Saudi Arabia awarded a SR59.9 million ($16 million) engineering contract to a consortium led by consultancy WS Atkins International on the Gulf coast in Ras Azzour, where a giant power plant will be built.

'The Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu signed its first contract for the Ras Azzour area ... costing SR59.9 million,' state news agency SPA said on Saturday.

The giant power and water project, estimated to cost $6 billion, is expected to be the world's largest when completed by the end of 2013.

The Ras Azzour power plant will have the capacity to generate 2,400 megawatts of electricity and produce 1,025 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day. – Reuters