JEDDAH, 7 June 2006 — Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), which manages more than 30 desalination plants on the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf coasts, will be privatized by the end of this year, according to its Governor Fehaid Al-Sharief.
“Studies on privatization will be presented to the Supreme Economic Council (SEC) for approval, and we hope that the privatization and restructuring of SWCC will start by the end of the current fiscal year,” he told reporters.
The Ministry of Water and Electricity launched a drive to privatize desalination plants in November 2005 by awarding an SR9.1 billion contract to a consortium of Saudi and Malaysian companies which will set up Shuaiba-3 plant designed to supply 194 million gallons of water daily as well as 900MW electricity.
Another giant dual-purpose Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP) will be established in Jubail shortly at a cost of SR11 billion. Marafiq (the Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu) has received offers from major national and international companies to carry out the project.
The new IWPP, to be established in Jubail Industrial City by 2009, will supply 2,700MW electricity and 800,000 cubic meters of desalinated water daily. Designed according to the most advanced technical standards, the project will be set up on the basis of the build, operate and transfer (BOT) system.