Shuaibah 2 IWP (STPC)
The Shuaibah-3 Expansion II – IWP Project (Shuaibah Two Water Development Project Company – STPC) is a 250,000 m3/day SWRO desalination plant and 100% owned by ACWA POWER as the first independently owned SWRO desalination facility by the private sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The plant is forming part of the Shuaibah 3 power and water complex in Saudi Arabia and supplying water to meet the needs of more than one million residents in Jeddah, Mecca, Taif, and Baha.
The $314 million plant was developed by ACWA Power, with Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) as an off-taker. And the Construction was carried out by a joint venture of Abengoa and Fisia Italimpianto, and the plant is operated by ACWA subsidiary company NOMAC (Water Desalination Expansion Company – WDEC).
As the first project completed successfully under the new wave of water privatization projects led by SWPC and ACWA POWER, the plant places a flag for PPP in Saudi Arabia, a crucial success at a time when the kingdom was looking to private finance to achieve its strategy and staggeringly ambitious water infrastructure goals. As the first major infrastructure project to be 100% owned by the private sector in the Kingdom, it showed a market that opened to increase the pace of success.
The compacted design of the plant reduces the footprint and unnecessary capital costs. At the same time, chemical dosing and post-treatment facilities are fine-tuned to keep the operating burden to a minimum.
The project was completed just 21 months after signing agreements with the off-taker, a truly stunning achievement for a plant of this scale, complexity, and importance, and a timeline that sets a standard for ambitious contractors across this industry.
Plant Awards:
1) Global Water Awards (GWA) - Desalination Plant of the Year 2020
2) MEED Projects Awards – Project of the Year 2020
3) SWPC Awards - The Excellence of Operation of the Year 2022