Three local firms have lined up for the Najran expansion project, which calls for the addition of one 50-MW turbine, with an option for the installation of a second turbine. The bidders are: Al-Toukhi Contracting, Arabian Bemco Contractingand National Contracting Company (NCC). Evaluation of technical proposals is expected to take up to two months and will be followed by the opening of commercial proposals.

Further generation work has gone to tender, with bids due by 29 January for the 25-35-MW expansion of the existing Qurrayat power plant. All three Najran bidders and other local contractors are expected to bid the project.

The long-awaited contract award on the 1,200-MW expansion at Riyadh's PP9 power station is now expected by April at the latest, industry sources say. Three bids were submitted in July for the estimated $700 million project from Bemco with Germany's Siemens, the US' General Electricand NCC. However, it is understood that issues relating to the project's financing have delayed the award (MEED 6:8:04).