Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has prequalified 19 firms to partipate in the tender for the Ras Mohaisen to Mecca independent water transmission pipeline project (IWTP)
The project will involve the financing, construction and operation of a water transmission pipeline from Ras Mohaisen ? to Baha ? to Mecca. The water transmission pipeline will have a capacity of 300,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) and a total length of 300km.
The IWTP project is likely to include a pumping station and a 300km pipeline to carry the water from the IWP to Baha and Mecca. The project is likely to cost upwards of US$270mn.
The successful developer or developer consortium following the competitive tendering process will be appointed to develop the project under a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model. The developer will sign a water transmission agreement (WTA) with SWPC, with the length of the WTA expected to be up to 35 years.
Synergy Consulting is the lead and financial adviser for the project, with Fichtner and Amer al-Amr Law firm as the technical and legal advisers respectively.
Saudi Arabia is planning to partner with the private sector to deliver 3,500 kilometres of new water transmission lines that will distribute more than four million cubic metres a day of desalinated water, requiring a total investment of US$16bn.
The projects are the first water transmission PPP projects in the Middle East, and will be the first water transmission schemes globally to be tendered as separate concession contracts without being bundled along with a water supply project such as a reservoir or production plant.
Energy & Utilities reported in February that the newly established Water Transportation and Technology Company (WTTCO) had signed a management service agreement with the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), the kingdom?s desalination provider.
The WTTCO was established in November to lead the programme to expand the country?s water pipeline infrastructure through investment from the private sector.
