Six submit bids for Duba power project

28 June 2015

Duba plant will run on a combination of gas and solar energy

  • Six contractors submitted bids on 25 June
  • Spanish firms offered the lowest bids, with Abener submitting the lowest price
  • Project is one of two integrated solar and combined-cycle plants that the kingdom is developing

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has received six bids for the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package on the planned integrated solar combined-cycle (ISCC) power plant.

SEC received commercial bids from six groups for the main combined-cycle element of the plant on 25 June. While pricing information was not yet available, MEED has ascertained the ranking of bidders, with Spain’s Abener, part of the Abengoa group, submitting the lowest price.

The ranking of bidders was as follows:

  1. Abener (Spain)
  2. Initec Energia (Spain)
  3. Alfanar Construction (local)
  4. Gama (Turkey)
  5. Al-Toukhi (local)
  6. National Contracting Company (NCC) (local)

The client received technical bids for the EPC deal in November. The commercial bid deadline was extended a number of times to allow contractors more time to work on submissions.

The Duba 1 ISCC is planned to run on a mix of natural gas and solar energy, and will have a total development cost of $600m. The Duba plant will have a guaranteed total output of 485-550MW, which will include 40-50MW output from the solar system. The planned commissioning date of the plant is 2017.

Bidders are due to submit commercial proposals for the solar element in early July. SEC has tendered the project as a combination of EPC and equipment packages.

In January, SEC awarded the US’ GE the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) contract for the Duba 1 project. GE’s order includes two F-class gas turbines, a steam turbine, generators, heat recovery steam generators, condenser, control system and long-term service agreements.

The Duba project is one of two ISCC schemes that SEC is planning to develop. Contractors are currently working on proposals for the 1,050MW ISCC power plant at the Waad al-Shamal industrial development in the north of Saudi Arabia. The proposed plant will have combined-cycle capacity of 1,000MW and a solar component of 50MW. The plant will use concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, with the client allowing the bidder to select whether to use parabolic trough, power tower or linear fresnel technology.

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