A consortium of Spain’s Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios and the local Tawzea submitted the lowest levelised cost tariff of SRhalala 107.9 ($0.0287) per cubic metre (SRh/cm) for the planned Taif independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) in Saudi Arabia.

A consortium of Spain’s FCC Aqualia and the local Al-Khorayef Group submitted the second-lowest tariff of SRh116.28/cm.

The full list of bidders and prices is:

• Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios (Spain) / Tawzea (local), SRh107.9/cm
• FCC Aqualia (Spain) / Al-Khorayef Group (local), SRh116.28/cm
• Metito Utilities (UAE) / Mowah (local), SRh149.27/cm
• Orascom Construction (Egypt) / Miahona (local), SR150.8/cm

Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), previously called Water & Electricity Company (WEC), received the proposals from the four groups in the first week of August.

The planned ISTP will have a capacity of up to 270,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). The Taif ISTP will be operated under a 25-year sewage treatment agreement.

Mizuho Bank is the lead and financial adviser; White & Case is the legal adviser; and Atkins (part of Canada’s SNC Lavalin) is the technical adviser.

The Taif project is the third ISTP that SWPC has tendered in the past year. Earlier in 2019, the client awarded a contract to a consortium of the UAE’s Metito, the local Mowah and Egypt’s Orascom Construction for the Dammam ISTP.

The regional office of India/US-based Synergy Consulting is financial adviser to the Metito consortium.

The plant will have an initial capacity of 200,000 cm/d, with a design that will allow for an expansion of up to 350,000 cm/d in the future.