Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced that its SAR964 million ($257 million) utility project – Madinah 3 Wastewater plant – has begun commercial operations. 

The company  has also stated that it has achieved a major milestone with the commencement of full desalinated water pumping operations at the Shuaibah 3 Conversion Station, 50 days ahead of schedule.

The Madinah 3 Wastewater plant boasts a 200,000 cu m per day capacity, which is expandable to 375,000 cu m per day in emergency situations.

 The project was developed by a consortium led by Spanish infrastructure major Acciona with prominent local firms International Water Distribution Company (Tawzea) and Tamasuk as partners.

SWPC said the project has been implemented on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model.

As per the purchase deal with the consortium, Acciona will be responsible for the facility’s development, design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance over a 25-year period from the date of commercial operations.

A state-of-the-art facility, the Madinah plant had treated more than 5 million cu m of wastewater during Ramadan and converted it into water suitable for industrial and agricultural use, thus contributing to reducing the environmental impact and improving the quality of life for its residents, said a statement from SWPC.

Last year Acciona had celebrated a key safety milestone at Madinah-3 project site clocking two million manhours without Lost-Time Injuries (LTI).

Hassan Allam Construction was responsible for the civil works of the Madinah 3 plant.

Meanwhile, the Shuaibah 3 project involves the conversion of the existing independent water and power plant (IWPP) project in Shuaibah region. 

It is the first conversion project from Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) desalination technology to sea water reverse osmosi (SWRO), which in line with the Saudi vision 2030 in terms of achieving sero carbon emissions, fuel saving and increased plant availability.

With a production capacity of up to 600,000 cu m per day, the station will feed the water transmission system covering the Jeddah and Makkah regions.

The project has been implemented by a consortium led by Saudi utility major Acwa Power (with a 68 per cent equity stake) along with its key member Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel).

According to SWPC, a new 25-year water purchase agreement (WPA) valued at nearly SAR3 billion had been sealed in 2022 with the Acwa Power-Badeel consortium.

The project, set up at an investment of $821 million, was due for commercial operations this month.