RIYADH, 16 February 2004 — Minister of Water and Electricity Ghazi Al-Gosaibi will tomorrow inaugurate a two-day forum concerning the water treatment industry and the opportunities for the private sector in manufacturing spare parts required by the industry.
The forum, organized by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), will be held at the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel along with an exhibition by water treatment companies.
A spokesman for the organizing committee said participants in the forum would stress the need for the water treatment industry to consider mergers in order to meet future challenges.
“They have got to go into mergers in order to be competitive in this capital-intensive industry. We will also encourage them to go into the local manufacture of spare parts needed by the industry,” he said.
Fawaz Malki, general manager of A.E.S. Arabia Ltd., a US-based specialized water treatment firm, said the forum would enable the local industry to improve its interaction with SWCC and provide an opportunity for cooperation through state-of-the-art technology.
Industry sources point out that several foreign companies are planning to enter the Kingdom’s water desalination industry which requires a capital injection of $40 billion over the next 20 years. Companies from Japan, Korea and the United States want to enter the industry. All these firms have submitted more than 20 quotes to the permanent committee for inspecting offers from domestic and foreign companies.
Since water treatment and desalination are capital-intensive, one of the options for consideration is the rehabilitation of waste water treatment plants to extend the life of plants.
“Thanks to our advanced technological solutions, we enhanced the waste water treatment capacity of a plant in Jeddah from 10,000 cubic meters to 40,000 while simultaneously bringing the discharge quality of the plant down to internationally acceptable standards. There’s tremendous potential in this area,” Malki said, adding that a large number of the Kingdom’s old water and waste water treatment projects require renovation and rebuilding.
He said there was scope for the industry because of the opening up of the water desalination and power generation sectors to private enterprise. He cited the Shuaiba IWPP (Independent Water Power Plant) which is designed to supply 880,000 cubic meters of water and 700 megawatts of electricity daily.
The Ministry of Water and Electricity has short-listed 11 companies to carry out the third phase of expansion of the plant located at Shuaiba. The cost of implementing the third phase has been estimated at between SR4.5 billion and SR5.6 billion.
