His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, & Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of Privatization of the Environment, Water and Agriculture Sector, & Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Water Partnership Company, Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen AlFadley, signed today at the Ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh the project agreements of Rayis – Rabigh Independent Water Transmission Pipeline, with the preferred bidder selected through a competitive bidding process. The 150-kilometer-long pipeline will transmit 500,000 m3/day of drinking water between Rayis in Madinah region and Rabigh in Makkah region.

Eng. Al-Fadley explained that the signing of these agreements helps in achieving the goals and plans of the Ministry to showcase robust water transmission in the various regions of the Kingdom in front of investors. In addition, it is an extension of the signing of previous projects with the participation of the private sector and further enhances the active participation of the private sector in developing this vital water sector and increasing its contribution to the development of the Kingdom.

Whereas the allocation of these projects under the Environment, Water, and Agriculture sector assists in accomplishing the goals of the Kingdom’s 2030 vision, the privatization programs improve the quality of services and the efficiency of capital spending by utilizing the experiences of the private sector in the program.

On his part, the CEO of the Saudi Water Partnership Company, Eng. Khalid Bin Zwaid AlQureshi, stated that the project is the first of its kind in the region to be developed with the participation of the private sector and the first water transmission pipeline project connecting the sources of water desalination in the regions of Makkah and Madinah with the capability of transmitting water in both directions, which will contribute to achieving high levels of continuous drinking water supply in the two regions.

Al-Qureshi said that the project was presented to the investors on a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) basis, in which the winning consortium was chosen after a competition that took place between 31 companies, including 14 local companies. Whereas the winning consortium for the project comprises Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies Company and Cobra Company.

Al-Qureshi added that the project’s commercial operation date will be in the second quarter of 2026, that the concession term is for a period of 35 years, and that the project will improve the efficiency of water transmission with lower levels of electric energy consumption and operating costs. In addition, the project will support increasing local content by increasing the percentage of Saudization in business and human resources.

This initiative is an extension of the successful partnership between the public and private sectors in the environment, water and agriculture sectors. In addition, the Ministry is working to create a developed and attractive investment environment to enhance the partnership with the private sector by developing investment plans and initiatives and offering them for optimal investment, in addition to enabling investors to access various investment opportunities. This contributes to achieving its strategic objectives in the environment, water, and agricultural sectors.