ACWA Power and Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) announced in separate statements that the 300,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day) Ras Mohaisen Independent Water Plant (IWP) project, located in Al-Qunfudhah, Makkah region, has reached financial close.
Project financing of 2.074 billion Saudi riyals ($553.2 million) has been secured from a banking consortium of Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Riyad Bank, Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) and Standard Chartered Bank for a period of 29.5 years, according to ACWA Power’s stock exchange statement issued last week.
SWPC had awarded the reverse osmosis desalination project to an ACWA Power-led consortium, which included Haji Abdullah Alireza & Co. (HAACO) and AlKifah Holding in February 2025.
Ras Mohaisen First Water Desalination Company, owned 45 percent by ACWA Power, 35 percent by HAACO and 20 percent by AlKifah, will implement the project under a build-own-operate (BOO) model.
The project company has signed a 25-year water purchase agreement (WPA) with SWPC, which is the principal offtaker for water and wastewater projects in the Kingdom.
The total project cost is estimated at SAR 2.57 billion ($685 million), according to SWPC’s statement issued last week. The project’s scope also includes 17 kilometres of overhead power transmission lines, a 132/33 kV substation, and a 30 megawatts (MW) solar power plant.
SWPC said the plant is scheduled to commence initial production in 2028, delivering 100,000 m3/day, ramping up to its full capacity of 300,000 cubic metres per day by 2030. It will provide potable water supplies to the Makkah and Al-Bahah regions.
The project is mandated to achieve a local content participation level of 40 percent during construction, 50 percent during the first five years of operation, and 70 percent from the sixth year.
Saudi Arabia’s Water Transmission Company (WTCO) has issued a tender for the Ras Mohaisen-Baha-Makkah Independent Water Transmission System (IWTS) project, which will connect the Ras Mohaisen desalination plant to the distribution networks that deliver water to Adham and Aradhiyah regions.
(Writing by Deva Palanisamy; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
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