Three companies are competing for the expansion of Asir power station, which involves the addition of one gas turbine with capacity of 50-60 MW. The bidders are Al-Toukhi Contractingand Arabian Bemco Contracting, both local, and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC).

The same three companies, plus Germany's Siemens, are participating in the tender for the Bisha power plant expansion scheme, which calls for the installation of two 50-60-MW gas turbines.

Six companies have priced the Jizan plant expansion, which also entails the installation of 50-60-MW gas turbines. All four bidders for Bisha are competing for the Jizan contract along with Daelim Industrial Companyof South Korea and Saudi Archirodon.

Under amended tender procedures for power generation projects, SEC will open the commercial offers once technical evaluation has been completed, a process that normally takes two-three months.

More time has been given to contractors preparing to bid for three other power plant contracts. The new deadline for the PP7 power plant expansion, which calls for the addition of two gas turbines with capacity of at least 55 MW, is 7 December. Bids for both the 100-MW Arar expansion and the 50-60 MW Rafah expansion are now due on 20 December.

Industry sources say the release of tender documents is imminent on the long-awaited project to expand the Riyadh PP9 power plant. The expansion of the 1,296-MW power plant, which consists of four combined cycle blocks, could see the addition of two combined cycle modules with four 60-80-MW turbines. Germany's Lahmeyer Internationalcarried out a feasibility study for the expansion of the PP9 power station for SEC.

The projects are part of a programme launched by SEC aimed at expanding the kingdom's power generation capacity of 23,000 MW (MEED 24:10:03).