technology, references, and by convincing the lenders that there is a well-structured bid that makes the developer competitive. We are not an EPC contractor or a technology provider that is keen to commercialize a specific technology. We combine technology innovation with high-quality service delivery and adherence to the client’s requirements and the contractual obligations, thus adding value to our stakeholders.

What are your expectations of the announced megaprojects in the water treatment sector?

We have a strong focus on the announced giga projects within our group. In the municipal water sphere, we have operated the city of Jeddah for nearly 10 years as a management contractor in a JV with an international partner, managing complete distribution system and wastewater treatment serving more than 5 million inhabitants. Our subsidiary company, Jazzirah Environmental Company (JECO), is the biggest private-sector operator for the standalone sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of more than 500,000cbm per day. The management contracts and distribution initiatives today are not new activities for Miahona, as it has been engaged in this segment for the last 10 years. Looking at the giga projects, these are similar in structure to the industrial city projects we have done. It is all about who the regulator is for a particular project. We are already delivering at a higher quality with more constraints under our existing contracts. We are also treating more complex industrial waste compared to municipal waste. With a proven track record and years of experience, Miahona is well positioned to deliver the water and wastewater infrastructure in these projects. ✖

the country to the best of its ability in its quest for the National Transformation Program, and we are proud to be part of the second-largest SWRO plant under a PPP scheme and the third-largest single facility of its kind in Saudi Arabia.

How do you help invest in local infrastructure, whether human or physical?

urban populations are growing rapidly with 66% of people expected to live in city areas by 2050, according to the UN. Yet in Saudi Arabia, this figure will be dramatically higher, with projections indicating 90% of the nation’s population will be based in urban centers within 30 years.

The concentration of urban populations requires an equal concentration of resources to enable daily life and business operations, including water and energy, and the infrastructure to deliver both reliably. While Saudi Arabia is home to one-fifth of the world’s oil reserves, the nation has severely limited water resources and has been dependent on costly, energy-intensive desalination plants, which convert salt water to fresh water.

In GCC countries, about 50% of primary energy is currently consumed by desalination plants. As urban populations grow, future projections estimate desalination capacities will increase fivefold, prompting governments in the region to find sustainable solutions to keep up with rising demand for fresh water that keeps their economies churning.

In this context, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has prioritized the production of fresh water through renewable energy sources to create a more environmentally friendly system and reduce fossil fuel dependency on meeting daily fresh water needs. State officials in the Kingdom are now working with local and international engineers to develop water management and treatment facilities that will reduce energy waste and utilize closed loop systems to recycle scarce water resources.

Renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic solar panels, solar thermal technology, wind turbines, and geothermal energy collected from the Earth’s heat are now being explored to power water systems that not only produce clean drinking water, but also power municipal sewage treatment facilities.

“We expect USD1.7 million to be saved per year with renewables

AROUND THE WORLD,

in sewage treatment plants,” said Khaled bin Zwaid Al-Quershi, CEO of the Saudi Water and Electricity Co. “Renewables offer attractive features because you avoid volatile fuel prices, and it is more stable compared to different energy supplies. These are areas we need to focus on.”

The plan not only reduces the nation’s dependency on fossil fuels, but also addresses critical water scarcity issues in the MENA region, where nearly half the population lives under conditions of “water stress,” consuming more water than local sources can supply. Basing critical infrastructure on renewable energy would also advance the government’s plan to upgrade the role of green technology in its new and existing urban areas. Desalination plants worldwide emit an estimated 76 million tons of CO2 per year, and the figure will only rise if current systems are not upgraded.

Although such technologies are still in the early stages of development, the co-location of desalination plants and renewable energy plants is being proposed in the nation’s largest urban centers. It could play a key role in the proposed city of NEOM, a state-of-the-art tourism and financial center set to be built from scratch on the Red Sea coast.

In addition, state officials are working with the private sector to build sewage treatment plants powered by renewable energy in the cities of Taif, Jubail, and Yanbu. Current plans aim to generate 1.45 million cbm of water through zero-emission systems that also employ closed cycle technology to reduce the evaporation and loss of fresh water supplies.

“We’re helping to create a low-carbon future in clean water production,” said Leon Awerbuch, president of US-based Leading Edge Technologies, which is working with Saudi officials to integrate renewable energy and desalination plants in the country. “A transformation in the energy and water sectors has begun, and fossil fuel domination will fade for desalination.” ✖

Adam Sieminski

PRESIDENT, KING ABDULLAH PETROLEUM STUDIES AND RESEARCH CENTER (KAPSARC)