Five companies have until 20 June to submit bids for the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract for a polysilicon plant project at Jubail Industrial City 2.

The five companies eligible to submit bids are:

• CTCI Corporation (Taiwan)
• Hanwha Corporation (South Korea)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• Technip (France)

The client is expected to award the contract during the second half of this year.

The facility will provide polysilicon for the manufacture of solar panels and have an annual capacity of the equivalent of 500 megawatts when completed. The joint venture partners behind the project are Saudi Arabia’s Chemical Development Company (CDC) and Swicorp Joussour Company who each have a 25 per cent stake, as well as Norway’s NorSun Corps that has the remaining 50 per cent.

“Bids had to be submitted by 20 June,” a source familiar with the project says. “Polysilicon is a growth area in the [Middle East] region and a lot of major contractors want to be involved.”

The source declined to reveal the proposed budget of the facility.

“NorSun will be the main offtaker for the plant,” another source close to the project says. “The announcement of the winning bidder for the contract will hopefully be the third quarter of 2010 with a completion date of either the third or fourth quarter of 2012.”