Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Energy Park (Spark), a Saudi Aramco and Modon mega-project that was launched by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, HRH Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, in December last year, has awarded a major contract’ for the construction of a road.
Spark has announced that the contract covers the construction of a 23km road connecting the energy city and its dry port with the Dhahran-Abqaiq highway. It will incorporate two lanes in each direction, and will also intersect with the project’s rail bridge, with the company stating: “The road will support Spark tenants’ logistics and improve their competitiveness.”
Located between Dammam and Al-Ahsa in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, Spark is a three-phase 50km2 hub for energy, industrialisation, and technology. The completion of Phase 1 construction is scheduled for 2021. Phase 1 covers 12km2, with investments totalling SAR6 billion.
During the launch, Spark said that its first 10 investors and tenants included Baker Hughes, a GE Company, Borets, Valvo Spain, Schlumberger, Al Rushaid Group, Halliburton, Emerson, University of North Dakota Aerospace, Oilfields Supply Centre, and NESR.
Construction work on Spark began back in September 2017, and engineering designs for the project were more than halfway concluded at the time of its launch by the Crown Prince. As outlined by an Arabic language report by Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA, the scheme features five major regions.
Phase1willconsist ofgeneralmanufacturing, industrial facilities, adryportarea, aSaudi Aramco well-drillingandmaintenancearea, in addition to aspecialisedtrainingzonefor10centresfocused entirely onenhancingSaudi citizens’skills.
Sparks willalso includeresidential, commercial, andrecreational areas. Atmaturity, thedryportwill have atotalcapacityofeightmillionmetrictons ofcargo, with a highdegree ofautomation.
According to an English-language report by SPA, the culmination of Phase 1 will see Spark attracting in excess of 120 investments.