Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced the successful financial close of Rabigh-4 IWP, an independent water plant with a 600,000-cu-m-per-day capacity. The commercial operation is set for Q1 2026.

To be implemented on the BOO (build, own and operate) model, Rabigh-4 IWP project will produce potable water using reverse osmosis technology to service the Makkah and Madinah regions. It will also feature storage tanks with a capacity of 1,2 billion cu m per day (equivalent to two operating days) to assist in optimising the availability and reliability of water resources in the two regions.

A consortium led by Saudi utility major Acwa Power with partners Bahrain-based Almoayyed Contracting Group and Haji Abdullah Alireza Company, Haji Abdullah Alireza & Partners Company have been selected to develop the project.

A total of 39 utility project developer consortiums, including 21 Saudi firms, had expressed their interests in developing the key reverse osmosis (RO) project in Rabigh.

The Acwa consortium emerged winner with its attractive levelsed cost of SR1.7162 per cu m.

On the financial close, CEO Engineer Khalid Al Quraishi said the Rabigh-4 consortium managed to successfully complete the financial closure in close collaboration with the group of lenders, despite the shifting global market conditions.

“Reaching this stage in the project and starting construction works is an indication of investor’s confidence in the investment environment within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the suitability of the investment environment for the private sector,” he added.