Four consortiums are working on proposals for Saudi Arabia’s Fadhili cogeneration independent power project (IPP) in the Eastern Province of the kingdom.

The four groups are preparing to submit bids on 15 September for the IPP, with the deadline having been extended from the originally set 31 August. Nine groups had been prequalified for the tender. The client for the project is a joint venture partnership of state utility Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and state oil major Saudi Aramco.

The groups, with lead developer and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors where known, expected to submit bids for the power project are:

• Acwa Power (local)
• GDF Suez (now called Engie) (UK/France) / Doosan (South Korea)
• JGC (Japan) / TNB (Malaysia) / Samsung C&T (South Korea) / Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• Mitsubishi (Japan) / Nebras Power (Qatar) / Chubu Electric Power Company (Japan) / CCTI (Taiwan)  

The cogeneration project is scheduled to be developed on a 20-year power, water and steam purchase agreement (PWSPA), with Aramco the offtaker for the steam and water components and SEC the offtaker for the produced electricity.

The Saudi Aramco/SEC joint venture is planning to appoint the successful bidder in December 2015 and sign the offtake agreements with the winning group by 15 January 2016. The state firms are targeting to reach financial close for the project in March 2016.

The proposed IPP will have a total power capacity of between 1,200MW and 1,600MW and total steam and water production capacities of 3,190,000 pounds an hour (lb/h)and 768.8 tonnes an hour (t/h) respectively.

The client has set a target of early steam production by 1 April 2018 and a planned initial commissioning date of 27 June 2019. The final commercial operation date is scheduled for 31 January 2020.

The project has fallen behind the original schedule, with the client having originally planned to issue tender documents in mid-September. The delay is understood to have been due to some design change requests by the client, according to sources in the kingdom’s power sector.

The client will create a project company to develop the IPP, with the client holding 50-60 per cent of equity ownership, and the successful developer holding the remainder.

The project is likely to include the construction of a 380kV substation to connect the power plant to the national grid. Operation and maintenance of the substation will then be transferred to SEC at the beginning of commercial operation. SEC will be responsible for the necessary upgrades for interconnecting the project to the grid.

The IPP will form a vital component of the Fadhili gas processing facility in the eastern province, which will be 100 per cent owned by Saudi Aramco.