Builder to construct power station and desalination plant


Hanwha Engineering & Construction said Wednesday that it has signed a $1.05 billion deal to build a power station and desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.

The builder said it is to establish the plant at Yanbu industrial complex, the biggest of its kind in Saudi Arabia and located on the western side of the country, by 2014 under the deal with Marafiq, a Saudi Arabian power and water utility company.

Facilities to be built at the site include three 230 megawatt-steam turbine power generators, three 830-ton boilers and ones for desalination.

Hanwha E&C attributed the deal to the builder having earned credibility for its expertise in engineering, procurement and construction projects from the ordering body. 

In 2009, the firm won a $750 million power plant contract from Marafiq. Around 60 percent of the construction for the facility has been done and is to be completed by 2012, the builder said.

“Marafiq’s deep trust for the Yanbu plant seems to have positively affected this (us winning the project),” Hanwha E&C CEO Kim Hyun-chung said.

“We plan to expand and diversify overseas markets and projects with our outstanding technology and experience we have accumulated in the Middle East.”

As a result of the builder’s efforts to expand its presence in the Middle East and northern Africa, Hanwha E&C is currently carrying out five projects in the regions.

Most recently, the builder inked a $220 million refinery facility contract with state-run Kuwait National Petroleum Co. last month.

Under the deal, the company will update fire detection and alarm systems at three refinery facilities near Kuwait City, and two office buildings, the company said.

In September 2010, the builder won a $203 million order to build a liquefied petroleum gas complex in Kuwait.

The contract, issued by the state-owned Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., calls for six LPG storage tanks, pumps, compressor stations and truck-loading facilities, as well as three production lines each capable of filing 1,600 cylinders of 12 kilograms per hour to be built.

Hanwha E&C, meanwhile, has also been seeking growth through diversifying its portfolio to photovoltaic power generation and renewable energy.

It pledged earlier this year to be among the global top 100 with sales of 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) and overseas projects worth 7 trillion won by 2015.

By Koh Young-aah (youngaah@heraldcorp.com)