ACCIONA, a leading company in the development of water infrastructure, together with Marubeni Corporation, Almar and Rawafid Alhadarah Holding Co., has achieved the financial close for the Shuqaiq 3 desalination plant for a total value of more than US$600 million. 

The transaction involved Saudi national banking entities and a number of international organizations. Saudi banking institutions included Samba and NBC, along with the participation of international players MUFG (Agent), Crédit Agricole, Norinchukin and SMBC, with the agreement reached just three months after the water purchase contract was signed. 

The Shuqaiq 3 desalination plant, which will be located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, will supply drinking water to over 1.8 million people and will create approximately 700 jobs from the start of construction until commissioning of the plant.

The project is programmed for coitsimpletion in the fourth quarter of 2021, and will be developed under a 25-year BOO (build, own, operate) contract scheme. 

The Shuqaiq 3 desalination plant will help mitigate the shortage suffered by the inhabitants of the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia, providing a new source of drinking water for both domestic, urban agricultural and industrial use. 

This is ACCIONA's third desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, enabling the company to provide some 3 million people with water. 

The facility will have a capacity of almost cubic metres per day, to serve a population of 350,000. The plant will also supply water to Aramco, the world's largest oil company.