Chinese contractor wins Abu Dhabi solar PV projects
14 January 2025
Emerge, a joint venture of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and France’s EDF Group, has awarded China State Construction Engineering Company – Middle East (CSCEC) a contract to build six solar power plants in Abu Dhabi.
MEED understands that the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract includes the design, procurement, installation, commissioning, trial operation and 24-month warranty period operation and maintenance of six independent solar photovoltaic (PV) power stations.
The statement carried by a local media report did not specify the locations and capacities of the six solar PV projects.
Speaking to MEED, a source familiar with the project indirectly confirmed the award, which is the first clean energy project to be undertaken and managed by CSCEC Middle East.
CSCEC said it took more than a year of “close tracking and in-depth communication” to win the client’s trust to execute the project, setting a “solid foundation for undertaking energy EPC projects in the Gulf region in the future”.
MEED has asked Masdar to comment on the award.
Emerge focuses on developing captive or private-to-private renewable energy projects across the GCC region.
Depending on the jurisdictions or domestic regulations involved, these projects’ capacities typically range from a few megawatts to sometimes over 20MW.
In October 2023, Emerge signed an agreement with Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) for a 60MW solar power project.
Based on the agreements, SNOC and Emerge will develop solar PV farms at SNOC’s Sajaa gas complex. The plant will supply power to SNOC and connect to the emirate’s main power grid.
The excess solar power produced by the plant will be taken by state utility Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (Sewa), while Sewa will provide the required power for SNOC operations during the night.
The same month, Emerge signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based developer Miral to develop a 524-kilowatt peak (kWp) solar PV project on Yas Bay Waterfront.
The solar project includes installing 920 solar modules at Yas Bay Waterfront, with Emerge providing a turnkey solution that includes finance, design, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance of the solar modules for 30 years.
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Aramco nears contract award for Jafurah fifth expansion phase6 October 2026

Saudi Aramco is believed to be close to awarding the main contract for a major project representing the fifth expansion phase of the Jafurah unconventional gas development programme in Saudi Arabia.
The main scope of work for the fifth expansion phase of Jafurah involves the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of three gas compression plants at the gas basin in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. Each plant will be capable of processing up to 200 million cubic feet a day (cf/d).
Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) is the favourite to win the main EPC contract, according to sources.
“Negotiations between Aramco and L&T have reached an advanced stage and the [Indian] contractor is now in pole position to clinch the deal,” one source told MEED.
MEED previously reported that China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company (CPECC) was in a favourable position to secure the main EPC contract for the Jafurah fifth expansion phase, based on Aramco’s initial evaluation of proposals. The situation remained subject to change as Aramco negotiated with the project’s other bidders, MEED reported in August.
Aramco set 19 July as the final deadline for proposals, and contractors submitted their bids by that date, MEED previously reported.
ALSO READ: Aramco receives interest for major gas processing plant
The Saudi energy giant is understood to have issued the main EPC tender for the project in the first quarter of this year.
Aramco issued a solicitation of interest for the Jafurah fifth expansion phase in mid-November, with contractors submitting responses by 30 November, MEED previously reported.
UK-headquartered Wood Group has carried out the front-end engineering and design for the project.
The Jafurah basin is the largest liquid-rich shale gas play in the Middle East, spanning about 17,000 square kilometres. The reserve is estimated to contain 229 trillion cubic feet of gas and 75 billion stock-tank barrels of condensate.
Aramco recently brought the greenfield Jafurah gas processing plant online, with a production capacity of 450 million cf/d, marking the commissioning of the first phase of its $100bn capital expenditure programme to produce gas from the unconventional resource base.
The company previously stated that it expected to start gas production at Jafurah in 2025, with the intention of progressively ramping up to 2 billion cf/d of sales gas, 420 million cf/d of ethane and 630,000 barrels a day (b/d) of high-value liquids by 2030.
Aramco has said that its unconventional gas programme, at peak production, is expected to generate electricity equivalent to displacing 500,000 b/d of oil.
Jafurah gas development phases
Alongside nearing an EPC contract award decision for the fifth expansion phase at Jafurah, MEED also recently reported that Aramco had completed the solicitation of interest process with contractors for the unconventional gas programme’s sixth phase.
The main scope of work on the Jafurah sixth expansion phase is similar to the fifth phase, and involves the EPC of three gas compression plants at the giant gas reserve, each with an output capacity of 200 million cf/d.
Aramco also kicked off EPC works on the Jafurah fourth expansion phase in the second quarter of the year.
MEED reported in April that Aramco had selected Mumbai-headquartered L&TEH as the main contractor for the fourth phase, which sources estimate could be valued at about $1.5bn.
The main scope of work on Jafurah’s fourth expansion phase involves the EPC of two gas compression trains at the gas basin. Each plant will be able to process up to 200 million cf/d.
EPC work on the third phase of the Jafurah unconventional gas development programme is also advancing.
