Saudi Water Partnerships Company (SWPC) has issued request for qualifications (RFQs) for the development of the 603-km-long Jubail-Buraidah Independent Water Transmission Pipelines Project with a transmission capacity of 650,000 cu m per day.

The Jubail-Buraidah Independent Water Transmission Pipelines Project will be implemented on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, said a statement from SWPC.

A total of 32 companies have expressed their interests in the project including 14 Saudi firms, said a statement from SWPC.

The top international companies eyeing the project include Spanish infrastructure majors Acciona and Abengoa Agua; Swiss group Hoffmann Technics; top Korean builder Samsung C&T Corporation and Japan's Marubeni in addition to China's Gezhouba, Harbour Engineering, China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering and Powerchina International.

The deadline for submitting the bids has been set at January 24.

This comes as part of the Independent Water Transmission Pipelines Programme (IWTP) which aims to develop a network of potable water transmission systems to provide a connection between consumption centers and desalination plants.

The duration of the water transfer agreement is expected to be 35 years. The firm's obligations under the  Water Transfer Agreement (WTA) will be backed by a credit support agreement entered into by the Saudi Ministry of Finance.