State oil company Saudi Aramco has awarded a contract to Spain’s Acciona to build a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant in Dhahran.

According to sources close to the project, the plant will have a capacity of 100,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

Austria’s ILF was appointed in 2014 by water transmission firm National Water Company (NWC) and state desalination company Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) to provide design services for the desalination plant, which will provide water for Saudi Aramco’s residential complex at Dhahran.

The complex is expected to house 70,000 residents.