Setting the Scene
SWPC is Saudi Arabia鈥檚 single principal buyer and the PPP procurer across production, transmission and storage + sewage treatment. It also procures PPPs across desalination plants (IWPs), sewage treatment (ISTPs/SSTPs), strategic reservoirs (ISWRs), water transmission pipelines (IWTPs), and dams, as well as providing advisory services in privatization, project development, and contract management. How does that central role shape the investment environment and counterparty risk for international sponsors?
SWPC鈥檚 role as the Kingdom鈥檚 principal offtaker, buyer and procurer of desalinated, treated and untreated water provides investors with something unique: certainty and bankability at scale. Every project we bring to market is backed by standardized contracts and guaranteed offtake agreements – backed by clear rights and obligations, and guaranteed sale of water through offtake agreements. For developers, this means predictable revenues and confidence that projects will meet the strictest international financing criteria.
Saudi Arabia has been building PPPs in power and water for more than two decades, and the result is a mature, tested framework. SWPC itself has 16 independent water plants (IWPs) and independent sewage treatment plants (ISTPs) projects currently in operation, with a further three 鈥� including the Kingdom鈥檚 first independent strategic water reservoir (ISWR) and independent water transmission pipeline (IWTP) 鈥� under construction. And it is bringing the first-ever PPP batches of strategic reservoirs (ISWRs) and water transmission pipelines (IWTPs) to market 鈥� see for example Juranah ISWR, Rayis鈥揜abigh IWTP.
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International developers, lenders, and advisors know our model well. We structure projects with bankable feasibility, transparent tariff mechanisms, and long-term stability 鈥� which is why our projects consistently attract strong competition and achieve record-low costs, such as the $0.41m鲁 tariff at the Jubail 3A IWP, one of the three lowest tariffs ever recorded anywhere.
Fully owned by the Ministry of Finance, SWPC鈥檚 central role eliminates the fragmentation seen in many markets. Developers entering Saudi Arabia are not just bidding into isolated projects; they are engaging with a unified, sovereign-backed framework that has delivered results for over 20 years.
What are the main demand and policy drivers behind the current procurement push, such as the goal for the vast majority of urban water needs to be met by desalination?
The drivers are both immediate and strategic. Forecast urban potable water demand is rising fast 鈥� from 15.47 million m鲁/d in 2024 to nearly 17 million m鲁/d by 2030 鈥� due to population growth, urbanisation, and expanding industrial needs. Historically, some of this demand was met by groundwater, but that model is unsustainable. Now policy is shifting supply away from non-renewable groundwater toward desalinated water, with a phased transition led by coastal IWPs and inland delivery through new transmission pipelines (IWTPs).
This underpins a multi-decade PPP pipeline under Vision 2030, spanning desalination (IWPs), wastewater treatment (ISTPs/SSTPs), strategic reservoirs (ISWRs) and transmission lines (IWTPs). These projects are not optional 鈥� they are essential to national resilience, and every tender is backed by long-term offtake agreements that enable demand certainty, policy clarity, and financial security which combined are rare in global water markets.
Decarbonization policy is also a driver: SWPC tenders include energy-cap clauses and enable solar PV integration, accelerating the shift to RO and lowering system emissions. This further supports green-finance eligibility. Wastewater reuse expansion reduces pressure on potable supply and supports industry/irrigation demand鈥攆reeing desalinated water for urban needs.
Current Projects & Priorities
Desalination growth: with targets to ramp up private sector desalination capacity as per the Kingdom鈥檚 seven-year plan, which geographical clusters would you say are priorities for investment?
Current and planned IWPs will increase daily supply from 4.16 million m鲁/d to around 7.37 million m鲁/d by 2028. Opportunities to achieve this exist on both coasts. On the Red Sea, projects such as Rabigh 4 (600,000 m鲁/d), Ras Mohaisen (300,000 m鲁/d), and Tabuk 1 (400,000 m鲁/d) are designed to support Makkah, Madinah and Tabuk per the Western supply plan. On the Gulf coast, Jubail 4&6 (600,000m鲁/d) and Ras al-Khair 2&3 (1 million m鲁/d) will support both population growth and industrial demand in Jubail and Dammam as well as Riyadh and Qassim, and are planned to be operational by 2028.
