GDF SUEZ signs agreement to sell energy over 20 years and build a 1,730 MW power plant in Saudi Arabia

GDF SUEZ and its partners Aljomaih Holding Co of Saudi Arabia and Sojitz Corporation of Japan will now start building this 1,730 MW gas-fired power project, situated approximately 125 km west of the Kingdom’s capital.
The state-controlled Saudi Electricity Company will buy all of the plant’s output over a 20 year-period. Total investment cost will be approximately 2.1 billion USD. Early power is expected by 1 May 2012 and full completion of the plant is scheduled by March 2013.
With Marafiq, the largest combined power and desalination plant in the world and the Riyadh project, GDF SUEZ’s total installed capacity in the country will reach almost 4,500 MW. Riyadh IPP is one of the 3 Independent Power Projects in Saudi Arabia designed to add 5,200 MW to the domestic grid by 2015. Power demand in the Kingdom is rising at 8% annually.
The Middle East is a priority and strategic area of development for GDF SUEZ. As recently as end of May, GDF SUEZ won a 1.7 billion USD contract for two new power stations in Oman, Barka 3 and Sohar 2 with a total capacity of approximately 1,500 MW.
With over 15 years’ experience in the Gulf countries, GDF SUEZ is the leading private power developer in the region with approximately 17,000 MW of power capacity and more than 2.8 million m? of water per day of desalination capacity in operation or under construction. GDF SUEZ is currently constructing four IWPPs in Bahrain (Al Dur), Abu Dhabi (Shuweihat 2), Qatar (Ras Laffan C) and Saudi Arabia (Marafiq).
The Group also treats over 400,000 m?/day of recycled and reused water and provides engineering and waste management in the region.