RIYADH, 15 February — The director general of Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, which has won the contract to build an SR8.25 billion desalination plant in Jubail, said his company was planning to set up a Saudi-Japanese consortium to finance the giant project.
Speaking to Arab News, Kochi Ogawa said his company had already contacted 15 Japanese firms and a number of Saudi banks and businessmen on the move. He also revealed Sumitomo's plan to invest in similar projects in other parts of the Kingdom.
"We have selected Jubail for our first project for many reasons. The most important among them is its proximity to Riyadh where, with its fast growing population, demand for water is likely to increase substantially in coming years," Ogawa explained.
Prince Abdullah ibn Faisal ibn Turki, governor of the General Investment Authority, announced on Jan. 23 that the GIA had licensed the Japanese firm to establish the plant to supply 730,000 cubic meters of water daily and 700 megawatts of electricity.
The Jubail plant is the largest investment project licensed by the authority since its establishment last year. The GIA chief said the new desalination plant would create job opportunities for Saudis.
Ogawa said a feasibility study on the project would be ready before this summer. The study will determine whether it would be implemented on a BOO (build, operate and own) or BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis. He said the project would take about three years to complete. The cost of the project will be very high as expenditures involve building necessary infrastructure as well as the pipeline to link the facility with Riyadh, he added.
The Japanese executive pointed out that the Saudi private sector still lacked the experience to build and operate major desalination plants because the government had monopoly over such vital projects.
The Kingdom's consultative Shoura Council has advised the government to hand over building and operation of desalination plants to the private sector. It urged the private sector to acquire and develop necessary technology and set out a long-term strategy for running existing projects.
In a related development, Agriculture and Water Minister Dr. Abdullah Muammar said the third desalination plant in Alkhobar would pump water to cities in the Eastern Province cities in four months. He said, quoted by Al-Madinah newspaper, that the plant would have a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters daily.
The minister on Tuesday opened a seminar on "Using alternative energy in water desalination" organized by Prince Sultan Center for Environmental Research, Water and Desert at King Saud University.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of the university, called for the establishment an effective partnership between the ministry, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology and research centers to plan a 50-year strategy to meet the Kingdom's water requirements.
Muammar highlighted the measures taken by the government to protect the country's water resources. They included a ban on cultivating fodder and wheat for export purposes and agricultural projects that consume huge quantities of water. The government also built dams to collect water for drinking and irrigation purposes.
