Marubeni Corporation has announced that Marubeni, Acciona Agua S.A., Abdul Latif Jameel Commercial Development Company Ltd., and Rawafid Alhadarah Holding Ltd. have signed a long-term Water Purchase Agreement with Saudi Arabian state-owned company, Water and Electricity Company L.L.C. to construct, own, operate and maintain a desalination plant in the town of Shuqaiq along Red Sea Coast, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on January 29, 2019.
The plant will generate 450,000m3/day of water (served population equivalent to approximately 2 million), which
is the largest reverse osmosis (hereinafter “RO”) based desalination plant with a Japanese investing company.
A special purpose company owned by Marubeni, Acciona, ALJ and Rawafid will proceed with development of
the Project, including procuring financing, constructing the RO desalination plant, and selling the water to WEC.
The water will be sold over the course of a 25-year term beginning in 2021, which is the target completion date
for the plant.
Just as in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the demand for water in Saudi Arabia is increasing rapidly
in accordance with economic and population growth. On the other hand, there is also demand for RO based
desalination plants which are independent and do not require a fire-based power plant for operation, reflecting
the global trend towards renewable energy. This plant will answer the demand for stable water supply in Saudi
Arabia.
Marubeni owns four independent Water and Power Projects supplying 2,000,000m3 /day of water in the United
Arab Emirates. Additionally, Marubeni has constructed and operates waste water plants and related facilities in
Qatar, and runs water utility companies in Chile, the Philippines and Portgual. Marubeni will leverage its industry
knowledge and experience to fulfill its social responsibility by providing reliable and safe water services to people living in areas where access to water is scarce.
