Saudi Arabia’s Water and Electricity Company (WEC) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to invite pre-qualified companies in the private sector to participate in the Rabigh-3 Independent Water Project (Rabigh-3 IWP) desalination plant, in an attempt to increase desalinated water capacity in Makkah to meet the growing demand, Invest-Gate reports.

Rabigh-3 IWP will be located south of Rabigh, on the Red Sea Coast, approximately 150 kilometers north of Jeddah.  It will produce 600,000 cubic meter of desalinated water per day. With associated infrastructure and facilities, the plant’s capacity can expand to 1,200,000 cubic meter of potable water capacity per day.

A statement from WEC said that the plant will use Reverse Osmosis (RO) seawater desalination technology, which is the most advanced and energy efficient technology in the field, to filter water.

WEC added that it had started a competitive selection process to choose a developer or developer consortium for the development, procurement, implementation, financing, operation, and maintenance of the plant.

According to TradeArabia News Service, Banque Saudi Fransi is the lead financial advisor for the project, while Alderbook Finance is the co-financial advisor. DLA Piper Middle East is the legal advisor and Fichnter GmbH & Co is the technical adviser.

The project company to develop the project will sell, under a concession of 25 years, its entire output to WEC under a water purchase agreement (WPA).