State-controlled Saudi Electricity said on Saturday it signed a deal to build a new SR4.6 billion ($1.23 billion) power plant in Shoaiba, some 120 km south of the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

The statement did not say which company has been awarded the contract to build the project -- called Shoaiba II -- but industry sources said South Korea's Daelim Industrial has won the deal.

The combined-cycle plant will have a power capacity of 1,238 megawatt (MW), SEC said in a statement.

Saudi Electricity has an $80-billion investment plan to increase its power generation capacity by 30,000 MW by 2018 to meet power demand which is growing at around 8 percent annually.

The plant, which will be in operation in almost 3 years, will help SEC meet rising power demand from the western region, SEC added.-Reuters