According to sources, the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has released a request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the development of the Duba 1 Independent Power Plant (IPP) project.

The plant will be an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) comprising a fossil-fuel combined cycle with a parabolic trough Concentrated Solar Power facility. The plant would be 550 MW with a boost of 20 to 30 MW from CSP field.

The project plans to locate the power plant 50 km north of Duba in the Tabouk region, on the north-west coast of Saudi Arabia.

A competitive process will be conducted by the Saudi Electricity Company in order to select a consortium to build, own and operate the combined cycle IPP.

The selected bidder will sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SEC, under the terms of the contract, SEC will buy the entire generation from the plant and will supply the fossil fuels and the land to allocate the power plant.

The deadline for the submission of Expressions of Interest is January 12, 2014. The Request for pre-Qualifications (RFQ) will be issued by January 15, 2014, and will include a description of the project and outline of the tender process.

SEC is being advised by HSBC Saudi Arabia Limited as Financial Consultant; the Law office of Mohanned Bin Saud Al-Rasheed in association with Baker Botts LLP as Legal Consultant; and Fichtner GmbH and Co. KG as Technical Consultant.