Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced the prequalified bidders for the second batch of the kingdom's planned independent sewage treatment plants (ISTPs).

Firms that have been prequalified to bid for the Medina ISTP, which will have a capacity of 200,000-375,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), include:

• Acciona Agua (Spain) / International Water Distribution Company (Tawzea) (local)
• FCC Aqualia (Spain) / Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies (local) / Alfanar Company (local)
• GS Inima Environment (Spain/South Korea) / Al-Jomaih Energy & Water Company (local)
• Marubeni Corporation (Japan)
• Metito Utilities (UAE)
• Veolia Middle East (France)

The same teams, with the exception of Veolia, were also prequalified to bid for the Buraydah 2 ISTP, with a capacity of 100,000-150,000 cm/d, and the Tabuk 2 ISTP (90,000 cm/d).

Firms expressed interest in the ISTP schemes in February.

In May last year, the client appointed the local SMBC as financial and lead adviser, and UK firms DLA Piper and Atkins as legal and technical advisers, respectively, for the second batch of ISTPs.

SWPC last year awarded contracts for the first batch of the kingdom’s public-private partnership (PPP) sewage treatment plants.

Final contracts for the first project, the Dammam ISTP, were signed in January 2019. The $260m plant will have an initial capacity of 200,000 cm/d, which can be expanded to 350,000 cm/d in the future. The contract was awarded to a consortium of the UAE’s Metito, the local Mowah and Egypt’s Orascom Construction.

Less than a month after the contracts were inked for the Dammam project, Water & Electricity Company (WEC) awarded the contract for the $320m Jeddah Airport 2 ISTP. A consortium of local firms – Power & Water Utility Company for Jubail, Al-Amwal al-Khaleejiah and France’s Veolia – won the contract.

On 30 October, SWPC also announced the selection of a consortium of Spain’s Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios and the local firm Tawzea to implement the planned Taif ISTP. The ISTP will have a capacity of 100,000 cm/d.