Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, August 7, 2007: Emaar, The Economic City (Emaar.E.C), the Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Arabian BEMCO Contracting Company for installing an open-cycle gas turbine power plant in KAEC.
Dr Abdulraouf Mannaa, Managing Director, Emaar.E.C and Mr Henry Sarkissian, Chief Executive Officer, Arabian BEMCO Contracting Company, signed the MoU, to set up six gas turbine plants that will meet the power requirements of the first phase of KAEC.
Dr Mannaa said: “The important consideration in any development today is the standard of infrastructure it offers. KAEC, as the largest private sector project in the region, is committed to implementing the required infrastructure that ensures the highest quality of living. Arabian BEMCO has a proven track record in the region and the ability to undertake world-class projects. We will draw on their expertise and experience in meeting the power supply needs of KAEC.”
Mr Sarkissian said: “Arabian BEMCO is privileged to have this opportunity to set up power plants for KAEC. The sheer size of the project is a challenge, and we will utilize our long expertise in power generation projects to develop the modern power plants, which will have a total capacity of 390 MW apart from the option of having two more units of 65MW each.”
Two gas turbines will be installed and commissioned within 15 months and the rest will be installed within 19 months. The gas turbines will have provision for conversion to combined cycle at a later stage and thus meet the power requirements for the entire project up to year 2012.
The MoU with Arabian BEMCO follows the signing, last week, of a MoU with Siemens for a power generation and distribution grid within KAEC. The power grid will serve the first phase of the Industrial Zone, Residential area, villas within the Resort, golf course and the Sea Port.
KAEC has six key components: the Sea Port, Industrial Zone, Central Business District (including the Financial District), Resort District, Educational Zone and Residential Communities. Work is progressing on the Industrial Zone, Residential and Resort Districts. Potential investors can visit the KAEC Presentation Centre at KAEC for more details and registration.
