Marafiq, the power and water utility company for the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu, is at an exciting stage in its development, awaiting the completion of its independent water and power project (IWPP) in Jubail and the arrival of proposals from pre-qualified bidding groups for its IWPP in Yanbu.

The Jubail IWPP is a 2,750 MW combined cycle power station and a large water desalination facility of 800,000 cu m per day. A consortium of Suez Energy International, Gulf Investment Corporation and Arabian Company for Power and Water Projects is developing the IWPP on a build, own, operate and transfer (Boot) basis. The Jubail IWPP project company will be owned 60 per cent by the Suez Consortium, 30 per cent by Marafiq and 5 per cent each by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Electricity Company. 
The first phase of the project will deliver 660 MW and 300,000 cu m per day starting in summer 2009, with full capacity being achieved in March 2010. The EPC contractors of the project are General Electric, Sidem and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Power and water from the project will benefit industrial and non-industrial consumers in Jubail Industrial City and the Eastern Province.
The plant’s entire energy and water output will be sold to Marafiq in a 20-year power and water purchase agreement.
The Jubail IWPP gained fame following the largest project finance deal ever signed in the power sector. The deal is a combination of conventional and Islamic financing providing over 80 per cent of the $3.4 billion project from a syndicate of 32 international, regional and Saudi banks.
Marafiq’s owners are the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Sabic, Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund, each holding 24.81 per cent of shares. Private investors hold the remaining 0.76 per cent.
In the Yanbu IWPP, the winning consortium will own 60 per cent of a special-purpose company that will build, own, operate and transfer the complex yielding 1,700 MW of power and 150,000 cu m of water per day.
The plant will be fired by cracked heavy fuel oil with Arabian light crude oil as backup. The project company will sell its entire output to a new offtaker company in Yanbu that is 100 per cent owned by Marafiq. The sale of the output will be under a 25-year power and water purchase agreement with structured credit support from the Ministry of Finance.
Bids are due to be submitted to Marafiq by August 27, 2008, and the plant is likely to begin operations in April 2009.
“The Yanbu IWPP’s production will meet the increasing demand for water and power in Yanbu Industrial City,” said Thamer S Al Sharhan, Marafiq’s president and CEO. “We are pleased to see keen interest from the bidding groups for the project and look forward to receiving competitive bids.”
Marafiq currently provides a total, integrated power and water solution within its franchise area. The utility plants in Jubail comprise the largest single seawater cooling system in the world, multistage flash evaporator (MSF) and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants producing potable water for household use and process water for industrial use as well as a sanitary and industrial wastewater treatment plant.
In Yanbu the integrated seawater cooling, MSF and RO desalination, wastewater treatment, and power generation, transmission and distribution constitute one of the largest integrated systems of its kind in the world. Yanbu’s 1,060 megawatt power generation, transmission and distribution system operates on gas turbine as well as steam turbine generators. The gas turbines are fuelled mainly by natural gas from Saudi Aramco, using light fuel as backup. Power is transmitted through two high-voltage switchyards, and distributed via a 440 km network of ecologically sensitive underground cables within the Yanbu boundaries.

Looking ahead
2008 marks the completion of five years of Marafiq’s commercial operations as a private company. Al Sharhan has announced a reform programme called Noor Marafiq, with a view to ensuring sustained growth and providing profitable and environmentally conducive water and power services.
 
Marafiq and the environment
Marafiq is the recipient of the ISO 14001 certificate in recognition of its compliance with environment-protection procedures.
“Marafiq is a true believer in the philosophy of limiting consumption of non-renewable resources by encouraging recycling. This forms the foundation of the company’s integrated water and power utility systems,” a statement said.
It stressed that utility plants in Jubail & Yanbu operated in a full environmental cycle, turning waste into value through its wastewater recycling operations, thereby saving more than 25 million cu m of potable water every year.
Last year, it received environmental operating permits for its seawater cooling and potable water facilities in Jubail from the Royal Commission’s environmental department.
Marafiq also reached an agreement with Jubail Municipality for the treatment of sanitary water from Jubail town on a commercial basis.