RIYADH – Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) has approved the awarding of a SR11.96 billion ($3.12 billion) contract to build a 2.7-gigawatt power plant in south Jeddah to an unidentified bidder, it said Monday. It said in a bourse statement that the plant, which will use steam turbines, is to be built in 45 months. Last month, it was reported that South Korean group Hyundai Heavy Industries was the low bidder on the project, citing industry sources. The other bidders included Daelim Industrial, Samsung C&T, a consortium of Doosan Heavy Industries and Hyundai Engineering and Construction, France's Alstom with Saudi Arabia's Bemco, and a consortium comprising Siemens Marubeni and Turkey's Gama, the sources said. The contract for the plant, which is expected to use oil feedstock, will be signed in the coming months, SEC said in its statement. It will be financed from the company's own balance sheet as well as by borrowing from the government and from local and international lenders, it said. South Power Plant near Makkah will add 4.4GW of power generating capacity. The first three phases involve the instalation of 630MW each, at a cost of $650m a time. The final two phases will add 1.2GW each. – Reuters
