Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has invited commercial bids to build a 2,400MW power plant at Jeddah South. SEC issued the request on 8 August.

Contractors have until 5 September to submit financial bids for the engineering, procurement and construction contract. The winning bidder will build the project within 47 months of signing.

The following companies have submitted technical bids in April:

• Daelim (South Korea)
• Samsung C&T (South Korea)
• Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Company (South Korea) and Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
• Alstom (France)
• Siemens (Germany)

SEC adjusted the scope of the Jeddah South project in 2011. Under the current plan, the project will comprise four conventional thermal generating units, each with a minimum capacity of 600MW. The overall capacity will total a minimum of 2,400MW and bidders were allowed to submit proposals for projects up to 2,640MW (10 per cent upwards flexibility). The contractor will also be responsible for constructing a 380kV substation to serve the project.

The Jeddah South project is part of an ambitious programme to add generating capacity to the grid to keep pace with rapidly rising demand for power in the kingdom. By 2021, peak demand is forecast to reach 87.76GW. SEC is planning to have 131.63GW of capacity commissioned by the same year.