Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Saudi Arabia seeks bids to build integrated gas/solar plant

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia seeks bids to build integrated gas/solar plant

2014/01/03

Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) has invited companies to build, own and operate Saudi Arabia's initial fossil-fuel fired power plant to use solar energy to cut carbon emissions, the national utility said.

The 550-megawatt (MW) integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) plant will primarily burn natural gas, but will use solar thermal energy to increase fuel efficiency at the planned facility near Tabuk on the Red Sea coast.
SEC, which said the planned Duba plant must as well be able to burn Arabian super light crude oil as a back-up for gas, set a Jan. 12 deadline for companies to express interest in bidding for the project.

ISCC plants reduce emissions of climate-warming carbon by increasing the all of steam available for driving power generation turbines, without having to burn additional gas or oil. SEC did not say how large the solar element of the project was expected to be.

Related Articles

Saudi Arabia detains critics as new Crown Prince consolidates power
2017/09/16 Saudi Arabia has begun a wide-ranging crackdown against perceived opponents of the policies of the kingdom's new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Over the last week, 16 people were held, their friends, relatives and associates said in interviews. They include prominent Islamic clerics, academics, a poet, an economist, a journalist, the chief of a youth organization, at least two women and one prince, a son of a former king. Some of them were taken from their homes in unannounced raids by security forces, and their computers, cellphones and personal papers were seized, the friends and relatives said. Those arrested have been held incommunicado, and it is not clear if they have been formally charged with crimes. Saudi Arabia has not publicly released any evidence it may have against them.
UNWTO: International tourism – strongest half-year results since 2010
2017/09/09 Destinations worldwide welcomed 598 million international tourists in the initial six months of 2017, some 36 million additional than in the same period of 2016. At 6%, increase was well above the trend of recent years, making the current January-June period the strongest half-year since 2010. Visitor numbers reported by destinations around the world reflect strong request for international travel in the initial half of 2017, according to the new UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 6% compared to the same six-month period last year, well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4% or higher increase since 2010. This represents the strongest half-year in seven years.
Saudi Arabia denies warming relations with Iran
2017/09/08 Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Tuesday denied any warming of relations with regional rival Iran next Tehran thanked Riyadh for its handling of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iran must change its policies to have good relations with his country "If Iran wants to have good relations with Saudi Arabia, it has to change its policies. It has to respect international law," Jubeir told a press conference in London.
Saudi King to visit White House in 2018
2017/09/08 King Salman of Saudi Arabia will make an official visit to Washington early next year for talks with President Donald Trump, the White Home said Wednesday. King Salman and President Trump discussed how to advance shared goals such as strengthening security and prosperity in the Middle East The two leaders held a telephone conversation in which they discussed how to advance shared goals such as strengthening security and prosperity in the Middle East, the White Home said in a statement.
Aid agencies have called the crisis in Yemen one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters
2017/09/05 Saudi Arabia alone should fund all steps to tackle widespread disease and hunger in war-torn Yemen, a top UN official has said. Comments by David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), were unusually forthright for such a high-ranking UN official in criticising one party in a conflict.