The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has again extended the bid deadline for commercial proposals to build the 1,050MW integrated solar and combined-cycle (ISCC) power plant at the Waad al-Shamal industrial development in the north of Saudi Arabia.

Contractors now have until 30 June to submit commercial bids for the ISCC plant. The previous submission date was 19 May. This is the second time the bid deadline has been extended. According to sources close to the project, the extension has been granted to allow bidders more time to work on submissions.

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) received technical bids in mid-October for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build the ISCC plant at Saudi Arabian Mining Company’s (Maaden’s) $6bn Waad al-Shamal phosphate mining development.

The delay in setting a commercial bid deadline was reportedly due to the client waiting for gas allocations to be confirmed for providing feedstock for the plant.

MEED reported in August that the client had decided to integrate a 50MW solar component into the plans for the plant, which had previously just been planned as a 1,000MW combined-cycle generation facility. The plant will use concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, with the client allowing the bidder to select whether to utilise parabolic trough, power tower or linear fresnel technology.

The ISCC plant will supply power to the industrial development, which has an estimated total value of $7bn. SEC is one of several major companies planning to provide infrastructure to support the Waad al-Shamal development

In April 2014, Canada’s WSP Group was appointed by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to conduct environmental and social impact studies on building a power plant at the Waad al-Shamal development.

The power projects are part of the kingdom’s efforts to boost generating capacity in the coming years to cope with the expected rise in demand. In its 2012 annual report, SEC forecast that peak demand will grow from the 51,900MW recorded in 2012 to 85,000MW in 2020 and 120,000MW by 2030.