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Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Global (RSG), the developer behind the Red Sea and Amaala giga projects, has awarded 770 contracts worth 18.4 billion Saudi riyals ($4.89 billion) to companies from 29 countries, the developer said in its second annual sustainability report.
The two projects will likely contribute some SAR33 billion annually to the Kingdom’s economy upon completion.
According to the report, 75 percent of the Red Sea islands will remain undeveloped, with nine islands designated as special conservation zones.
As part of its public-private partnerships (PPP), three Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plants are being constructed, with two planned to be completed by 2022-end and the third in 2023, the report said.
The concession agreement for the main SWRO plant with a capacity of 37,500 cubic metres/day (m3/day) is 25 years. Once it is commissioned, the plant will be integrated with RSG’s first 12,500 m3/day SWRO plant and transferred to Marafiq to create SWRO complex with a total capacity of 50,000 m3/day, the report stated.
The plants will desalinate seawater to generate drinking water, and also meet firefighting and additional irrigation water demand, the report said, adding that the facilities would be designed in compliance with Saudi national legislation limits and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) standards.
In 2021, the developer had awarded a PPP contract to a consortium led by Saudi firm ACWA Power to design, build, operate and transfer its utilities infrastructure. The agreement includes the provision of renewable energy, district cooling, solid waste management, wastewater treatment and potable water.
(Writing by D Madhura; Editing by Anoop Menon)
