Developers are waiting for state utility Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to begin the prequalification process for the planned 5,400MW PP15 power project, which will developed under the independent power project (IPP) model.

MEED reported in November that developers had been invited to submit EOIs, with the client having been expected to issue request for qualification (RFQ) documents in December. However, the RFQs have still not been issued, with no further news from the client.

At 5,400MW, PP15 will be the largest privately financed fossil-fuel power plant in the region, with only the 5.6GW Baraka nuclear project in Abu Dhabi exceeding the size of the proposed facility.

SEC has appointed the UK’s HSBC as financial consultant for the scheme, with the UK’s DLA Piper and Germany’s Fichtner appointed as legal and technical consultants respectively.

The PP15 project represents the first major power plant that SEC, on its own, has tendered as an IPP since the 2,060MW Rabigh 2 IPP, for which the main contracts were awarded in December 2013. The client had favoured awarding engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for large power projects in recent years, but as a result of the fall in oil price, it is preparing to move ahead with all of its major new power projects under the IPP private partnership model.

As part of a joint venture with state oil company Saudi Aramco, SEC recently awarded the contract to develop the Fadhili IPP to a consortium led by France’s Engie.