SAUDI Arabia plans to spend $80 billion to add a total of 20,000 MW of power generation capacity through 2018, plus $20 billion on independent power producer (IPP) projects, Amer Al Swaha, the head of IPP at the state-owned Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), said.

Of the total investments of around $100 billion, some $46 billion would go for power generation, $30 billion would be spent on transmission and $20 billion on distribution.
IPP projects slated for completion from 2013 to 2021 include the 1,200-MW Rabigh plant, the Riyadh 2,000-MW PP11 plant, a 2,000-MW Qurayyah plant, a 1,000-MW plant in Dheba, a 2,520-MW plant in Ras Azzour and an 800-MW plant in Shuqaiq.
Five consortiums are preparing bids due on December 7 for the Riyadh plant.