Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) is Saudi Arabia’s single principal buyer and the public-private partnership (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 privatisation, project development and contract management. How does that central role shape the investment environment and counterparty risk for international sponsors?

SWPC’s role as the kingdom’s 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 standardised 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 plant (IWP) and independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) projects currently in operation, with a further three – including the kingdom’s first independent strategic water reservoir (ISWR) and independent water transmission pipeline (IWTP) – under construction. And it is bringing the first-ever PPP batches of ISWRs and IWTPs to market – see for example Juranah ISWR and Rayis-Rabigh IWTP.

International developers, lenders and advisors know our model well. We structure projects with bankable feasibility, transparent tariff mechanisms and long-term stability, which is why our projects consistently attract strong competition and achieve record-low costs, such as the 0.41 $cents a cubic metre tariff at the Jubail 3A IWP, one of the three lowest tariffs ever recorded anywhere.

Fully owned by the Finance Ministry, SWPC’s 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 – from 15.47 million cubic metres a day (cm/d) in 2024 to nearly 17 million cm/d by 2030 – 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 towards 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/ small strategic sewage projects (SSTPs)), strategic reservoirs (ISWRs) and transmission lines (IWTPs). These projects are not optional – 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.

Decarbonisation policy is also a driver: SWPC tenders include energy-cap clauses and enable solar photovoltaic (PV) integration, accelerating the shift to reverse osmosis (RO) and lowering system emissions. This further supports green-finance eligibility. Wastewater reuse expansion reduces pressure on potable supply and supports industry/irrigation demand – freeing desalinated water for urban needs.

Current projects and priorities

Desalination growth: With targets to ramp up private sector desalination capacity as per the kingdom’s 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 cm/d to around 7.37 million cm/d by 2028. Opportunities to achieve this exist on both coasts. On the Red Sea, projects such as Rabigh 4 (600,000 cm/d), Ras Mohaisen (300,000 cm/d) and Tabuk 1 (400,000 cm/d) are designed to support Mecca, Medina and Tabuk per the western supply plan. On the Gulf coast, Jubail 4&6 (600,000 cm/d) and Ras Al-Khair 2&3 (1 million cm/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 cm/d, 587 kilometre (km) 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 – for example solar-supported RO – shaping bid design in Saudi Arabia’s water sector?

Renewable integration is now built into bid design. SWPC has introduced contractual energy-cap clauses and solar-energy requirements, aligning projects with decarbonisation targets. For example, our Jubail 3A IWP (600,000 cm/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 20% of the plant’s energy consumption, helping to reduce carbon emissions by 60,000 tonnes a year.

Many of our IWPs are expected to reflect these energy-cap and solar requirements, which strengthens bankability and environmental, social and governance (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 and reuse: What does the roadmap look like to reaching targets of 2.6 million cm/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 the 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 Environment, Water & Agriculture Ministry’s national water strategy.

With this expansion of network coverage, total collected wastewater is estimated to grow to 14.1 million cm/d by 2030, resulting in a required capacity of 14.8 million cm/d with buffer. We are currently treating 1.8647 million cm/d from the existing, under construction and under tendering ISTPs and expect to reach about 3.21 million cm/d after expansions and new ISTPs in the future.

Completed ISTPs such as Dammam West (200,000 cm/d) and Jeddah Airport 2 (300,000 cm/d, expandable to 500,000 cm/d) have proven the model’s success. Upcoming projects include the Al-Haier (200,000 cm/d) and Aranah (250,000 cm/d) ISTPs, with a further six ISTPs planned to be operational by 2030.

Moreover, SWPC launched a kingdom-wide programme for 123 SSTPs totaling about 492,650 cm/d (about 658,250 cm/d after expansions), grouped in seven clusters with associated collection networks.

These projects are structured with the same bankable features, as desalination policy targets treated sewage effluent (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’s principle of maximising 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 cubic metres.  

Currently, total reservoir capacity in the kingdom is 25.1 million cubic metres, with another 45.82 million cubic metres in the construction and planning stages and expected to be available by 2030, bringing total to about 71 million cubic metres, approximately equal to 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 cubic metres. The Juranah ISWR project, the first PPP of its kind in Saudi Arabia, is under construction and is expected to become 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.

These are system-critical assets designed and sited to meet seven-day coverage and serve Hajj peaks (80% from storage), with siting policy to locate reservoirs within about 60km of cities to cut transmission risk.

Transmission systems are also central to Saudi Arabia’s 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 centres and interlink supply groups, underpinning resilience and bankability. For example, the Rayis-Yanbu IWTP – a 42km pipeline with 630,000 cm/d of capacity – is already operational under a 35-year concession. The under-construction Rayis-Rabigh IWTP (152km; 500,000 cm/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-Qassim (859km; 685,000 cm/d) and Jubail-Buraydah (587km; 650,000 cm/d), both planned with a provisional commercial operation date of 2029. With the western lines (Rayis-Yanbu, Rayis-Rabigh) interlinking at Rayis and the eastern lines (Riyadh-Qassim, Jubail-Buraydah) 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 standardised, bankable basis – expanding participation beyond plant engineering, procurement and construction (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 and independent water and power plants 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 expressions of interest, request for qualifications, statement of qualifications and request for proposal documentation; and sets a clear set of rights and obligations in PPP contracts. This has widened participation – projects like the Rabigh 4 IWP and the Al-Haer ISTP attracted consortiums from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

At the same time, discipline is enforced through contract supervision; compliance monitoring; health, safety and environment (HSE) inspections; risk management; and oversight of financial aspects during delivery – supported by sovereign guarantees where appropriate. The result is projects delivered on time, on budget and at globally competitive tariffs. For developers, SWPC’s model reduces counterparty risk via guaranteed sale through offtake, clear rights and obligations, transparent bidding and credit/sovereign support – making Saudi Arabia 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 (2024-30) 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 prioritises smarter water management. Investors today are entering a market that is not only of the largest globally, but also one that is evolving in ways that align with global trends in sustainability and innovation.

For international investors looking at Saudi Arabia’s water sector 2025-30, 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’s resilience and represent some of the largest PPPs ever undertaken in water transmission and storage.

Partnerships will not just be about EPC and financing. Operations and maintenance (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’s water market but have 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 cm/d to over 6 million cm/d, wastewater reuse capacity will reach 2.6 million cm/d and strategic storage will add millions of cubic metres of resilience. Transmission systems spanning hundreds of kilometres will tie it all together.

Developers that establish themselves now will not only win contracts, but also embed themselves in the kingdom’s long-term water future. Few water sector markets globally offer the same combination of scale, security and sustainability as Saudi Arabia.