The prospective prequalifiers include: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Sumitomo Corporationand Nishimin, all of Japan; a group comprising Mitsui & Companyand Toshiba Corporation, both of Japan, with the local Saudi Arabian Bemco; South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries, Italy's Ansaldo, Germany's Siemens, France's Alstomand an unidentified Chinese group.

The first three units at Shouaiba were installed by Alstom, which is now working to install the second two. The two contracts, awarded in 1998 and February 2001, were worth $835 million and $414 million respectively and call for total capacity of 1,900 MW. The client is Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)and the consultant is the UK's PB Powerwith the local Saudi Consulting Services (SaudConsult).

The project is separate from another power generation scheme at Shouaiba, involving the construction of an independent water and power project (IWPP) for SEC and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation. Consultants are now being sought for this project, which is expected to be tendered this year as the kingdom's first IWPP.