The Water & Electricity Company (WEC) of Saudi Arabia has announced that it has signed an agreement with a consortium led by the Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq), to construct and operate a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) located at Jeddah Airport, in west of Saudi Arabia. Other members of the consortium are Al Amwal Al Khaleejiah Al Thania and Veolia Middle East.

The STP will be built, owned and operated entirely by the consortium, and WEC will compensate the project company for sewage treated over a 25-year concession period.  WEC then has the option of taking over the operation and maintenance of the STP. 

Construction of the STP is expected to start in Q2 2019 and will be built over two stages. Stage one will treat 300,000 m³ per day starting in late 2021 and stage two will add another 200,000 m³ per day when capacity at the new STP exceeds certain utilization rates.

Once commissioned, the STP will be the second plant in Saudi Arabia that results in only beneficial sludge being produced, while at the same time producing recycled water that will be sold to the National Water Company for further use in agriculture and commercial applications. NWC will then sell the recycled water to end users in the nearby area. The Saudi Electricity Company will provide power to the new STP.

A total of 66 companies expressed interest in the project and nine consortia were qualified to bid, of which six submitted final bids.