Saudi Water Partnership Company has announced that its key utility project – Jubail 3B Independent Water Desalination Project – has begun commercial operation.

The SR2.6-billion ($692 million) project was developed by a consortium led by French energy giant Engie with prominent local firms Nesma Company and Alajlan Company as partners through a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) – Al Jubail International Water Company.

A state-of-the-art facility, it employs reverse osmosis technology to produce 570,000 cu m of potable water per day, catering to the needs of two million residents in Riyadh and Qassim.It also boasts storage tanks to hold a day’s worth of production and an in-house solar power system aimed at reducing reliance on the national electricity grid.

According to SWPC, the project had reached financial closure in October 2021, following its collaboration with the Engie consortium (which had submitted a competitive bid with $0.42 per cu m water tarriff in 2020).

SWPC had in March this year announced the successful reliability run test for Jubail 3B plant after 30 days of production at full capacity.

The project has been developed under a build-own-operate (BOO) contract spanning 25 years.