Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced that it has issued request for proposals (RFPs) to qualified bidders of its Riyadh-Qassim Independent Water Transmission Pipeline (IWTP) project, which on completion, will boast a transmission capacity of 685,000 cu m per day.
 
Additionally, the project includes storage tanks with total capacity of 1.6 million cu m, and 11 city gates, it stated. 
 
According to SWPC, the project is being implemented on a Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) model with the commercial operation date set for Q3 2029.
 
Through this IWTP programme, the Saudi government aims to achieve its goals of ensuring sustainable development of the country’s water resources while providing affordable high-quality services, said SWPC in its statement.
 
TradeArabia had earlier reported that a total of 20 developer/developer consortiums had been prequalified for the project.
 
The list of the pre-qualified bidders (lead and/or technical) for the project include global players such as Spanish infrastructure major Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios; Japan's Marubeni Corporation; Italy's Sicim and Chinese groups - Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment, Harbour Engineering Company; Railway Construction Corporation in addition to regional firms - Utico and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (both from UAE), Kuwait's Gulf Investment Corporation and Bahrain-based energy investment company Lamar Holding.
 
SWPC said that in December last year, a total of 31 companies had expressed their interest in the Riyadh-Qassim project, of which 19 were Saudi firms.
 
The big Saudi firms which have been prequalified are Abdul Aziz Al Ajlan Sons; Hak Pijpleidingen Saudi; Al Bawani Water & Power; Al-Fahd Trading Industries & Contracting; Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies; Mowah; Al-Rawaf Trading & Contracting; Al Sharif Group; Mutlaq Al Ghowairi; Nesma and Vision International Invest Company. 
 
The 859-km-long pipeline will cater to the needs of Riyadh and Qassim regions and its related governorates, it stated.
 
As per a deal inked with SWPC, the successful bidder will provide the entire transmission capacity to the Saudi utility company under a 35-year water transmission agreement.-TradeArabia News Service