The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has awarded GE Energy a contract to supply more than 30 gas turbines for a major power plant project in Riyadh.
Under a nearly $1 billion deal, GE will deliver the Frame 7EA gas turbine units to an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm for installation at SEC’s Riyadh Power Plant 10 (PP10). The project will add 2000 MW to the power grid in Saudi Arabia, where economic growth and population expansion is driving strong electricity demand growth.
The latest order brings GE’s orders for SEC projects to nearly $2.5 billion in the last three years. The company says that Saudi Arabia is a key growth area for its businesses.
The PP10 project will help SEC to address energy shortages during the summer months and will increase the power capacity in the Central Operating Area by 20 per cent. It is the latest expansion at the Riyadh site, which currently has an output of 10 000 MW.
The Frame 7EA gas turbines at the PP10 site will use crude oil as the primary fuel, with distillate to be used for startup and backup operation.
“Saudi Arabia is taking concerted efforts to prepare the electricity sector organizationally and structurally through public and private partnerships to meet the Kingdom’s demand for power, which is growing at an estimated eight percent per year,” said Eng. Ali Saleh al-Barrak, president and CEO of Saudi Electricity Company. “The government’s stated goal is to add 30 GW of generating capacity to the electricity grid by 2020.”
