Acwa consortium: Red Sea utilities in commercial service with 25-year concession
Key Facts
Acwa said on September 6, 2026 that its consortium had reached commercial operation for the integrated utilities system at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea destination. Marafiq Red Sea for Energy and Red Sea Global subsidiary Red Sea Utilities Company signed the commercial-operation certificate. The signing confirmed that the system was in commercial service and commenced a 25-year concession. The consortium comprises Acwa, SPIC Huanghe Hydropower and Saudi Tabreed.
The system combines a solar photovoltaic plant with 340 megawatts of alternating-current capacity and batteries with 1,227 megawatt-hours of storage. The batteries support electricity supply through the night while the system operates without a national-grid connection. The concession integrates 5 services: renewable power, potable water, wastewater treatment, district cooling and waste management. The utilities serve operating hotels, Red Sea International Airport, the logistics hub, electric fleet, staff village and community facilities.
Commercial operation followed a financial close that Acwa announced in February 2022. The disclosure described the project as an independent public-private partnership to design, build and operate the utility systems and their networks. The financing announced at the time combined US-dollar and Saudi-riyal facilities provided by Saudi and international banks. Lenders included, among other banks, Al Rajhi Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank and Standard Chartered.
The 2022 disclosure said the destination developer would not invest its own capital directly in the utilities and would instead buy their services from the consortium under a single offtake arrangement. The offtake agreement covers 25 years and is guaranteed by the Public Investment Fund. On the customer side, Red Sea Utilities Company manages project delivery, concession agreements, financial reporting and customer billing. It also manages metering systems, technology infrastructure and electric-vehicle chargers.
The project scope includes 3 seawater reverse-osmosis plants, a waste-management centre and a wastewater-treatment plant with capacity of 16,000 cubic metres a day. Treated water is used for irrigation and to support new wetland habitats. The utilities platform was designed to accommodate additional capacity as the destination expands and later phases enter operation. Acwa’s September 6, 2026 release did not quantify an earnings contribution, so the disclosed capacities alone do not establish a specific financial effect.