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Taqa-led consortium to build $408m Saudi water project

By Pramod Kumar
Abu Dhabi's Taqa will lead the operation and maintenance of Saudi Arabia's Juranah water reservoir project in Makkah Wam
Abu Dhabi's Taqa will lead the operation and maintenance of Saudi Arabia's Juranah water reservoir project in Makkah

A consortium led by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has won a contract from state-run Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) to develop the AED 1.5 billion ($408.44 million) Juranah independent strategic water reservoir project in Makkah.

The consortium includes Vision International Investment Company (Vision Invest) and Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC), Taqa said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi stock exchange.

The project will be built using a build, own, operate and transfer model for 30 years.

Taqa will be the lead member for the operations and maintenance (O&M) activities through a specialised standalone company, which will be co-owned by Vision Invest.

Taqa will hold a 35 percent share in the project company and a 50 percent stake in the O&M company.

The consortium plans to take 80 percent debt to fund the project. No further financial details were given.

The project’s primary objective is to respond to emergency municipal water demand for all the kingdom’s regions and to peak demand in Makkah and Madinah during the Hajj season.

The strategic tanks have a total storage capacity of 2,000,000 cubic metres. Additionally, operational tanks with a capacity of 500,000 cubic metres will be developed under a design, built and transfer model to support the potable water distribution system.

The project’s commercial operation will begin in the second quarter of 2027, said SWPC chief executive Khalid Al-Quraishi.

In December 2023, Taqa signed an agreement to explore the possibility of becoming one of the shareholders in a project to develop a 900 km high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity interconnector project between Greece and Cyprus.

The Abu Dhabi-listed company also invested £25 million into Xlinks First Limited early last year, which aims to lay the world’s longest HVDC subsea cables to transport renewable power to the UK from Morocco.

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