PROJECTS: Saudi’s Yanbu-4 desalination project achieves financial close

PROJECTS: Saudi’s Yanbu-4 desalination project achieves financial close

Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) announced on Sunday the financial close of the Yanbu-4 Independent Water Plant (IWP) project, located Southwest of the Madinah region. The IWP project, which is estimated to cost 3.3 billion Saudi Riyals ($880 million) and includes a transmission line, was awarded to a consortium of International Power (Engie), Mowah, and Nesma, an SWPC statement said. The Build-Own-Operate (BOO) project, according to the statement, comprises a 450,000 cubic meters/day (m3/day) reverse osmosis desalination plant and the Yanbu-Rayis water transmission pipeline, called Water Special Facilities (WSF), with a capacity of 600,000 cubic metres/day and length of 39 km. Yanbu IWP is scheduled to start commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2023, the statement said. The desalination plant would be built and operated by the consortium for a period of 25 years, while the water transmission pipeline or WSF would be transferred after construction to the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). SWPC CEO Khaled Al Qureshi said the company and the consortium succeeded in completing the financial close in cooperation with the lenders despite the fluctuations, liquidity crises, and changing global market conditions. He said Yanbu-4 IWP is the first project of its kind in Saudi Arabia to "include a water transmission pipeline