Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) and the consortium comprising Marafiq, Veolia, and Amwal AlKhaleejiah have successfully achieved the financial closing of the Jeddah Airport 2 Independent Sewage Treatment Plant [ISTP] project, consortium member Veolia said on Sunday.

The project was awarded to the consortium led by Marafiq (Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu) under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) concession model in March 2019.

The Veolia press statement said the consortium has established the Jeddah Althaniya Water Company to operate the plant for its 25-year concession period.

Stage one would treat 300,000 cubic metres (m3) per day and is scheduled to be commissioned by 31 January 2023, according to the statement. Stage two would add another 200,000 m3/day when the treatment plant's capacity exceeds specific utilisation rates.

The total project cost of $280 million has been structured as non-recourse project finance, with funding sourced from a combination of senior project finance loans by the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and equity contributions from shareholders, the statement said, adding that the bank financing was raised "locally in its entirety."

Veolia Middle East CEO Sébastien Chauvin said the plant would be based on principles of the Circular economy, "allowing the reduction of sludge and enhancing the beneficial reuse of recycled water for irrigation or industrial use."

In June, Saudi Arabia’s first ISTP project in Dammam achieved financial closure of $245 million despite COVID-19 pandemic.

(Writing by Syed Ameen Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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