Stakeholders have agreed to convert the water desalination component of the Shuaibah 3 IWPP into a SWRO plant.

The new facility will be known as Shuaibah 3 IWP, according to an agreement signed between ACWA Power, Shuaibah Water Electricity Company (Swec) and SWPC.

“Operations of Shuaibah 3 IWPP will cease in 2025, saving nearly 45 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 22 million barrels of light crude oil annually,” ACWA Power said on 20 June.

SWPC signed a 25-year WPA for the new Shuaibah 3 IWP today with a consortium led by ACWA Power and PIF-owned Badeel, at a value of approximately SR3bn (800m).

Shuaibah 3 IWP will produce 600,000 cubic metres of water a day once complete.

It will cater to the water demand of Jeddah and Makkah al-Mukarramah, especially during peak demand periods including the Ramadan and Hajj seasons.

“This is the first project in which a thermal water desalination plant is converted into a greenfield reverse osmosis facility that utilises renewable energy to save up to 70 per cent of energy consumption,” said ACWA Power Chairman Mohammad Abunayyan.

The new Shuaibah 3 IWP project will produce potable water “at record-low power consumption”. It will be partially powered by a solar photovoltaic farm, which will reduce electricity consumption from the grid by 45 per cent.

The switch from thermal to RO is expected to reduce the power needed to desalinate seawater at the facility by 70 per cent.

The ACWA Power-led team agreed to have 40 per cent local content in the construction phase and 50 per cent in the operation and maintenance phase for the first five years, which will eventually increase to 70 per cent.

Shuaibah 3 IWP is expected to be commercially operational by the second quarter of 2025, with ACWA Power expecting financial returns of the contracted revenues reflected during the same period.

Swec is the project company that developed, financed and operated the Shuaibah 3 IWPP, which began commercial operation in 2010. It comprised ACWA Power (30 per cent); a Malaysian consortium of Tenaga Nasional, Malakoff Berhad and Khazanah Nasional (30 per cent); PIF (32 per cent); and SEC (8 per cent).

An estimated $8.8bn-worth of water desalination projects are being tendered and planned in Saudi Arabia.