Marafiq consortium wins Jeddah sewage plant contract

Saudi utility provider Water and Electricity Co. (WEC) has signed an agreement with a consortium led by the Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq), to build and operate a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Jeddah Airport.

The other members of the consortium include Al Amwal Al Khaleejiah Al Thania and Veolia Middle East, said a statement from WEC.     

Construction of the STP is expected to start in the second quarter and will be built over two stages, it stated.

Stage One will see the treatment of 300,000 cubic meters (cu m) of water per day starting in late 2021, while Stage Two will add another 200,000 cu m per day when capacity at the new STP exceeds certain utilization rates, it added.

“The STP will be built, owned and operated entirely by the private sector, and we will compensate the project company for sewage treated over a 25-year concession period,” the statement read.

Once commissioned, the STP will be the second plant in the Kingdom that results in only beneficial sludge being produced, while at the same time producing re-cycled water that will be sold to the National Water Company (NWC) for further use in agriculture and commercial applications.

NWC will then sell the recycled water to end users in the nearby area and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) will provide power to the new STP.

"We are very pleased that the consortium led by Marafiq is bringing us a cost-effective solution with one of the lowest sewage tariffs ever recorded," Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and WEC chairman, Abdulrahman Al Fadli, said.

"This is the Kingdom’s second STP offered on a build, own, operate and transfer basis (BOOT) and we expect to see more of these type of projects as part of the Vision 2030," he added.

A total of 66 companies had expressed interest in the project and nine consortiums were qualified to bid for the project, of which six submitted final bids.

"In addition to constructing and operating the plant for 25 years before turning it over to us, the consortium will have to meet stringent local Saudi Content as part of the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision," Khaled Al Quershi, chief executive of WEC, said.

According to him, 50 percent of the total construction cost must be sourced from within Saudi Arabia.  

"During operation and maintenance, 50 percent must be local during the first five years, increasing to 70 percent in years six and beyond," Qureshi added.