ALSTOM has won a 750 million euros ($972 million) contract to supply equipment for the Yanbu 3 power and desalination plant located on the Red Sea coast in the western part of Saudi Arabia.

The plant will run on heavy fuel oil (HFO), one of the first supercritical power plants to run on that type of fuel, and is aimed at leaving a minimum impact on the environment.

The contract for the plant being developed for the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) was awarded by Al Toukhi Company for Industry, Trading & Contracting.

Alstom’s part in the contract includes the basic engineering of the power block, advisory services during detailed engineering and procurement, supervision services during construction and commissioning and delivery of main equipment for 5 x 620 MW units including the steam turbines and generators, the HFO-fired supercritical boilers, electrostatic precipitators and the flue gas desulphurisation system.

The plant, which will produce 3,100 MW of power, will supply sweet water and feed the grid in the western part of the country. Commercial operations are likely to begin in 2016.

Some power and extracted steam will be fed into the associated new Yanbu 550,000 m3/d desalination plant which will be a key supplier of water to the city of Madinah.

“The Yanbu 3 project will add 2,700 MW of cleaner high-efficiency power to the Saudi grid and steam to a new desalination plant thanks to our market-leading supercritical technology combined with Alstom’s ability to integrate equipment into complete and complex power projects,” said Andreas Lusch, senior VP for Alstom’s steam business.

Alstom has equipped over 20 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s installed power generation base.