Saudi Arabia issues tender for Dammam sewage plant

Saudi Arabia's Water and Electricity Co. (WEC) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the environment-friendly sewage treatment plant in Dammam under the build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) scheme.

Ten consortiums comprising 65 firms were prequalified to build the new plant with a planned capacity of 350,000 cubic meters daily (cbd), WEC’s chief executive, Khaled Al-Qureshi, said.  

The contract will be awarded to the lowest bidder, and construction of the project is expected to begin in early 2019, in two phases.

The first phase will treat nearly 200,000 cbd starting 2022, while the second one will be designed to process 150,000 cbd.

The plant will have a 25-year concession period, with WEC as the offtaker. The state-owned utility has the right to acquire the plant for no additional costs after the contract term, Al-Qureshi said.

The winner is required to comply with the target Saudization rate and local manufacturing.

Local contractors will be also mandated at 50 percent of the project’s total cost. Local content is targeted at 50 percent over the first five years of operation, ahead of 70 percent over the remaining 20 years, he added.