In July 2024, Aramco issued a non-binding letter of intent to a consortium of Tecnicas Reunidas and Sinopec Group for the EPC contract for phase three. The contract is estimated at $2.24bn.
The objective of the third expansion phase is similar to that of the fourth phase. The main scope of work involves the EPC of three gas compression plants, each with a capacity of 200 million cf/d.
The third phase’s scope of work also includes building a 230kV substation to power the new gas compression plants, and installing other utilities units, piping systems and safety equipment.
The selection of contractors for the third expansion phase came within weeks of Aramco officially awarding EPC contracts for the second phase, which aims to raise the field’s processing potential to up to 2 billion cf/d of raw gas.
Aramco awarded 16 contracts, worth a combined total of about $12.4bn, for the second expansion phase on 30 June 2024.
The EPC scope of work for that project involves the construction of gas compression facilities and associated pipelines, and the expansion of the Jafurah gas plant, including the construction of gas processing trains, utilities, sulphur and export facilities, Aramco said in a statement.
The main EPC packages of the Jafurah second expansion phase project, their estimated values and the selected contractors are:
- Package 1 – gas processing plant and main process units – $2.9bn: Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
- Package 2 – utilities and offsites – $2.4bn: Hyundai Engineering (South Korea)
- Package 3 – gas compression units – $1bn: Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon
- Riyas natural gas liquids (NGL) package 1 – NGL fractionation trains – $1bn: Tecnicas Reunidas / Refining & Chemical Engineering Group (part of China’s Sinopec Group)
- Riyas NGL package 2 – utilities, storage and export facilities – $2.2bn: Tecnicas Reunidas/Refining & Chemical Engineering Group
- Riyas NGL package 6 – site preparation works – $107m: Mofarreh Alharbi & Partners (Saudi Arabia)
- Riyas NGL package 9 – temporary construction facilities – $80m: Mofarreh Alharbi & Partners
Aramco kickstarted EPC works on the first phase of the programme in November 2021 by awarding $10bn-worth of subsurface and EPC contracts.
In February 2020, Aramco received a capital expenditure grant of $110bn from the Saudi government for the long-term phased development of the Jafurah unconventional gas resource base.
The Jafurah programme is central to Aramco’s goal of increasing gas production capacity. The target has recently been raised to 80%, with 2021 as the baseline, up from 60%, to meet rising domestic and global demand. The company expects life-cycle investment in Jafurah to exceed $100bn.
Aramco completed an $11bn lease-and-leaseback deal in late October 2025 for gas processing facilities at the Jafurah unconventional gas reserve with a consortium led by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of US asset manager BlackRock.
Under the transaction, a newly formed subsidiary, Jafurah Midstream Gas Company (JMGC), will lease development and usage rights to the Jafurah field gas processing plant and the Riyas natural gas liquids fractionation facility.
After 20 years, JMGC will lease the assets back to Aramco. JMGC will collect a tariff payable by Aramco in exchange for granting Aramco the exclusive right to receive, process and treat raw gas from the Jafurah resource base.
Aramco will hold a 51% majority stake in JMGC, while the GIP-led consortium will hold the remaining 49%. Investors participating in the GIP-led consortium include Hassana Investment Company, the Arab Energy Fund and Aberdeen Investcorp Infrastructure Partners, as well as other institutional investors from North and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
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Joint venture wins Riyadh data centre construction deal6 October 2026

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Egyptian contractor Hassan Allam Construction and India’s Sterling & Wilson have won an estimated SR750m ($200m) contract to build the first phase of a data centre project in Riyadh.
The first phase will have an IT load capacity of 16.2MW, with overall capacity reaching 50MW in the second phase.
The scope includes civil, architectural, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works, infrastructure works and other associated works.
Upon completion of both phases, the facility will comprise one 5MW standard-density hall and four high-density halls, each rated at 11.2MW.
Saudi Arabian artificial intelligence (AI) firm Humain and Center3 – the digital infrastructure subsidiary of local telecom company STC Group – are jointly developing the project.
The first phase is scheduled to take 16 months.
In December last year, Center3 and Humain partnered to develop and operate AI-focused data centres across Saudi Arabia, with a planned capacity of up to 1GW.
The partners said the first phase will deliver up to 250MW of capacity, designed for high-density AI workloads and large-scale model training.
The venture combines Center3’s data centre operations and regional connectivity with Humain’s full-stack AI capabilities, with the latter responsible for aligning facility design with advanced compute requirements and future architectures.
The companies said the programme will deliver purpose-built facilities engineered for high power density, low latency and resilient operations, to support large language models and other mission-critical AI applications.
They added that the initial schemes will serve as a template for subsequent rollouts as capacity scales towards the 1GW target.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20298893/main.jpg -
Chevron signs Egypt oil and gas exploration deal6 October 2026
State-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) and US-headquartered Chevron have signed an agreement related to oil and gas exploration in Egypt’s offshore Lotus concession.
Under the agreement, Chevron will invest at least $88m in exploration activities within the concession, according to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources.
