NEOM, a visionary project set to transform the Red Sea coast of northwest Saudi Arabia into a futuristic city, has officially cancelled the Moonlight desalination plant project, according to MEED. The facility was planned to produce 150,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day. The plant had been tendered in 2024, and four companies submitted bids for the project, including local firm Alfanar Company, Spain’s Abengoa, China’s CMEC, Egypt’s Orascom, local Wetico, and VA Tech Wabag from India. However, the project did not progress to the contract award stage in 2025 and has now been scrapped as part of NEOM's larger restructuring efforts.
While NEOM did not offer a direct comment, it is believed that the project will not be re-tendered in its original scope. The Moonlight desalination plant was intended to be located adjacent to a similar facility in Duba, on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, and was set to take 12 months to complete.
The cancellation comes after NEOM’s Enowa also ended a renewable energy-powered desalination project in May 2024. This plant, part of the broader Oxagon project, was set to have a capacity of 500,000 cubic meters per day. Saudi Arabia’s construction sector has seen a shift away from high-profile projects, with NEOM recently cancelling several other contracts, including the multibillion-dollar contract to construct a system of three dams and an artificial freshwater lake at its Trojena mountain destination.
