Eight consortiums submitted bids for the contract to build a 1,050MW integrated solar and combined-cycle (ISCC) plant in the Waad al-Shamal industrial development to the north of Saudi Arabia.

A consortium of the local Al-Fanar Construction and Germany’s Siemens submitted the lowest levelised cost of electricity (lcoe) bid of SAR 0.1889 per kilowatt hour (kwH). This was in spite of its SR4.85bn ($1.3bn) total EPC price, containing lump sum turn key and long term service agreeements, being higher than the SR4.546bn total from the consortium of Spain’s Abener and the US’ GE.

The Abener/GE consortium’s LCOE of SAR0.1894 per kwH was the second lowest.

The client for the scheme, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), received technical bids in mid-October for the project. SEC is developing the scheme in collaboration with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), the owner and developer of the $7bn Waad al-Shamal phosphate mining development.

The plant will contain a 1,000MW combined-cycle facility, and will also contain a 50MW solar component. The plant will use concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, with the client allowing the bidder to select whether to utilise parabolic trough, power tower or linear fresnel technology.

The ISCC plant will supply power to the industrial development, which has an estimated total value of $7bn. SEC is one of several major companies planning to provide infrastructure to support the Waad al-Shamal development

In April 2014, Canada’s WSP Group was appointed by SEC to conduct environmental and social impact studies into building a power plant at Waad al-Shamal.

The plant is the second ISCC facility that SEC is moving ahead with. The utility recently received bids for the Duba 1 ISCC.

The power projects are part of the kingdom’s efforts to boost generating capacity in the coming years to cope with the expected rise in demand. Including under-construction projects, SEC is planning to add an additional 47,711MW of generation capacity to the grid by 2024.