Contractors are waiting for news on the prequalification list and tender of the planned Jeddah Airport phase 2 sewage treatment plant in Saudi Arabia.

The Jeddah Airport 2 STP has been in planning stage for a number of years, but, due to a number of delays and changes to designs, little progress has been made.

For the latest tender, contractors submitted prequalification entries in the first quarter of the year, but have still not been notified by the client, National Water Company (NWC) whether they have been prequalified to participate in the bidding process.

The project was originally planned to have a capacity of 132-150 million litres a day (MLD), but, according to some sources within the kingdom’s water sector, the client is considering the proposed capacity up to 500 MLD.

The project is part of NWC’s programme to expand and upgrade the kingdom’s wastewater and water supply networks. In 2011, NWC set out plans to spend a total of SR249bn ($66.4bn) on the wastewater and water network sectors in the period 2011-20. However, the utility provider has struggled to make progress with a number of planned projects.

In July, NWC awarded a $22m contract to a consortium led by Spain’s FCC Aqualia to provide operation and maintenance (O&M) services for two wastewater treatment plants in Mecca.

The Spanish firm, in consortium with the local Al-Khorayef Water & Power Company, will provide O&M services for the Hadda and Arana treatment plants, which have a combined average flow of 250,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) and a maximum treatment capacity of 375,000 cm/d. The three-year contract will have a total value of about $22m.