KHOBAR - Bidders for the contract to build the Rabigh power station for Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) have asked for more time to prepare proposals, sources at contracting firms said on Tuesday. The SEC has already extended the bidding deadline to Dec. 15 from the initial July 13 deadline at the behest of bidders. Companies want more time to adjust plans to changes in environmental specifications in designs, one source at a company interested in bidding said. The power plant would have capacity of 2,400 to 2,800 megawatts, some 12-14 percent of the 20,000 MW the SEC plans to add through 2018 at an estimated total cost of $80 billion. SEC's capacity is around 40,000 MW. At least two firms asked for bids to be extended to Jan. 16, an executive at SEC told Reuters. The SEC has yet to decide on whether it would extend the deadline. “So far...it is December 15, we did not extend to anybody... Maybe the president will approve the extension,” he said. The plant's expansion, estimated to cost around $4 billion, is expected to be completed on time in the summer of 2014 regardless of any further extension to the bidding deadline, he added. “Even if there is an extension, which is possible, this will not affect the date of operating the plant,” the executive said. The expansion provides for the addition of four units, each with a capacity of 600-700 MW. SEC was looking to save money after the fall in the price of commodities, energy services and labour costs in the past year, contractors said. The new price tag for the plant was in line with the 20 percent savings SEC's Chief Executive Ali Saleh Al
