The joint venture of Saudi Aramco and Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has extended the bid submission date for the contract to develop the Fadhili cogeneration independent power project (IPP) in the Eastern Province of the kingdom.

Bids were due on 15 September, but the deadline has now been extended to 1 November to allow groups more time to work on submissions.

MEED recently reported that four groups are preparing to submit bids for the IPP. Nine groups had been prequalified for the tender. State utility SEC and state oil major Saudi Aramco have formed a joint-venture partnership to develop the cogeneration facility.

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

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 Aramco/SEC joint venture is planning to appoint the successful bidder in December and sign the offtake agreements with the winning group by 15 January 2016. The state firms are targeting to reach financial close for the scheme 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 project owner 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 owner 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 owner, according to sources in the kingdom’s power sector.

The project owner 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.