Saudi Arabia to Privatize World’s Largest Desalination Plant

Cars drive past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
Cars drive past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
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Saudi Arabia to Privatize World’s Largest Desalination Plant

Cars drive past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
Cars drive past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

The Saline Water Desalination Corporation (SWCC) has accelerated the procedures to privatize the world’s largest water and power plant in Ras Al-Khair in the Eastern Province.

The move is part of the SWCC initiatives to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and to keep pace with national strategies that will form the basic engine of the economy.

The plan is also in line with the Kingdom’s aspirations to attract domestic and foreign investment from the private sector.

The SWCC had earlier hired BNP Paribas as a consultant for the sale of the Ras Al-Khair desalination plant and other plants as part of a major privatization drive to reduce pressure on the government’s capital spending as well as to diversify government revenues away from oil.

It was done following the approval of the supervisory committee for the privatization of the environment, water, and agricultural sector, starting with the Ras Al-Khair plant.

An expert team from the SWCC worked with the consultant in holding communications with developers, investors, and funding agencies to find out the extent of their interest in the project.

The Ras Al-Khair plant, which began production in 2015, has a current operating desalination capacity of 1.05 million cubic meters per day in addition to generating electricity with a capacity of 2,650 MW.

The plant utilizes a hybrid-configuration of multi-stage flash thermal desalination and reverse osmosis membrane technology.

The Ras Al-Khair plant is planned to be the first brownfield asset of the SWCC portfolio to be privatized.



China Vows Tougher Action against Smuggling of Strategic Minerals

A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
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China Vows Tougher Action against Smuggling of Strategic Minerals

A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

China vowed on Saturday to step up a crackdown and toughen law enforcement against smuggling of strategic minerals seen as vital to national security and critical for development.

The remarks by the commerce ministry came a day after the state security ministry accused foreign spy agencies of having tried to "steal" rare earths and pledged to crack down on infiltration and espionage targeting the critical sector.

The world's largest supplier of dozens of strategic minerals, China began imposing export curbs in 2023 on supplies vital to sectors ranging from chipmaking and the energy transition to defense.

The commerce ministry remarks, describing smuggling and export of strategic minerals as a severe problem to be combated, came at a meeting of officials responsible for export control coordination and other government bodies.

"Cases of smuggling by a small number of criminals for their own selfish interests and collusion between domestic and foreign parties are still occurring," it said in a statement.

Evasive methods such as false declarations and third-country transshipment were taking on increasingly covert forms, it added, urging government bodies to prevent illegal outflows of strategic minerals and related technologies.

China has adopted a "zero-tolerance" approach to smuggling and export of strategic minerals, which it will fight with a heavy hand, through special efforts to toughen law enforcement, the ministry said.

In May China said it would strengthen controls on the entire supply chains of strategic mineral exports while tightening its grip on materials deemed crucial to national interest.

Earlier, Beijing launched a special campaign to tackle smuggling of strategic minerals such as gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and some rare earths.