SBG wins railway deal

SAUDI ARABIA’S largest construction company Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has won a contract to link the kingdom’s Jubail petrochemical hub with the new minerals industry city of Ras Al Khair, a newspaper reported.

The company will construct an 85-km-railway, costing $177 million, between the two sites on the Arabian Gulf coast, Asharq Al Awsat said, citing Rumaih Al Rumaih, Saudi Railway Company’s chief executive officer.

The rail company plans to issue another tender soon for construction of a line linking Jubail with the port of Dammam, the paper said.

Alstom signs $122m deal

ALSTOM, a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure, has signed a contract worth $122 million with Arabian Bemco Contracting Company and GS E&C to provide a steam tail for a Riyadh-based power plant.

The company’s division in charge of thermal power generation equipment and services, Alstom Thermal Power, will under the contract provide the steam tail for Riyadh PP12 gas-fired power plant being constructed by the companies for the Saudi Electric Company (SEC).

The plant, which is located 100 km west of the Saudi capital, will on completion produce a net output of 2,175 MW at high temperatures with high efficiency. The power plant is scheduled to enter commercial operation by 2015, in order to meet the increased demand expected in the central region.

The contract includes the supply of two 342 MW steam-turbine generator sets and eight heat recovery steam generators for the power plant.

Facelift for Bahrain corniche

ONE of Bahrain’s most popular seafronts along the Al Fateh Corniche is finally set to undergo a major facelift after two years of delays, said senior government officials.

A shortage of funds delayed the BD1.2-million ($3.18 million) project, which was due to have begun in July 2010. The work to clear up the coastline along the corniche, build a new walkway and instal playground facilities is expected to begin by the end of the year, they stated. The 153,430-sq-m project will feature recreational and family areas as well as restaurants and coffee shops. The area is part of a 4-km public beach project and includes a 3-km coastline from near Isa Cultural Centre to the Prince Khalifa Bridge.

“We are just waiting for the budget to be officially assigned to begin work on the project,” said Mohammed Noor Al Shaikh, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry joint municipal services under-secretary.

He also said the next phase of the project, which was still only a proposal, would see a jetty being built at either end of the corniche.

BNC expands data network

BNC Network has expanded its coverage of its project intelligence service to include 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

In addition to the GCC countries, the service will now cover Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.

BNC Network offers constantly updated project intelligence on more than 55,000 construction projects and a database of 97,000 construction-related companies, making it the largest provider of construction intelligence in the region.

Projects on the network are tracked from concept to completion and include detailed status updates that contain project schedules, budgets, construction status, as well as owner, consultant, contractor and supplier information.

SolarReserve plans Saudi venture

US-BASED manufacturer of concentrated solar power SolarReserve, is planning multiple bids for Saudi Arabia’s first renewable-energy tender as the country plans to generate a third of its electricity from solar energy.

SolarReserve has formed a joint venture in Saudi Arabia and is working on preliminary proposals for the tender, Kevin Smith, its chief executive officer said. Its concentrated solar power technology uses thousands of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a central point to generate heat, which is then used to produce power. The energy can be stored in molten salt until electricity is needed.

Saudi Arabia plans to start its first tender targeting 2,000 MW of solar energy in early next year; and a second tender in 2014 aiming for 2,500 MW. The country in May said it is looking for investors to build a $109-billion solar industry by 2032. Companies including Canadian Solar, and CentrothermPhotovoltaics have also expressed an interest in the region.

The hotel ... planned for Dammam.

Dewan wins resort contract

DEWAN Architects & Engineers, one of the region’s leading architectural and engineering consulting firms, has been awarded the consultancy contract to design and supervise the construction of a five-star resort in Saudi Arabia.

Arab Resort Areas Company’s (Arac) hotel and hotel apartments development in Dammam, one of the many projects that Dewan is undertaking in the GCC, will feature 200 five-star hotel keys and 120 hotel-apartments, four dining venues and leisure facilities such as a gym and spa, children’s club, indoor swimming pool, retail shops, hairdressing salons and a number of coffee shops. It will also have a fully equipped 600-person capacity banquet hall.

JGC signs Rabigh petrochem deal

JAPAN’S JGC Corp has signed a deal to expand an ethane cracker for a petrochemicals complex owned by Saudi Aramco and Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical in Rabigh Saudi Arabia, said Reuters quoting an industry source.

The contract is valued in the range of $100 million to $200 million, said the source. Aramco and Sumitomo have taken longer than expected to pick contractors for the Rabigh Two petrochemical expansion project, which is expected to cost around $7 billion. JGC’s deal is the latest to be awarded.

South Korea’s GS Engineering and Construction and Daelim Industrial, Italy’s Saipem and Britain’s Petrofac have all signed contracts to build the second phase of the complex in Rabigh, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

SEC awards $186m contracts

STATE-owned Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) said it has awarded three contracts worth around SR700 million ($186.6 million) involving the construction of two substations to boost its networks in the western city of Jeddah and in the Madinah area, and to extend cables to some plants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital.

Ranco & Zamil wins car-park project

RABIAH & Nassar and Al Zamil Concrete Industries Company (Ranco & Zamil) has been awarded a SR52 million ($13 million) contract by Four Corners International Construction Company to fabricate, supply and erect precast elements for the Ministry of Defence and Aviation’s multi-level car-park project in Saudi Arabia.

Ranco & Zamil, a 50-50 joint venture between Zamil Industrial Investment Company (Zamil Industrial) and Rabiah and Nassar Group, will undertake to design, manufacture, transport and install more than 100,000 sq m of precast concrete elements involving the construction of a five-storey car-park building in Riyadh.

Abdullah M Al Zamil, CEO of Zamil Industrial and managing director of Ranco & Zamil, said: “This noteworthy project provides the company with a valuable opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the market.”

Bahrain causeway project on track

WORK on one of Bahrain’s biggest infrastructure projects, the North Manama Causeway, is expected to be finished in next May, ahead of its July deadline, said senior officials.

Works Ministry officials said it is now operating two shifts per day after the number of onsite workers had been increased to 750.

A total of 2,060 of 2,468 concrete blocks have been installed and work on the remaining blocks is due for completion in December, the officials stated.

The new causeway will boost traffic movement to accommodate 120,000 cars per day while flyovers will accommodate 50,000 cars per day, they added.