Mitsubishi Heavy to Build Power, Desalination Plant in Saudi Arabia

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Mar. 1–TOKYO — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Thursday it has won a full-turnkey order worth $1.9 billion with other contractors to build an oil-fired thermal power generation and desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.

The company has been commissioned by a special-purpose company set up by a consortium of Japanese and Middle Eastern entities to handle plant engineering, manufacturing, construction and trial operation, according to Mitsubishi Heavy.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will supply generators, the company added.

The new plant is to be constructed on the Red Sea coast at Shuqaiq in the southwest of Saudi Arabia and begin operations in 2010.

Under the contract, the commissioner of the project will supply electricity and water from the plant to Water and Electricity Co. in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.

The 1,020 megawatt power facility will have three steam turbines, oil-fired boilers and generators. The desalination unit will have output capacity of 216,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day.

Shuqaiq Water and Electricity Co., the commissioner of the project, is a power and water utility funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Saudi Electric Co., Arabian Company for Water & Power Project, Mitsubishi Corp. and Kuwaiti investment fund Gulf Investment Corp.

Mitsubishi Heavy said it hopes the latest deal will help win similar contracts in Middle East in the future.

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