Saudi Tender Watch — Issue 2

Saudi Tender Watch

Weekly opportunities for international business

Issue 2 · 24 Aug–1 Sep 2026

Priority action

International developers interested in the King Fahd Suburb Boulevard should assess a Saudi consortium structure now. Qualification submissions are due on 22 October 2026.

King Fahd Suburb Boulevard PPP

Ministry of Municipalities and Housing · NCP · Ashraq Development

Who should pursue — mixed-use developers, infrastructure funds, leisure and hospitality operators, DBFOM contractors, lenders and advisers.

The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, the National Centre for Privatisation and Ashraq Development Company have opened qualification for a mixed-use boulevard in King Fahd Suburb. The approximately one-million-square-metre site is expected to combine commercial, leisure and public-realm components under a design-build-finance-operate-maintain-transfer structure.

The reported concession period is 43 years and qualification submissions are due on 22 October. The capital value has not been disclosed. Foreign participation is not expressly confirmed in the public notice, so international groups should verify licensing, consortium, classification and local-content requirements before committing bid resources.

Why it matters — this is the issue’s only clearly open qualification and offers early access to a long-duration municipal PPP with development, construction, operating and financing income streams.

Group 1 battery storage programme

Saudi Power Procurement Company

Who should pursue — battery, PCS, transformer, switchgear, fire-safety and grid-integration suppliers; subcontractors and project-finance banks.

Saudi Power Procurement Company has concluded storage-service agreements for four projects with combined capacity of 2,000MW and 8,000MWh. Al-Muwyah and Haden in Makkah and Al-Kahafa in Hail were awarded to a consortium involving Saudi Energy, ACWA Power and Al-Sharif, while the Al-Khushaybi project in Qassim went to an Engie-led group.

The subsequent EPC appointments place Larsen & Toubro in charge of the first three sites and China’s Sepco3 at Al-Khushaybi. The developer competition is closed, but procurement should now move into battery systems, power-conversion equipment, transformers, controls, protection systems, civil works and grid connections.

Why it matters — the $1.16bn programme creates a concentrated near-term equipment and construction pipeline and confirms Saudi Arabia as one of the region’s largest utility-scale storage markets.

Jeddah Islamic Port Terminal 4

Mawani · Red Sea Gateway Terminal · CMA CGM

Who should pursue — marine contractors, crane and terminal-equipment manufacturers, automation and cybersecurity providers, electrical contractors and equipment financiers.

Mawani, Red Sea Gateway Terminal and France’s CMA CGM have signed definitive agreements for an initial $434m investment in Terminal 4 at Jeddah Islamic Port. The development is intended to add capacity of up to 2.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units a year at Saudi Arabia’s principal Red Sea container gateway.

Planned facilities include deep-water berths, ten ship-to-shore cranes, yard equipment and supporting terminal technology. Although the main development agreement is closed, the delivery phase should generate specialist marine works, electrical packages, automation systems, cybersecurity services and equipment-financing requirements.

Why it matters — Terminal 4 will materially increase Jeddah’s container-handling capability and provides a defined route into a major international operator’s procurement chain.

Jafurah fourth expansion phase

Saudi Aramco

Who should pursue — compressor and rotating-equipment makers, process vendors, mechanical and E&I contractors, inspection companies and guarantee providers.

Saudi Aramco has awarded Larsen & Toubro the principal EPC contract for the fourth expansion phase of the Jafurah unconventional gas programme. The package is estimated at about $1.5bn and includes two gas-compression trains, each designed to handle approximately 200 million cubic feet a day.

The works also cover utilities and associated facilities required to integrate the new trains with the wider Jafurah development. With the prime competition concluded, equipment manufacturers and specialist contractors should focus on L&T’s approved vendor, subcontracting and localisation channels.

Why it matters — successive Jafurah expansion phases offer continuity for Aramco-qualified suppliers and create sizeable orders for compression, process, piping, electrical and instrumentation packages.

Saudi Landbridge — Riyadh section

Saudi Arabia Railways

Who should pursue — trackwork, signalling and telecoms suppliers, bridge and civil subcontractors, testing specialists and bonding banks.

Saudi Arabia Railways is preparing to award the design-build contract for a 35-kilometre double-track railway in Riyadh. The new section will connect the North-South Railway with the Eastern Railway network and forms an important interface within the wider Saudi Landbridge programme.

The package value has not been disclosed and the main competition is closed. Reported bidding groups included companies from China, Türkiye, Italy and Spain alongside Saudi contractors, demonstrating international participation and pointing to downstream track, systems, structures and testing packages after award.

Why it matters — the connection is a strategic enabling section of the Landbridge and should unlock specialist civil, signalling and railway-systems procurement once the principal contractor is appointed.

HUMAIN AI data-centre expansion

HUMAIN · MIS

Who should pursue — cooling, power, UPS, switchgear, modular construction, fibre and AI-infrastructure vendors, plus technology financiers.

HUMAIN has expanded MIS’s design-and-build mandate from 50MW to 250MW, adding 200MW of planned AI data-centre capacity for delivery in phases. The enlarged programme will require substantial power, cooling, resilience, communications and specialist construction infrastructure.

The exact contract value remains undisclosed. The estimate of more than SAR8.77bn, or about $2.34bn, is inferred from MIS’s materiality disclosure rather than a confirmed consideration. Direct tender eligibility was not published, so international companies should treat MIS’s supply chain as the practical route to market.

Why it matters — the fivefold capacity increase signals a large, phased procurement programme across electrical infrastructure, cooling, modular facilities, fibre and AI computing systems.

Eleven-rig gas drilling programme

SLB Middle East · Arabian Drilling

Who should pursue — rig equipment and MRO suppliers, drilling-consumables companies, inspection firms, logistics providers and asset financiers.

SLB Middle East has awarded Arabian Drilling a five-year contract covering eleven land rigs for integrated gas operations in Saudi Arabia. The agreement is valued at about SAR3bn, or $800m, with revenue expected to begin during the third quarter of 2026.

The principal competition is closed, but mobilisation and sustained operations across eleven rigs will require equipment, spares, maintenance, inspection, drilling consumables, workforce support and logistics. Suppliers should approach both companies through their approved vendor channels.

Why it matters — the five-year term converts a single award into a recurring service and supply opportunity with predictable demand for maintenance, consumables and working capital.

Pipeline watch

Jafurah Phase 5: Aramco is evaluating bids for three 200 million cf/d gas-compression plants. The value is undisclosed and the next milestone is selection of the main EPC contractor.

Global Sports Tower: consultants are preparing best-and-final offers for the project-management role on the 130-metre Riyadh landmark. The consultancy fee is undisclosed.

Phosphate 3 railway: Saudi Arabia Railways is preparing to appoint a 54-month project-management consultant supporting the mining-logistics expansion. The PMC value is undisclosed.

Aramco engineering frameworks: Technip Energies has secured two five-year agreements covering FEED, project-management consulting and brownfield EPC services. The framework ceiling is undisclosed.

Before pursuing an opportunity

Confirm tender status and eligibility with the procuring organisation. Check Saudi registration, RHQ applicability, local content, prequalification, classification, Saudisation and joint-venture requirements. “Eligibility unconfirmed” means the public material did not establish foreign-bidder access.