Metito-led consortium achieves financial close for SAR 920 mln Dammam sewage plant

Saudi Water Partnership Co. (SWPC) and the consortium led by Metito Group, including Mowah and Orascom Construction, successfully reached the financial closing for Saudi Arabia’s first independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) in Dammam.

The $245 million (SAR 920 million) project is the first ISTP to be awarded to the private sector under the Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) concession model with a tenor of 25 years, in the western region of Dammam.

The scope of work covers the entire investment and includes the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M), which will be executed by a wholly-owned firm established by the consortium to serve the project – the Dammam West Company for Water.

With a designed capacity of 350,000 cubic meters (cu m) per day and an initial capacity of 200,000 cu m per day, the investment for the project is made up of a combination of equity and debt.

The funding is sourced from a combination of senior project finance loans in addition to equity contributions from shareholders. Non-recourse project financing is provided by a group of local and international banks, including The National Commercial Bank (NCB), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (SMBC), and Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP), worth a total of $160 million (SAR 601 million).

"Despite global volatility and liquidity issues, and ever-changing market conditions, we have been able to successfully reach financial closing with the consortium, in close cooperation with the lenders group," SWPC CEO Khaled Al Qureshi said.

The CEO also committed to support and encourage private sector participation in sustainable development by providing lucrative opportunities for local and foreign investors to invest in lifeline water projects.

Al Qureshi believed that it will achieve sustainable development, provide job opportunities for young people, and support local output and balanced development, in line with the strategic goals of Vision 2030.

According to data compiled by Argaam, in March 2018, SWPC requested for proposals for the first ISTP in Dammam which will use latest environmentally friendly technologies to be built on BOOT concession by the private sector.