These projects are embedded in national planning. For instance, the 650,000 m鲁/d, 587km-long Jubail-Buraydah IWTP, tendered by SWPC, will convey this desalinated water to the central regions. Developers are bidding into an interconnected network (regions tied by IWTPs) with guaranteed sale of water via offtake agreements. That is what makes Saudi desalination projects globally competitive and bankable.
Renewables: How is renewable integration 鈥� for example solar-supported reverse osmosis 鈥� shaping bid design in Saudi Arabia鈥檚 water sector?
Renewable integration is now built into bid design. SWPC has introduced contractual energy-cap clauses and solar-energy requirements, aligning projects with decarbonization targets. For example, our Jubail 3A IWP 600,000 m鲁/d) is the first in Saudi Arabia to integrate solar PV power generation to reduce grid reliance. The addition of 45.4MW of solar power capacity accounts for some 20% of the plant鈥檚 energy consumption, helping to reduce carbon emissions by 60,000 tonnes annually.
Many of our IWPs are expected to reflect these energy-cap and solar requirements, which strengthens bankability and ESG alignment and supports eligibility for green-finance pathways. Developers with renewable-water expertise will find Saudi Arabia one of the most forward-looking and environmentally friendly desalination markets in the world.
Wastewater & reuse: what does the roadmap look like to reaching targets of 2.6 million m鲁/d of treated capacity by 2030?
Saudi Arabia is committed to meeting several wastewater treatment and reuse objectives and targets as part of its Vision 2030. Its main goals are to increase network coverage; boost collected wastewater, which reduces environmental impact of sewage water, and increase the availability of ISTPs throughout the Kingdom.
Currently, Saudi Arabia has on average 64% of wastewater network coverage, and we aim to increase this figure to about 95% by 2030, as per the Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture鈥檚 national water strategy.
With this expansion of network coverage, total collected wastewater is estimated to grow to 14.1 million m鲁/d by 2030, resulting in a required capacity of 14.8 million m鲁/d with buffer. We are currently treating 1.8647 million m鲁/d from the existing, under construction and under tendering ISTPs, and expect to reach about 3.21 million m鲁/d after expansions and new ISTPs in the future.
Completed ISTPs such as Dammam West (200,000 m鲁/d) and Jeddah Airport 2 (300,000 m鲁/d, expandable to 500,000 m鲁/d) have proven the model鈥檚 success. Upcoming projects include the Al-Haier (200,000 m鲁/d) and Aranah (250,000 m鲁/d) ISTPs, with a further 6 ISTPs planned to be operational by 2030.
Moreover, SWPC launched a kingdom-wide program for 123 Small STPs (SSTPs) totaling ~492,650 m鲁/d (~658,250 m鲁/d after expansions), grouped in seven clusters with associated collection networks.
These projects are structured with the same bankable features as desalination Policy targets TSE reuse to 70% by 2030, easing pressure on potable supply (non-domestic uses such as landscaping/industry increasingly rely on TSE). Developers benefit from stable demand, secure contracts, and alignment with Vision 2030鈥檚 principle of maximizing every drop of water.
Strategic storage: Another major area of expansion in Saudi Arabia is the introduction of new strategic reservoirs to raise reserve days. What are the key performance metrics SWPC will emphasise as these projects grow?
Strategic storage is about resilience. Our target is to increase reserve capacity to seven days of municipal water demand by 2030, which will require total strategic storage capacity of almost 120 million m鲁.
Currently, total reservoir capacity in the Kingdom is 25.10 million m鲁, with another 45.82 million m鲁 in the construction and planning stages and expected to be available by 2030, bringing total to ~71 M m鲁 (鈮�5.6 days).
To augment reservoir capacities, and through private sector partnerships, SWPC is planning three strategic storage tank projects, with a total capacity of 7.02 million m鲁. The Juranah ISWR project, the first PPP of its kind in Saudi Arabia, is under construction and as expected to come operational in 2027. SWPC is also in the process of tendering the Al-Ahsa and Dammam ISWRs which are both expected to be online by 2028 with a
These are system-critical assets designed and sited to meet 7-day coverage and serve Hajj peaks (80% from storage), with siting policy to locate reservoirs within ~60 km of cities to cut transmission risk.
Transmission systems are also central to Saudi Arabia鈥檚 water strategy. What role do these play and what opportunities exist for developers?
