Marafiq power and water utility company has signed SR2.7 billion ($720 million) deal with a Korean company to step up power supply in Yanbu Industrial City (YIC). Under the deal, Hanwha Engineering and Construction Company of South Korea to build the two steam turbine generators plants in YIC. To generate 500 megawatts each, the two plants will increase the Marafiq's power output to 1,500 megawatts, The additional power output will go new and emerging industries. “Because of the rapid industrial expansion of Yanbu, the new power generation plants will greatly enhance our power capacity and will help us meet the ever-growing utility demand of the industrial sector,” said Thamer S. Al-Sharhan, president and CEO of Marafiq during a press briefing after he signed the contract with Kim Hyun-Chung, president and CEO of Hanwha. Construction of the power units will be completed within 36 months, with the first unit to start commercial production by May 2012 and the second to be commissioned by July 2012. Like Jubail Industrial City, Yanbu Industrial City is undergoing expansion plans, including the establishment of Yanbu Industrial City 2. Local contractors will benefit from the power generation projects, which will be undertaken on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. “We will subcontract most of the works required for the project, such as civil works, fire control systems, environmental regulation systems, control systems, and other facilities. The criteria we require is that local contractors must meet the standards,” Kim said. The Yanbu mega power deal is among the series of expansion plans Marafiq is currently undertaking. The Marafiq Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP), which was inaugurated last May by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is to start commercial production starting January 2010. The plant, which has capacity to produce 2,750 megawatt of electricity and 800,000 cubic meters of water per day, has already tested production. The plant will market its generated electricity through the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC). Marafiq, the utility company for Jubail and Yanbu, at present produces in Jubail 1.7 million cubic meters of seawater cooling systems per hour, 232,780 cubic meters of seawater desalination and potable water supply per day, 99,000 cubic meters of sanitary waste water treatment per day, 84,000 cubic meters of industrial waste water treatment per day, and 1000 megawatts of electricity in Yanbu, which is now to be expanded to 1,500 under the newly signed power deal with the Korean company.
