According to the SEC's official website, the consortium has been selected "as a result of the evaluation process of five proposals", which opened on Dec. 21 for Saudi Arabia's next power plant.
Riyadh PP11 is an independent power project with a capacity of 1,730 MW, situated 125 km west of the capital. The plant will be fired by gas rather than oil, unlike some of Saudi Arabia's other recent power projects.
The total investment cost will be over $2 billion, according to a statement issued by GDF Suez.
GDF Suez-Aljomaih was among the five consortia that bid for the build-own-operate (BOO) project.
The four others were: Marubeni-Kansai-Saudi Masader, Sumitomo-TNB-Saudi Bin Laden, Mitsubishi-TEPCO-ACWA and IP-Saudi Oger-KEPCO.
The Marubeni led-consortium was apparently not selected because its bid was considered too low compared to others.
The electricity generated at the Riyadh PP11 will be sold via a 20-year power purchase agreement to the SEC. The partners bid with General Electric turbines and with Hyundai Heavy Industries as their contractor.
"Having been appointed preferred bidder for the Riyadh IPP creates the opportunity for GDF Suez to pledge its continued commitment to the development of infrastructure for the future of Saudi Arabia," said executive vice president of GDF Dirk Beeuwsaert.
Saudi Arabia has a current installed capacity of 29,000 MW, which it plans to increase to 60,000 MW by 2020.
In October 2009, GDF Suez began commercial operations in the Kingdom with the Marafiq project, which had a 2,750 MW power capacity and 800,000 cubic meters a day seawater desalination facility, making it the world's largest power and desalination project. The $3.4 billion IWPP will be fully operational in the course of this year.
With over 15 years of experience in Gulf countries, GDF Suez is the leading private power developer with a direct equity interest in nearly 14,000 MW worth of power projects and more than 2.5 million of water per day of desalination capacity. The group also treats over 400,000 cubic meters a day of recycled and reused water and offers engineering and waste management solutions.
