مشروع ينبع-٤ المستقل لتحلية المياه يحقق الإغلاق المالي
Saudi Water Partnership Company successfully achieved the Financial Close for Yanbu-4 IWP Project with the participation of success partners from the relevant authorities such as the Supervisory Committee at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, developers and consultants.
Yanbu-4 is a reverse osmosis Independent Water Plant with capacity of 450,000 cubic meters per day along with its Water Special Facilities “WSF” (Yanbu-Rayis water transmission pipeline with length of 39 km and capacity of 600 thousand cubic meters per day) that will be located at Al-Rayis in Badr Government within Madinah Region. The total cost of the Project is around 3.3 billion Saudi Riyals, and will contribute 1.5 billion Saudi Riyals to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product.
The Project will be built and operated by the private sector for a period of 25 years from the Commercial Operation Date which is scheduled in Q4 2023, while the WSF will be transferred after construction to the Saline Water Conversion Corporation. Noting that the successful consortium of the project consists of International Power S.A. (Engie), Mowah Co. CJSC and Nesma Company Limited.
It is noteworthy that despite the current conditions and obstacles caused by the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), as this pandemic has obstructed most major projects and stopped domestic and international air traffic, the Saudi Water Partnership Company succeeded in achieving the Financial Close of the Project.
The CEO of SWPC, Eng. Khaled AlQureshi, said: “Despite the fluctuations, liquidity crises and changing the global market conditions, SWPC and the Consortium succeeded in completing the financial close procedures in close cooperation with the group of lenders, which indicates the Company’s efforts to provide the full support to the investment projects, and to enhance the private sector participation in the sustainable development by providing the opportunity for local and foreign investors to participate in the implementation of these projects, and providing job opportunities for the Saudi Citizens, and supporting the local products and balanced development, as the project will provide 500 direct and indirect job opportunities during the construction and operation phases at a Local Content rate 40% in the construction phase and rising to 70% in the operation phase, in order to achieve the strategic objectives contained in “Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030” and the initiatives approved by the Saudi Council of Ministers to encourage the private sector participation in economic development initiatives”.
AlQureshi added “Yanbu-4 project is the first of its kind since it includes a water transmission pipeline in addition to the desalination plant that will be implemented by the private sector, and it is the first desalination project in the Kingdom that will provide the two holy capitals Makkah and Madinah together with the drinking water, and the first project that includes two days production storage tanks with capacity of 900,000 cubic meters to increase the availability and reliability of the water supply in the two regions, also it will include Solar energy system to reduce the electricity consumption from the grid. Reaching this stage in the project and starting construction works under these difficult circumstances is a complete indication of investors’ confidence in the investment environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the suitability of the investment environment for the private sector”.
Engie CEO Mr. Turki Alshehri stated: “Achieving the financial close for Yanbu-4 IWP, despite the unique circumstances presented by COVID-19, is a remarkable success for this significant project that will help meet growing water demand in the area and contribute to socio-economic development in KSA. We would like to extend our appreciation to the Saudi Water Partnership Company, the financial community and our partners for their trust and cooperation in enabling the swift competition of this milestone. As always, Engie remains committed to leveraging our global expertise in deploying advanced technologies, backed by robust public-private partnerships to enhance water security for the Kingdom in line with its Vision 2030”.