A giant Korean company, which acquired Czech power plant equipment maker Skoda Power and the UK-based Babcock Energy recently, has embarked on an ambitious plan to spearhead its progressive expansion in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
The Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company has also won a $1.04 billion prestigious Qurayyah Combined Cycle Thermal Power Project to be executed in Saudi Arabia, according to Haejin Hwang, vice president and head of power plant business in the Middle East and North Africa region. Hwang, together with Hyunsang Ahn, president and head of water plant business in MENA region, and Hayong Jeon, general manager and representative of Doosan Power Plant business in Saudi Arabia, gave an overview of Doosan’s global operation with special reference to its presence in the Kingdom and the Gulf states.
Referring to the Qurayyah project, Hwang said that this contract was won by the company following an open international bidding. The contract will be officially signed sometime this month, he added. Doosan formed a consortium with BEMCO, a local construction company in Saudi Arabia, and became a preferred bidder by submitting the lowest bid in July for this project.
This power project, he said, would be constructed at a site 65km away from Dammam, and would have the capacity to generate 1,330 MW of electricity. The project, to be completed in February 2013, will supply power to the Eastern and Central regions of the Kingdom, including Jubail Industrial Complex, which currently suffers from power shortage.
“When completed, the Thermal Power Plant will become Saudi Arabia’s largest single power plant complex with a combined capacity to generate 3,190 MW of power, including production from other plants that are under construction there,” added Hwang. He said that this order attests to international recognition for Doosan’s strong technological capacity and the ability to execute projects of any size and of any technological specification.
He said the company had also won a $240 million order for the supply of key equipment to the Marafiq Thermal Power Plant in Saudi Arabia.