Transmission is as vital as production. IWTPs knit coastal IWPs to inland demand centers and interlink supply groups, underpinning resilience and bankability. For example, the Rayis-Yanbu IWTP 鈥� a 42km pipeline with 630,000 m鲁/d of capacity 鈥� is already operational under a 35-year concession. The under-construction Rayis鈥揜abigh IWTP (152 km; 500,000 m鲁/d), targeted to be online in 2026, includes pumping stations, storage tanks, and critically, an integrated solar power element.
Two larger IWTPs are in tender: Riyadh鈥換assim (859 km; 685,000 m鲁/d) and Jubail鈥揃uraydah (587 km; 650,000 m鲁/d)鈥攂oth planned with PCOD 2029. With the Western lines (Rayis鈥揧anbu, Rayis鈥揜abigh) interlinking at Rayis and the Eastern lines (Riyadh鈥換assim, Jubail鈥揃uraydah) interlinking at Al-Shimasiyah, there is a connected grid for conveyance.
There is a big developer opportunity here. IWTPs are first-ever PPP batches for transmission, procured on a standardized, bankable basis鈥攅xpanding participation beyond plant EPC into long-haul conveyance.
With timelines for the above priorities undoubtedly ambitious, how is SWPC broadening participation among developers while maintaining cost discipline and schedule certainty to ensure targets are met?
We are building on two decades of PPP experience. Since the early 2000s, Saudi Arabia has delivered independent power plants (IPPs) and independent water and power plants (IWPPs) that set benchmarks for cost and efficiency. Today, we apply those lessons directly to water.
Participation is broadened by process clarity: SWPC ensures a transparent, competitive bidding process, provides standard EOI/RFQ/SOQ/RFP documentation, and sets a clear set of rights and obligations in PPP contracts. This has widened participation 鈥� projects like the Rabigh 4 IWP and the Al-Haer ISTP attracted consortia from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. At the same time, discipline is enforced through contract supervision, compliance monitoring, HSE inspections, risk management, and oversight of financial aspects during delivery鈥攕upported by sovereign guarantees where appropriate. The result is projects delivered on time, on budget, and at globally competitive tariffs. For developers, SWPC鈥檚 model reduces counterparty risk via guaranteed sale through offtake, clear rights & obligations, transparent bidding, and credit/sovereign support鈥攎aking KSA one of the most bankable water PPP markets globally.
The Road Ahead
What are the key advantages you highlight to investors today – things like tenor and offtake, eligibility for green financing and efficiency-sharing incentives – and how might these evolve?
The most important advantage is visibility and stability. Our Seven-Year Statement (2024鈥�2030) sets out over $15bn of projects, giving developers years of forward planning. Every project is structured with guaranteed offtake, and bankable feasibility, ensuring security for both equity investors and lenders.
Going forward, opportunities will also expand in areas like green financing, as more projects integrate renewables and efficiency measures, and in digital optimisation, as Vision 2030 prioritizes smarter water management. Investors today are entering a market that is not only of the largest globally but is one that is also evolving in ways that align with global trends in sustainability and innovation.
For international investors looking at Saudi Arabia鈥檚 water sector 2025鈥�2030, where are the most collaborative available opportunities across water production, transmission and strategic storage?
The most collaborative opportunities will be in:
- Coastal mega-IWPs with renewable integration, where global expertise in hybrid systems is invaluable.
- Urban ISTPs in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, where wastewater reuse demand is growing rapidly.
- ISWRS and IWTPs, which will define the Kingdom鈥檚 resilience and represent some of the largest PPPs ever undertaken in water transmission and storage.
Partnerships won鈥檛 just be about EPC and financing. O&M, technology integration, and digital solutions will all be critical as Saudi Arabia builds a smarter, more resilient water grid under Vision 2030.
What one piece of advice would you give to international investors thinking about making a play in Saudi Arabia鈥檚 water market who are yet to make the leap?
My advice is simple: enter early, commit long-term, and align with Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia is not offering short-term projects; it is offering a once-in-a-generation transformation of its water sector. By 2030, desalination capacity will expand from 4.16 million m鲁/d to over 6 million m鲁/d, wastewater reuse capacity will reach 2.6 million m鲁/d, and strategic storage will add millions of cubic metres of resilience. Transmission systems spanning hundreds of kilometres will tie it all together.
Developers who establish themselves now will not only win contracts but also embed themselves in the Kingdom鈥檚 long-term water future. Few water sector markets globally offer the same combination of scale, security, and sustainability as Saudi Arabia.
