As per Marubeni, the Shuqaiq 3 Independent Water Project will produce enough water to be supplied to 2 million Saudi Arabian people.
Image: Marubeni begins construction of desalination project in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Courtesy of jbauer-fotographie/Pixabay.
Marubeni has started construction of the Shuqaiq 3 Independent Water Project in Saudi Arabia, after securing $500m loan.
Last month, Marubeni through the special purpose company Shuqaiq Three Company For Water, owned by Marubeni, Acciona Agua, Abdul Latif Jameel Commercial Development and Rawafid Alhadarah, signed a limited recourse financing for the construction of the Shuqaiq 3 water project.
In Shuqaiq Three Company For Water, Marubeni holds 45% stake, Acciona holds 10%, ALI holds 30% and Rawafid hold the remaining 15% stake.
The loan was provided by six commercial banks including MUFG, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, The National Commercial Bank, The Norinchukin Bank, Samba Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.
Shuqaiq 3 Independent Water Project details
The Shuqaiq 3 water project includes the construction, operation, and maintenance of a reverse osmosis-based (RO) desalination plant generating about 450,000m³ of water per day.
Projected to begin operations in 2021, the water plant will supply the treated water to a population of about 2 million and selling the water produced to Water and Electricity Company (WEC). The water will be sold for 25 years.
According to the Japanese company, the demand for water in Saudi Arabia is increasing rapidly, on similar lines with other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as the economy and population in the country is increasing.
There is also a growing demand for RO-based desalination plants, which do not require a fire-based power plant for operation.
The company also stated that it will leverage its knowledge and experience to complete this project, where access to water is scarce.
Earlier this month, Marubeni completed acquiring the 50% stake in Administração e Gestão de Sistemas de Salubridade (AGS), a Portuguese water service company, which was formerly known as Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.
Through this deal, AGS has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marubeni. AGS is a water service company in Portugal which Marubeni jointly acquired with INCJ in 2014.