Construction has started on the Najim industrial steam and electricity cogeneration plant in Jubail in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Najim Cogeneration Company, the special purpose vehicle for the project, reached financial close on the 25-year build, own and operate (BOO) project in August.

Previously referred to as the Amiral cogeneration independent steam and power plant, the facility will supply up to 475MW of power and approximately 452 tonnes an hour of steam.

Najim Cogeneration Company is a special purpose entity owned by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and Japanese power generation company Jera, which won the contract to develop and operate the plant in March.

Taqa owns a 51% stake in the project company, with Jera maintaining the remaining 49%.

South Korea’s Samsung C&T is the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

It has tapped Japan’s Mitsubishi Power to provide the plant with its M501JAC hydrogen-ready combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT).

Saudi Aramco Total Refining & Petrochemical Company (Satorp) entered a power and steam purchase agreement with the developer team in March this year.

The 25-year BOO contract is extendable by five years on mutual agreement.

Regional project tracker MEED Projects estimates that the scheme will require an investment of at least $400m.

Taqa and Jera will also operate and maintain the plant through an O&M special-purpose entity.

The Najim cogeneration plant is expected to be operational by 2027. It will cater to the Amiral petrochemicals complex in Jubail.

Steam cracker complex

Integrated with the existing Satorp refinery in Jubail, the new complex aims to house one of the largest mixed-load steam crackers in the Gulf, capable of producing up to 1,650 kilotonnes a year of ethylene and other industrial gases.

This expansion is expected to attract more than $4bn in additional investment in various industrial sectors, including carbon fibres, lubricants, drilling fluids, detergents, food additives, automotive parts and tyres. It is also expected to create about 7,000 local direct and indirect jobs.

Saudi Aramco owns a 62.5% stake in Satorp, while France’s TotalEnergies holds 37.5%.