State oil firm Saudi Aramco and state utility Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) have invited developers to express interest in developing their Fadhili cogeneration plant as an independent power project (IPP).

The gas-fired Fadhili power plant is being jointly developed by Aramco and SEC, with Aramco the offtaker for the steam component and SEC the offtaker for the produced electricity. Aramco will use the steam to power its planned 1 billion cubic-foot-a-day (cf/d) Fadhili gas plant at the Fadhili oil field in the eastern province of the kingdom.

The IPP will have a power generation capacity of about 1,300MW to 1,500MW and will have a steam production capacity of about 2.25 million pounds an hour (lb/h).

Companies have been invited to express interest in the project by 7 August, with the client aiming to issue request for proposal (RFP) documents by the end of August. The submission date for bids is expected to be January 2015.

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.

Aramco started the prequalification for the Fadhili gas processing plant in July, setting a submission date of 18 August for prequalification entries for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

The Fadhili plant will process sour gas from the Khursaniyah oil field and the Hasbah non-associated gas field. Aramco has ramped up its offshore non-associated gas operations in the Gulf in recent years and is developing several fields in the region. These include the Karan, Hasbah and Arabiyah fields.

Aramco is ramping up operations to supply the kingdom with gas for both power generation and industrial use. It plans to produce 15 billion cf/d of gas for domestic use by 2017-18.