Shuaiba-5, one of the desalination plants south of Jeddah, now produces 665,000 m³ a day, 11% above its 600,000 m³ design, the Saudi Water Authority (SWA) said in February 2026. It is one of several additions since 2024 to the coastal system that supplies Jeddah, Makkah and the rest of the Makkah Region.
Reverse osmosis takes over
SWA puts Shuaiba-5's energy use at 1.7 kWh per cubic metre. Nearby, the 600,000 m³ a day Shuaibah 3 Conversion, a former thermal facility rebuilt for reverse osmosis, entered commercial operation on 7 May 2025. At the northern end of the corridor, Rabigh 4 (600,000 m³ a day) was reported online at full capacity in ACWA Power's first-quarter 2026 results. The Saudi Water Partnership Company still lists it as under construction.
More to come, on a longer timeline
SWA handed over the site of Shoaiba 6, a plant of about 500,000 m³ a day valued by MEED at about USD 700 million, on 29 October 2025. The next PPP plant on the corridor, Rabigh 5 at 400,000 m³ a day, is planned for 2030. On the Makkah side, the Al Ju'ranah reservoir will add 2,500,000 m³ of strategic storage from 2027.
The pipe that ties it together
The Rabigh–Jeddah–Makkah pipeline, about 650 km long and valued at more than SAR 4 billion, has run since the Hajj season of June 2024. SWA said it could then supply the Makkah Region with up to 1.3 million m³ a day. The city's latest leakage figure, more than 20% in 2017, shows how much can be lost after the water arrives.
How Jeddah's demand might move to 2030, what its network losses mean for supply, and which risks the regional system carries are set out in the report. The full report, Water Security and Supply Outlook in Jeddah, is available for USD 249.