Chevron has agreed to drill two deepwater exploration wells and to reprocess 3D seismic data for the concession.
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources said the agreement was part of the ministry’s “efforts to expand exploration activities and unlock new areas for petroleum investments”.
It also said that the deal reflected Chevron’s “commitment to pumping new investments into exploration activities in Egypt”.
In August, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, presented the ministry’s five-year production strategy, which aims to double Egypt’s oil and condensate output while strengthening the country’s position as a regional hub for petroleum product trading and gas liquefaction.
Egypt has been working towards this goal by forging a range of new deals with international oil companies.
Chevron has offshore exploration and development rights for several Egyptian concessions, including Nargis, North El-Dabaa, North West Atoll, North Simian and North Cleopatra, where it partners with Shell.
In April, Egypt’s cabinet approved a draft version of the Lotus concession agreement between Egas and Chevron during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20298172/main.jpeg -
Contractors prepare bids for eight Libyan oil and gas tenders6 October 2026

Contractors are preparing bids for eight tenders issued by Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco), a wholly owned subsidiary of Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), which operates several fields including Sarir, Messla and Nafoura.
Tender 1 is for the supply and installation of a crude oil sedimentation tank at a site known as Complex 2 in the Sarir field. The scope also includes installation of associated utilities and a gas extractor.
Tender 2 is for an electrical interconnection project to supply the Sinawon field, located in the Nalut region of western Libya. The scope includes infrastructure to connect the field to the General Electricity Company of Libya (Gecol) grid.
Tender 3 covers mechanical tie-ins to connect four wells at the Nafoura field to existing infrastructure: G-322, G-332, K-10 and K-11.
The bid deadline for the first three tenders is 12.30pm local time on 8 November 2026.
Tender 4 is also for four mechanical well tie-ins at the Nafoura field: G-315/51, K-12/51, K-13/51 and Y-651.
Tender 5 is for connecting four wells to the electrical grid at the Nafoura field: G-315HR/51, K-12/51, K-13/51 and Y-6/51.
Tender 6 is for flowline well tie-ins at the Messla and Majid fields. Flowlines from wells VV-7/65 and VV-6/65 at Messla will be tied in, along with the flowline from well Z-8HR/80 at Majid.
Tender 7 covers connecting five wells to the electrical grid at the Messla and Majid fields: VV-6/65, VV-7/65, Z-8HR, Z-6HR and A-03.
The bid deadline for the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth tenders is 12.30pm local time on 25 October 2026.
Increasing interest
International oil companies are showing increased interest in oil and gas assets in North Africa as the Strait of Hormuz crisis continues to erode the appeal of investing in some of the Middle East’s biggest oil and gas producers.
Over recent months, the chief executive of the Italian oil company Eni, Claudio Descalzi, said the company plans to drill 230 new oil and gas wells in Egypt in an effort to increase production in the country.
The US oil and gas company Chevron also signed a production sharing agreement with Libya’s National Oil Corporation for onshore Block S4, which covers an area in the Sirte Basin.
In addition, companies that have been engaging in recent talks focused on expanding their presence in North Africa include France’s TotalEnergies and US-based ConocoPhillips, as well as London-headquartered Shell and BP.
The uptick in interest in North African oil and gas assets comes amid continued disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key export route for some of the Middle East’s biggest oil and gas exporters.
Flows through the Strait have been disrupted by a regional war that was triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 February.
Countries negatively impacted by the disruption include Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
Amid the ongoing disruption to oil and gas exports from these countries, some North African officials have promoted their oil and gas sectors as reliable alternative suppliers.
In August, Libya’s Oil and Gas Minister Khalifa Abdel Sadig told a conference in Norway that Libya could be a “key player in providing energy security solutions” to the European Union.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20298072/main.jpg -
Diriyah awards $729m hotels contracts6 October 2026
Saudi gigaproject developer Diriyah Company has awarded two contracts worth more than SR2.7bn ($729m) for work on five hotels and three residential assets in Diriyah Square.
The first contract, worth $375m, was awarded to UCC Saudi, the local branch of Qatar’s UCC Holding, as MEED reported exclusively in June.
The scope includes Package 4 at Diriyah Square, covering mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and finishing works for assets with a built-up area of about 110,000 square metres.
These include:
- Fauchon Hotel (85 keys)
- Armani Hotel (69 keys)
- Branded Residences (15 units)
- Orient Express Hotel (86 keys)
The second contract, worth $353m, was awarded to a joint venture of local Almajal Alarabi (Mag) and Man Enterprise Al-Saudia, a subsidiary of Lebanon’s Man Enterprise.
The scope of work covers façade works, blockwork, fit-out, MEP and external works for three hotels and two residential buildings at Diriyah Square.
The Diriyah masterplan envisages the city as a cultural and lifestyle tourism destination. Located northwest of Riyadh’s city centre, it will cover 14 square kilometres and combine 300 years of history, culture and heritage with hospitality facilities.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20297961/main.jpg