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Kuwait’s Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Treatment Project is nearing full commercial operations, according to International Financial Advisors (IFA), which is developing the project in consortium with Germany's WTE Wassertechnik (now owned by Austria’s Strabag SE).
The approximately $1.8 billion project, which comprises a 500,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) along with 450-kilometre network for wastewater collection and water distribution is being executed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, which combines two schemes: a 25-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and 3-year Design-Build-Operate (DBO).
Commercial operations at the plant will commence soon with a total capacity of 500,000 m3/day once all construction and development works of the project are completed, IFA Chairman Saleh Saleh Al-Selmi said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 results call. Dry commissioning began in December 2024.
In June 2025, Hassan Choudhry, CFO of Umm Al Hayman for Wastewater Treatment Company (UAH) had told UK-based The Energy Year publication that plant [WWTP] started operations in the fourth quarter of 2023 and continues to produce the contractually specified treated sewage effluent (TSE) water, with the available wastewater reaching the plant. In parallel, the construction activities within the DBO work schemes continue to progress and are nearing completion, he said.
The BOT scheme covers the WWTP while the DBO scheme covers wastewater and TSE pipeline networks, pumping stations and TSE reservoirs.
The project is designed to serve Kuwait’s southern regions, including Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Ahmadi governorates and Sabah Al-Ahmad City, with potential to be expanded up to 700,000 m3/day in future phases.
IPO plans
During the call, Al-Selmi said Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) has opened the tender process for the preparation of advisory studies related to the subscription and transfer of shares allocated to Kuwaiti citizens until April 30, 2026 [in line with PPP Law No. (116) of 2014].
KAPP launched the tender process in February 2026 to select an advisory services consultant for offloading its 50 percent stake in UAH, equivalent to 245 million shares, via an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Last month, KAPP extended the submission deadline from 1 April 2026 to 30 April.
IFA said in its presentation that the listing holds the potential to have a substantial impact on its net equity (balance sheet).
IFA and WTE hold a 40 percent stake,split equally, in UAH.
It said comparable project entities have traded at around three times book value upon listing despite initial operating losses, adding that Umm Al Hayman benefits from “guaranteed full capacity volume and sales revenues from the government.”
The project offers a minimum guaranteed internal rate of return (IRR) of 13.5 percent on investment, the presentation noted.
(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by SA Kader)
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