Saudi Arabia will soon pre-qualify companies seeking to buy shares in Ras Al-khair power and desalination plant on its Eastern coast, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The plant is the world's largest hybrid water desalination facility, pumping nearly 1.05 million cubic metres of drinking water per day and 2.65 Gigawatts (GW) of electricity.

Selling a controlling stake to investors is part of a decision by the world's largest oil exporter to privatize such facilities within its Vision 2030 economic diversification blueprint that was launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 4 years ago.

The Saudi Arabic language daily Aleqtisadia said 37 local, regional and international firms have expressed interest in buying a stake in Ras Al-Khair facility, which is managed by the government-owned Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC).

"SWCC has announced it will soon start the process of pre-qualifying companies that will bid for a controlling stake in Ras Al-Khair plant," it said.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

#SaudiArabia #SalineWaterConversionCorporation(SWCC) #RasAl-khairpoweranddesalinationplant #Power #Utilities

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