The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) on Wednesday awarded contracts worth SR2.1 billion ($560 million) to supply gas and steam turbines for two new power plants in Riyadh.

The utility company announced the contract award without naming the winner, and a spokesman declined to comment further.

Twelve gas units and four steam turbines will be built and tested within 40 months, SEC said in a statement. The company is investing billions of dollars in projects to meet electricity demand that is rising by around 9 percent annually.

SEC did not provide the capacity of the two power plants but an industry source said each would have a capacity of between 1,600 and 1,950 megawatts.