The Saudi project market continues to thrive. Latest data from Meed put the value of projects “planned or underway” at $745 billion in mid-April, around 13 percent higher than a year earlier. These figures need to be treated with some caution: The topline number is some 30 percent larger than the nominal size of the entire economy ($580 billion), while the number of “planned” projects that might actually be rolled out is far from clear. Yet the trend is undeniably positive.
The main drivers of project activity this year are likely to be utilities and petrochemicals. For the former, the Saudi Electricity Company is committed to at least one Independent Power Project (IPP) a year as it seeks to keep on top of domestic power demand that is growing by around 7-8 percent. This figure could well climb in the years to come as Saudi Arabia’s industrial development expands and deepens.
