A consortium made up of Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies and Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios has achieved the financial closing of SWPC’s Rayis-Rabigh Independent Water Transmission Pipeline (IWTP) project, worth 8.4 billion Saudi riyals ($2.24 billion).
Rayis-Rabigh IWTP, which will be completed in 30 months, is considered the first of its kind in the region to be developed with the participation of the private sector, and the first water transmission pipeline connecting the sources of water desalination in the regions of Makkah and Madinah with the capability of transmitting water in both directions, which will contribute to achieving high levels of continuous drinking water supply and improving the efficiency of water transmission in the two regions.
The 150-kilometer-long pipeline will transmit 500,000 m3/day of drinking water between Rayis in Madinah region and Rabigh in Makkah region and will be constructed and operated by the private sector on a Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) basis for a period of 35 years from the anticipated Commercial Operation Date.
Engineer Khalid Al-Quraishi, the CEO of SWPC, stated: “Rayis-Rabigh IWTP consortium managed to successfully complete the financial closure in close collaboration with the group of lenders, despite the floating global market conditions. This demonstrates SWPC’s commitment to fully support investment projects and to increase private sector participation by giving local and foreign investors the opportunity to participate in the implementation of these projects. As a result, these projects will create job opportunities and support local content to complement the strategic objectives of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.”
Al-Quraishi added, “Reaching this stage in the project and starting the construction works is an indication of investors’ confidence in the investment environment within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the suitability of the investment environment for the private sector.”
