State-owned oil major Saudi Aramco is planning to build a 1,500MW cogeneration power plant adjacent to its planned 1 billion cubic-feet-a-day (cf/d) gas plant at the Fadhili oil field in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The scheme is still in its early stages and Aramco is currently soliciting interest from potential consortiums. The project is expected to be third-party build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT), and will utilise combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT).

The scheme will provide power for the gas plant, as well as supply the kingdom’s national grid. Aramco is the client, but sources have indicated that state-owned Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) could also take a share of the facility. The prequalification process is expected to start in the second quarter of 2014.

MEED reported in September 2013 that the US’ Foster Wheeler had won the contract to carry out the front-end engineering and design (feed) for the gas plant. The facility will process gas from the Khursaniyah oil field and the Hasbah non-associated gas field.

The feed is still under execution, and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tenders are not expected to be floated until the third quarter of 2014.

Aramco recently finalised financing with the project company to develop three cogeneration power plants at different locations of the kingdom, which will have a combined capacity of 900MW. Financial close on the estimated $650m scheme to develop the plants was reached on 9 January.

The state oil firm awarded the three deals to a consortium of Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and JGC Corporation, and the local Aljomaih Energy & Water Company to build and operate three cogeneration plants in the kingdom in August 2013. The Power Cogeneration Plant Company has been established as the project company to oversee the development and operation of the facility.

The cogeneration plants will be located at Abqaiq, Ras Tanura and Hawiya, and will produce a total of 1,500 tonnes an hour of steam. The projects are scheduled to come online in 2016. The consortium will build and operate the cogeneration facilities for 20 years, providing power and steam to all three facilities.

Aramco will hold a 50 per cent stake in the new plants. Marubeni Corporation holds 25 per cent of shares in the project company, while JGC Corporation and Aljomaih Holding Company hold stakes of 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

The Marubeni-led consortium has appointed South Korea’s Samsung Engineering to build the power plants.

Financial close on Aramco’s cogeneration programme follows the recent signing of the project agreements for SEC’s 2,060MW Rabigh 2 independent power project (IPP). SEC signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) with a consortium led by the local Acwa Power on 30 November to develop the $1.6bn Rabigh 2 power plant.

The PPA has created the Al-Mourjan for Electricity Production Company to operate the Rabigh 2 plant, with SEC and the winning consortium holding a stake of 50 per cent each. As part of the Acwa consortium, South Korea’s Samsung C&T has been awarded the contract to build the power plant. The combined-cycle gas-fired plant will be located in Rabigh on the western coast of Saudi Arabia, 150 kilometres north of Jeddah.

SEC recently announced it will tender EPC contracts for three major power generation projects in 2014, including the planned 1,760MW PP14 facility. The state utility provider is also set to oversee the development of a 1,000MW CCGT plant at Saudi Arabian Mining Company’s (Maaden’s) $6bn Waad al-Shamal industrial development

SEC’s EPC and IPP programmes form the central part of the kingdom’s plans to boost power generating capacity to cope with the expected rise in demand. In its 2012 annual report, SEC forecast that peak demand would grow from 51,900MW to 85,000MW in 2020 and 120,000MW by 2030.