Japan's Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) have started a 500-kilowatt (kW) solar power plant in Saudi Arabia, an executive at the utility said. The pilot plant, located on Farasan island, southwest Saudi Arabia, is expected to reach full capacity later this month, Amer Al-Swaha, head of Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects at SEC, said. "250 kW is operational and the other half will start this month," Al-Swaha said. "The power load in the island is more than 25 megawatts (MW). This (project) is modest but it is only a start and we will evaluate it to see whether to expand." Saudi Arabia hopes to reduce its use of fossil fuels that it would rather export by building nuclear and renewable power plants. The Farasan project should reduce diesel burning for power generation on the island. "These projects need (government support), with the support we can expand," Swaha added. "With the land we have we can expand the plant to 7 MW." Under the agreement, Showa Shell will own the project for up to 15 years, after which the assets will be transferred to SEC. Royal Dutch Shell owns one-third of Showa Shell, while Saudi Aramco holds about 15 percent. In 2009, Aramco And Showa Shell signed an agreement to build small-scale pilot solar-power facilities in the Kingdom. Recently, Swiss power and automation firm ABB has won an order worth $17 million for the extension of a Saudi Arabian power plant. Awarded by the Korean Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corp, the contract is for the extension of the Yanbu power station. The project is due for completion by 2012. Currently producing around 1,000 megawatts of electricity the plant will be boosted to around 1,500 megawatts with the extension of the gas
