Once complete, the plant will serve drinking water to Makkah and Madinah, with a production capacity of 450,000m3. The project is expected to reach commercial operation by 1 November 2023, and is being developed by sponsors ENGIE, Mowah and Nesma. The project also entails a pipeline, with a transmission capacity of 600,000 m3/day and a length of 39 kilometres; this is the first water transmission line to be implemented under the Kingdom’s Public-Private Partnership framework.

Head of Middle East Projects and Finance and deal co-lead, Anthony Ellis, commented: “We are extremely pleased to support our long-standing client ENGIE on such a significant and ground-breaking project. The achievement of financial close is testament to the vision and team of the sponsors and the lenders, notwithstanding the general uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The team was co-led by partners Anthony Ellis and Martin Kavanagh, supported by senior associates Phil Hanson and Samer Mahjoub, and associates Jenny Hanna, Charles Oliver and Amro Al-Ahmar. The wider team included Nick May, Nicholas Rutter, Vladi Resnik and Alex Leigh from London Finance, who advised on the project’s hedging aspects.