03/05/2011
SEC selects GE technology for power plant expansion projects
GE announced on Monday that it has been selected to provide gas turbine technology and services for four Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) power plant expansion projects.
These contracts bring GE Energy orders for SEC projects in the last two years alone to over $2 billion.
The four SEC power plant expansions will add 1,680 megawatts (MW) of power to the Saudi grid, more than half of SEC’s planned annual increase of 3,000 MW.
According to SEC, the Kingdom’s electricity demand has been growing at the rate of about six percent a year.
“These fast-tracked plant expansions are designed to meet peak summer demands,” said SEC President and CEO Ali Saleh Al-Barrak.
The four SEC power plant expansions will add 1,680 MW of power to the Saudi grid, more than half of SEC’s planned annual increase of 3,000 MW.
Joseph Anis, GE Energy’s president and CEO for the Middle East, said: “Our ability to respond to our customers’ technology requirements and deliver fast-track projects on a large scale is a core capability of GE."
The contract announcement came as GE’s new president and chief executive officer for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Walid A. Abukhaled said he is committed to exploring more opportunities “for broadening public private partnerships” while working as the chief of the GE’s operations in the Kingdom.
He said the company would generate more opportunities for Saudi graduates.
“A total of 37 percent of our staffers are Saudi nationals at the moment, which is a significant ratio keeping in view the GE positions that demand high qualification and technical know-how,” he added.
