Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and GE, in a statement, have stressed on the importance of their long-standing partnership for both the companies.

 

For almost 40 years, SEC and GE have partnered to advance the kingdom’s power generation sector, develop the capabilities of talented local employees and youth, and bring about a fundamental change to the sector, driven by industry-leading innovations, the statement said.

 

The statement follows a recent Reuters report that SEC, one of GE's largest and most valuable customers, is lining up competitors to bid against GE for lucrative power plant works. 

 

It said SEC has qualified at least two companies – Power Systems Mfg and Combustion Parts – to provide service or parts for some of SEC’s more than 50 GE-made F-class turbines, and is in talks with two others over investments to set up facilities to service the SEC plants over many years, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

 

Khalid Al-Tuaimi, executive VP for generation of SEC, said: “Given its fleet size and geographical spread across the kingdom, SEC has always embarked on a very balanced policy of procurement to ensure well diversified sources of suppliers. This is to ensure that SEC provides a fair chance to its suppliers while maintaining a strategic partnership with major ones."

 

"SEC always qualifies multiple vendors to bid on services for its various fleets as part of its standard operating procedure and in accordance with local public procurement laws. Through this open and transparent process, we have repeatedly found GE to be an excellent strategic partner for meeting our servicing needs and committed to local investments and partnerships. This was crowned by installing the first locally produced gas turbine as part of the $1 billion integrated GCC solar project," the statement said. 

 

In 2016, SEC and GE inaugurated the Saudi PowerGen Efficiency Center (SPEC) for gas and steam turbines. Located in the GE Manufacturing and Technology Center (GEMTEC) and led by a joint team of SEC and GE engineers, SPEC serves as a real-time monitoring hub that is linked to more than 500 power generation trains in the kingdom. SEC has also established a Generation & Optimization Center (GOC) equipped with GE’s digital solutions to monitor, analyse and enhance the reliability and efficiency of power plants that together represent more than 70 percent of SEC’s total power generation. Recently, SEC also partnered with GE to create the world's most efficient and largest power plant of its kind, raising the efficiency and capacity of Quraya Power Plant. 

 

"We continue to proudly partner with GE to better support SEC’s business, assets and resource use, as well as the kingdom’s wider economic development goals,” the statement continued.

 

Joseph Anis, president and CEO, GE Power Services, Africa, India and the Middle East, and Hisham Al Bahkali, president and CEO, GE Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, said: “Our relationship with SEC is predicated on the premise of long-term growth and mutual benefit. The work we have done and the scale we have put in place – all toward the realization of Saudi Arabia’s historic Vision 2030, which we, as GE, were the first international company to support – is remarkable. We support more than half of the Kingdom’s power supply, and are proud to be a part of the ongoing development of the sector.” - TradeArabia News Service