Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), South Korea's state-run electricity company, said Tuesday that it has been selected as the prime bidder for a power plant construction in western Saudi Arabia. The company said that in a consortium with Saudi-Arabia's ACWA Power International, it has been chosen as a preferred bidder by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), and plans to sign a formal deal with SEC in the near future. If the deal is finalized, KEPCO and ACWA will each have 40 percent stakes in the project, while Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) will own 20 percent, the statement said. The project to build the 1,200-megawatt thermal power plant, to be built in Rabigh by April 2013, will cost the company around $2.5 billion, according to KEPCO. The consortium will hold the plant under operation for 20 years after construction, KEPCO said. A consortium – KEPCOand ACWA – has been picked as the preferred bidder, against a consortium of Belgium's Suez, England's IP and Saudi's Oger, the firm said in a statement. The Rabigh project is to build the 1,204 megawatt fuel oil power plant in the city of Rabigh by 2013, and operate the unit until 2033.
