Saudi Electricity extends power plant bid deadline to mid-July

Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) has extended a deadline to mid-July for commercial bids to build a 1,050 megawatt (MW) power plant at the Waad Al-Shamal mining development, Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported, citing sources close to the matter.

The submission date has been pushed back for a third time in an effort to allow bidders more time to work on their submissions. The previous deadline was set for June 30.

Technical bids were received in mid-October for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build an integrated solar and combined-cycle (ISCC) at the $6 billion phosphate mining project owned by Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden).

The delay in fixing a deadline was attributed to gas allocations that had to be confirmed to provide feedstock for the plant.

Last August, SEC had decided to integrate a 50 MW solar component into the plant, which had been previously planned as a 1,000 MW combined-cycle generation facility.

Canada’s WSP Group was hired by the utilities provider in April 2014 to conduct environmental and social impact studies for the project.

The Waad Al-Shamal plant is the second ISCC power scheme that SEC is planning to build in the kingdom. 

In late June, Spain’s Abener submitted a SAR 2.05 billion bid for the main EPC contract for the Duba ISCC power plant. The facility is part of the kingdom’s efforts to increase electricity generating capacity over the next years in line with growing demand. 

Waad al-Shamal power plant