Saudi Arabia invests SAR2.8bn in seven water technology factories
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Saudi Arabia has committed SAR2.8 billion to seven factories that will produce chemicals, pumps, energy-recovery equipment and control systems for the water sector.
The investments were announced during the “Localizing the Water Industry: Knowledge Transfer and Capacity Building” ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel in Riyadh.
Six investment opportunities moved into implementation through three industrial localisation agreements and the opening of two factories, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The seven facilities will join Toray’s reverse-osmosis membrane factory in Dammam, which has operated since 2025, taking the programme’s factory count to eight.
Italmatch Chemicals will establish four factories across Wa’ad Al Shamal, Jubail and Jeddah.
Its Wa’ad Al Shamal site is expected to become the Italian company’s largest manufacturing complex outside Italy by 2028.
The company’s Saudi program includes the production of water-treatment chemicals and scale inhibitors used to prevent mineral deposits inside desalination equipment.
Italmatch said its wider localisation investment could reach $500 million and create about 300 jobs. The company signed a long-term supply agreement with the Saudi Water Authority at the Riyadh ceremony, according to its official statement.
Energy Recovery is establishing a plant in Dammam to manufacture energy-recovery devices. The facility is expected to supply one third of the company’s global customers by the first quarter of 2027.
The 3,750-square-metre Energy Recovery facility will handle machining, assembly and testing near Dammam Second Industrial City, the company said in an earlier announcement.
Alfanar will establish a factory in Riyadh to manufacture Distributed Control Systems.
The Water Industries and Services Localization Program has identified 18 investment opportunities covering 90 per cent of the water sector’s core components.
- Reverse-osmosis membranes
- Antiscalant chemicals
- Membrane-cleaning chemicals
- Energy-recovery devices
- High-pressure pumps
- Distributed Control Systems
- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems
The program seeks to reduce reliance on imported equipment by developing manufacturing, technical knowledge and skilled employment inside Saudi Arabia. The number of suppliers serving the sector increased from 739 in 2022 to 3,441 in this year.
Local content rose from 45 per cent in 2020 to 68.27 per cent in early 2026.
The program requires locally sourced production inputs to account for at least 70 per cent of the total.
It also requires Saudi nationals to fill at least 70 per cent of specialised positions created by the projects.
Technology and knowledge exchange helped raise the efficiency of high-pressure pumps to 91 per cent.
The use of locally produced membranes increased daily capacity at Al Khobar from 600,000 cubic metres to 700,000 cubic metres without additional cost.
Saudi Arabia has achieved self-sufficiency in the targeted membrane products and now exports them to 27 countries.
The six projects entering implementation are expected to reduce costs by between 20 and 30 per cent.
Their export targets range from 20 to 50 per cent of production.
The six projects are supported by SAR11.37 billion in projected Saudi demand.
They are expected to contribute SAR4.36 billion to gross domestic product and create 3,090 jobs by 2033.
Across the wider program, domestic demand is forecast to exceed SAR15 billion by 2033. Demand across the Middle East and North Africa is estimated at SAR65 billion.
The full localization program aims to attract SAR11 billion in investment and create 12,000 technical jobs by 2033 under Saudi Vision 2030.