Saudi Electricity evaluates Rabigh 6 bids

19 January 2010

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is low bidder for 2,800MW plant

A South Korean firm is almost certain to win the contract to build the Rabigh 6 power plant, after bids were submitted to Saudi Electricity Company in mid-December.

South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction submitted the lowest bid, of SR14.81bn ($3.95bn), for the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, also South Korean, priced the contract at SR14.96bn.

In third place, France’s Alstom submitted two prices for the project, of SR16.33bn and SR16.65bn.

However, Saudi Electricity is now only focusing on the two lowest bids, according to sources close to the process. An award is due by 1 March.

Apart from Hyundai, which priced the contract in Saudi riyals, the bidders submitted their offers in a combination of different currencies.

The prices, per megawatt, for the 2,800MW project are all higher than on the most recent large power plant contract award in the region.

Doosan’s low price is an average of $1.40 per megawatt of capacity. In comparison, the US’ GE won the 2,000MW Subiya power plant scheme in Kuwait after it submitted a price of $2.7bn in July 2009, an average of $1.35 per megawatt.

Rabigh 6 will use heavy fuel oil feedstock. The Subiya plant will use more expensive natural gas as feedstock.

Saudi Electricity first tendered the project in 2008, but received only two bids from Hyundai Heavy Industries and a team of Arabian Bemco with South Korea’s Hanwha Engineering & Construction in August 2008.

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