US industrial giant General Electric Company (GE) said it has won a landmark engineering and construction contract worth nearly $1 billion from Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) for its combined cycle power plant at Waad Al Shamal in the north of the kingdom.

As per the deal, GE will deliver the turnkey power plant, supplying four advanced GE 7F.05 heavy-duty gas turbines and a GE steam turbine, and featuring solar innovation technology.

The 1,390 MW combined cycle plant will be able to provide the equivalent power needed to supply more than 500,000 Saudi homes, said the GE in a statement.

Scheduled for completion in 48 months, the plant will support the phosphate mining operations in the locality, in turn driving industrialisation and job creation for Saudi nationals, it stated.

Ziyad Al Shiha, CEO of Saudi Electricity Company, said: "We continue to strengthen the kingdom’s power infrastructure to meet the growing demand for electricity and to accelerate all-round growth."

"Waad Al Shamal is a strategically located power plant that has tremendous potential to energise the local economy and create jobs for Saudis through its support to the industrial sector. By awarding the contract to GE, we are further building on the long-term partnership we have with GE, with a focus on advanced technologies," he noted.

One of the gas turbines will be assembled fully at the GE Manufacturing Technology Center in Dammam, underlining GE’s commitment to localisation.

The remaining gas turbines will be produced at GE’s manufacturing plant in Greenville, US and the steam turbine will be produced at its manufacturing plant in New York.

Mohammed Mohaisen, the GE president and chief executive, gas power systems (Middle East and North Africa) said: "We have been a long-term and trusted partner of SEC and we are committed to delivering our cutting edge competencies across the power sector of the kingdom - from turnkey project development to accelerating power plant productivity and efficiency through our digital industrial solutions."

"Waad Al Shamal brings significant value to the kingdom by strengthening the northern grid and through its potential to energise the local industrial sector. By installing a gas turbine that is fully assembled at GE’s Manufacturing Technology Center in Dammam, we are delivering on our commitment to provide stronger localisation support to our partners," he added.

Last year, GE had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SEC to set up a joint venture that will extend operations and maintenance support to its power plants in the kingdom.-TradeArabia News Service