The contract for the two 250-MW gas turbines was signed on 16 March with a Japanese team of Mitsubishi Heavy Industriesand Tomen Corporationfor $102 million. It was the first package to go out to tender on the project, which is being financed by the European Investment Bank, the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank. The only other bidder was GE Power Systemsof the US. The client is Cairo Electricity Generation Company, an affiliate of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company.

For the HRSG package, bids from six companies were opened on 17 March. NEMof the Netherlands submitted the lowest price on both alternatives, without the provisional sum, at $23 million on the first option, and $24 million on the second. In second place was CMI Utility Boilersof Belgium, followed by France's Alstom, Nooter Ericksonof the US, Hitachiof Japan and STFof Italy. The local content in the bids ranged from 24 per cent for CMI to 40 per cent for Hitachi.

The alternatives are based on the different steam requirements depending on which company is chosen for the 250-MW steam turbine that will be driven by the HRSG. The frontrunners for the estimated $30 million-35 million steam turbine contract are understood to be Alstom and Hitachi.

Bids have also been invited by a revised closing date of 1 May for the civil works package, and by mid April for the switchyard and transformers packages (MEED 22:2:02).

The US/local Power Generation Engineering & Services Company (PGESCo)is the project consultant.