[Saudi Arabia] Veolia Signs Three Memoranda of Cooperation: Optimizing the Full Value Chain of 9.7 Million m³/d Seawater Desalination with ACWA, and Advancing Mining Water Recycling with Ma'aden

Lead Summary: Veolia 9月1日 announced the signing of three memoranda of cooperation in Saudi Arabia: cooperation with global desalination giant Acwa to optimize the full value chain of its 970万m³/d seawater desalination capacity, with an estimated emission reduction potential of up to 50万 tons CO₂/year; cooperation with Saudi mining company Ma'aden focusing on mining water circulation and industrial waste management; and cooperation with GASCO subsidiary Khazeen on hazardous waste treatment. The three agreements align with Saudi Vision 2030 and Veolia's GreenUp strategy.

Three Memoranda: A Multi-Sector Middle East Layout

According to Veolia's official disclosure, the three memoranda of understanding signed in Saudi Arabia this time are respectively aimed at three major sectors: seawater desalination, mining, and hazardous waste:

• Seawater desalination value chain agreement with Acwa Power — covering optimization cooperation across the entire chain of desalination plant design, equipment selection, chemical dosing and monitoring, and daily operations, applicable to Acwa's existing and future projects. Acwa currently manages desalination capacity reaching a hundredfold magnitude of 9.7万m³/d, i.e., 970万m³/d, with managed assets of 4750亿 riyals (approximately 1270亿 USD), and possesses 410万m³/d of desalination capacity domestically in Saudi Arabia;
• Mining water circulation agreement with Ma'aden — focusing on complete water circulation management and industrial waste management in the mining sector, extending water treatment and circular economy into Saudi Arabia's rapidly expanding mining sector;
• Hazardous waste agreement with Khazeen — establishing a hazardous waste treatment cooperation framework with Khazeen, an LPG storage subsidiary under Saudi Arabia's National Gas and Industrial Company (GASCO).

The three agreements establish a cooperation framework in four directions: water resource protection, energy efficiency improvement, industrial decarbonization, and local skills development. Veolia CEO Estelle Brachlianoff stated in the announcement: "Environmental security has become a fundamental condition for the sovereignty, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy of every territory. In Saudi Arabia, this means having the ability to save every drop of water, decarbonize industrial development, and transform waste into resources."

Desalination Efficiency Enhancement: Every 0.1 kWh/m³ Saved Is Massive Emission Reduction

The agreement with Acwa is the most significant of the three memoranda. Acwa's four desalination plants operating domestically in Saudi Arabia — Rabigh 3, Rabigh 4, Jazlah, and Shuaibah 3 — each have a daily water production capacity of 60万m³; according to Acwa's calculations, saving 0.1 kilowatt-hours of electricity per cubic meter can reduce a single plant's annual electricity consumption by approximately 22 GWh. Veolia estimates that the emission reduction potential of the cooperation between the two parties can reach 50万 tons CO₂/year, equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 11万 conventional fuel vehicles.

It is worth noting that this memorandum does not set capacity commitments and is non-exclusive, but instead revolves around a work plan of designated technical leads and regular review mechanisms — this form of "deep operational binding" cooperation marks that the relationship between international water giants and Middle Eastern sovereign-level owners is shifting from project-based cooperation to systematic capability co-building. The cooperation will also extend to the development of Acwa's Caspian project in Azerbaijan (30万m³/d) and the Grand Côte project in Senegal (40万m³/d).

Mining Water Circulation: An Underestimated Middle East Water Incremental Market

The cooperation with Ma'aden brings "mining water treatment" into the industry's view. Saudi mining is in an expansion cycle driven by Vision 2030, and hydrometallurgical processes such as phosphate and bauxite are both major water users and major wastewater generators, with increasingly higher requirements for mine water reuse and zero liquid discharge. Under this framework, Veolia will provide complete water circulation management and industrial waste management capabilities, which is highly consistent with the positioning of "industrial decarbonization and circular economy" in its GreenUp 2024—2027 strategy.

For the water treatment industry, this signal deserves attention: the incremental growth of the Middle East market does not only come from municipal desalination and sewage plants, the water circulation demand of high water-consuming industries such as mining and new energy materials is becoming a second growth curve, and the paying entities are financially strong with long project cycles.

Strategic Interpretation: Middle East Water Competition Enters the "Systematic" Stage

From the dynamics of the Middle East market since 2026年, the layout of global water giants in the region shows three characteristics:

• From plant construction to operation — The focus of desalination and wastewater treatment is shifting from EPC construction to efficiency optimization and long-term operation of existing assets, and this Acwa agreement is a typical example;
• From water supply to circulation — The boundaries between water reuse, industrial water circulation, and waste resource recovery are continuously converging, as evidenced by Veolia's three agreements spanning desalination, mining water, and hazardous waste;
• Binding with sovereign-level owners — Cooperation with national strategic enterprises such as Acwa, Ma'aden, and GASCO provides greater long-cycle certainty than bidding on a single project.

TIANYI TECH (TIANYI LIMITED) continuously monitors dynamics in the Middle East water market and believes that Saudi Arabia's combination of "desalination efficiency enhancement + mining water circulation" provides a clear benchmarking sample for Chinese water treatment equipment and service providers: against the backdrop of certainty in demand growth in the GCC region, the export window for high-reliability membrane-based equipment, intelligent operation optimization, and industrial water reuse solutions is opening.

About TIANYI TECH: TIANYI TECH (TIANYI LIMITED) has long monitored frontier dynamics in global water environment governance and water resource recycling, and is deeply engaged in technical information and industry services in the fields of wastewater treatment and reclaimed water reuse, committed to providing timely and professional industry observations and solution references for customers and industry partners.