Engie in Saudi Arabia has achieved financial closure for the Yanbu-4 independent water producer (IWP) plant, the first renewable integrated, seawater reverse osmosis project in the Kingdom that includes storage facilities for two operational days.

The Yanbu-4 IWP is also the first water pipeline in Saudi Arabia developed under the public-private-partnership (PPP) structure and will achieve one of the most competitive specific power consumption levels in the Kingdom.

France-headquartered Engie, part of a consortium comprising Saudi based Nesma and Mowah, in alliance with Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) was awarded the project in February 2020 after submitting a successful bid with tariff of SR1.7446 ($0.47) halalas per cu m of produced water.

The Yanbu-4 IWP project is a 450,000 cu m per day seawater desalination plant located 140 km west of Madinah, near the town of Ar Rayyis, on the Red Sea coast. The project will to supply potable water to the cities of Makkah and Madinah.

The project will include solar energy units generating 20 MW of power to reduce grid electricity consumption throughout the desalination process, as well as water storage tanks designed to maintain a capacity of two operational days. The consortium will develop and finance the desalination plant, which will be operated and maintained by ENGIE in Saudi Arabia. The Yanbu-4 project was awarded by SWPC as a BOO (build, own and operate) contract with a concession term of 25 years with commercial operation expected in the last quarter of 2023.

The Yanbu-4 IWP aims to contribute SR1.5 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP and will create 500 direct and indirect full-time jobs.