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Chinese firm to take on Taiba 1 and Qassim 1 work

25 October 2023

China’s Sepco 3 will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the 1,800MW Qassim 1 independent power producer (IPP) and 1,800MW Taiba 1 IPP projects in Saudi Arabia.

The firm partnered with the team of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Acwa Power, which won the contracts to develop the two IPP contracts.

MEED understands the US’ GE will supply the combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) for the power plants. 

Saudi Arabia’s principal power buyer, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), announced the winning bidders that will develop and maintain four new thermal IPP projects in the kingdom on 24 October.

A team comprising the local Al-Jomaih Energy & Water, France’s EDF and the local Buhur for Investment won the contract to develop the 1,800MW Taiba 2 IPP and 1,800MW Qassim 2 IPP schemes.

The four CCGT plants are valued at a combined estimate of SR29.2bn ($7.8bn).

Each project will be developed on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis by the winning consortiums, which will be 100 per cent owned by the successful bidders.

Each project company will enter a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SPPC.

MEED understands the Al-Jomaih-led consortium has partnered with Germany’s Siemens Energy for the supply of CCGT.

According to SPPC, the project will use the latest turbines, allowing the Saudi utility company to utilise carbon capture technologies.

Four consortiums proposed to develop the Qassim 2 and Taiba 2 IPPs in late July, and the Qassim 1 and Taiba 1 IPPs on 15 August, as MEED reported.

The other consortiums that bid for the contracts were:

  • Taqa (UAE) / Jera (Japan)
  • Nebras (Qatar) / Marafiq (local) / Kepco (South Korea)

SPPC qualified over 20 companies to bid for the contracts, MEED reported in February.

Packaged initially as two individual IPPs, each with a capacity of 3,600MW, the two projects have been split into four smaller schemes.

Saudi growth dips while project activity soars

Oil production cuts trim public sector growth, but private sector thrives

*=Year-to-date | Sources: IMF, MEED Projects, MEED

MEED’s October 2023 special report on Saudi Arabia includes: 

> COMMENT: Riyadh reshapes its global role
> POLITICS: Saudi Arabia looks both east and west
> SPORT: Saudi Arabia’s football vision goes global
> ECONOMY: Riyadh prioritises stability over headline growth
> BANKS: Saudi banks track more modest growth path
> UPSTREAM: Aramco focuses on upstream capacity building
> DOWNSTREAM: Saudi chemical and downstream projects in motion
> POWER: Riyadh rides power projects surge
> WATER: Saudi water projects momentum holds steady
> GIGAPROJECTS: Gigaproject activity enters full swing
> TRANSPORT: Infrastructure projects support Riyadh’s logistics ambitions
> JEDDAH TOWER: Jeddah developer restarts world’s tallest tower

 

 

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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