Acwa Power, a leading developer, investor, and operator of power generation, water desalination, and green hydrogen plants worldwide, along with Haji Abdullah Alireza & Co (Haaco) and Al Moayyed Contracting Group (AMCG), has awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services contract for the 600,000 cu m/day Rabigh 4 Independent Water Plant (IWP) project to a consortium of Power China, SepcoIII and Wetico.

 

Located in the kingdom's Western Province on the Red Sea coast, the Rabigh 4 IWP project cost is valued at SR2.54 billion ($677 million) and will mainly serve the Makkah and Madinah regions. Financial close for the project is expected during the third quarter of 2023.

 

Acwa Power currently operates the Rabigh 3 IWP in the same area, the first desalination plant of its size in the private sector. 

 

With the addition of the Rabigh 4 IWP, Acwa Power will double its desalination capacity in the area to 1.2 million m3/day and to 6.8 million m3/day across its portfolio, making it the largest private producer of desalinated water globally.

 

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Riyadh, Chairman Mohammad Abunayyan said: "We are proud to be the world's largest private company in desalinated water development and production, with the lowest levelised water cost, the largest plant, and the most innovative solutions."

 

"We are pleased with the continuous progress on the project, which further expands our presence in the Rabigh region, which supplies water to the two Holy Cities. In the last month, during a record-breaking Hajj season, we have reliably supplied from our plants over two-thirds of the water demand in the holy sites," he stated. 

 

"Our presence in water desalination has already led key suppliers to localise their production in Saudi Arabia, and this project will create new employment opportunities during construction, as well as in operation and maintenance, where they will be largely staffed by young local talents from the local Electricity and Water Academy that we have developed over the last decade," he added.-TradeArabia News Service