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Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has unveiled a new corporate identity as part of a strategy to reinforce the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs).

At a ceremony in Riyadh, the company said it will operate under the name Sharakat, reflecting its “evolution and expanding mandate in the kingdom’s water sector”.

The new identity comes as Saudi Arabia expands the use of PPPs to deliver infrastructure projects.

In January, the government launched a National Privatisation Strategy targeting more than 220 PPP contracts by 2030, including projects in the water sector.

The government is targeting over $64bn (SR240bn) in private capital investments in this period, which it said would be “a new phase focused on execution and accelerating delivery”.

Previously, the 2018 privatisation programme had focused on the ‘foundational phase’.

SWPC has served as the principal offtaker of all water in Saudi Arabia since 2017. Its mandate covers desalinated water, transmission and treatment projects. It also includes small-scale plants, collection networks and strategic water reservoirs.

The total investment value of its current projects exceeds SR56bn ($14.9bn), the offtaker said.

According to MEED Projects, SWPC has over $11bn-worth of PPP projects in the pipeline, with two projects ($2.10bn) currently under bid evaluation.

In December, local firm Vision Invest was named as the preferred bidder to develop and operate the 859-kilometre Riyadh-Qassim independent water transmission pipeline project. 

The consortium of Miahona (Saudi Arabia), Marafiq Company and Buhur for Investment was also named as the preferred bidder for the Arana independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP).

Financial close for both projects is expected in 2026.

Meanwhile, SWPC has issued a request for proposals for the $150m Riyadh East ISTP, which will have a treatment capacity of 200,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), expandable to 400,000 cm/day in the second phase.

The bid submission deadline is 2 April.