Gulf Construction Online - Alfanar secures $400m deals in first half of 2013

Regional News

Officials sign the contract for the substation project.

Alfanar secures $400m deals in first half of 2013

01 July 2013

ALFANAR Construction, a leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company in the region, has been awarded several major contracts worth a total of SR1.5 billion ($400 million) within the first half of this year. The projects include the construction of substations as well as underground cabling works in various parts of Saudi Arabia.

The substations deal was signed with the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), which awarded one of its largest transmission and distribution power projects, worth SR716 million ($190 million), to Alfanar. This project aims at integrating the large power generation capacity of Yanbu III into the grid to provide reliable power by optimising the flexibility and reliability of the power generated.

Alfanar will be responsible for the turnkey construction of Yanbu substation required for to transmit power from the 3,100-MW Yanbu III facility to PS2 380 kV and 110 kV substations. This project, which will supply power to SWCC’s pumping stations, will be executed on a fast-track basis since the substations are scheduled to be completed and put into service within 22 months.

Alfanar has also secured two major Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) contracts worth SR793 million ($211.44 million) for the installation of 380 kV underground cables in Jeddah and Makkah.

The Makkah project will interconnect the New Makkah Central BSP (bulk supply point) to the other 380 kV substations in Makkah. “This is one of the biggest 380 kV cable projects to be executed in the kingdom involving 93 km of cable,” said Abdullah Al Hamad, president of Alfanar Construction.

A highlight of the project is that a major portion of the route for these cables is through box culverts and requires special expertise in design and engineering, he said.

“The tight completion schedule of 18 months makes this project even more demanding and challenging,” Al Hamad added.

The second SEC project involves the installation of 380-kV underground cables to establish two circuit links, extending 21 km, between the Jeddah Central substation and the Jeddah North and Al Faisaliyah substations. The project is expected to be completed in 22 months.

These two projects constitute a part of a major plan by SEC to upgrade and strengthen the capacity of the electricity grid across the Western Region in order to meet the growing demand for electricity in Jeddah and Makkah.

Meanwhile, Alfanar won the Best Power Project Award at the Middle East Electricity exhibition in Dubai, UAE, in February. The award was in recognition of the works done at the third extension project of the Hail Two power plant in Saudi Arabia, which was completed six weeks ahead of schedule. Alfanar was selected among 21 finalists, chosen from more than 200 nominees to compete for the seven award categories.

Earlier this year, Alfanar received a letter of appreciation from the SEC for delivering Hail Two Extension II power plant project six weeks ahead of the contractual date.