Hyundai Heavy Industries $3.3 billion order to build steam power plant in Saudi Arabia

South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) said Monday it had won a $3.3 billion order to build a steam power plant in Saudi Arabia.

Under the deal signed on Sunday with Saudi Electricity Co., Hyundai will complete the massive facility with a production capacity of 2,640 megawatts by 2017, the company said in a statement.

The plant will be located 135 kilometres (85 miles) north of the southwestern Saudi city of Jizan, it said.

HHI is the world’s top shipbuilder, but also constructs power and water plants. In October last year, the company won a $3.2 billion order to build a thermal power plant near Jeddah.

“The Middle East region, despite the global slowdown, still invests heavily in infrastructure thanks to high oil prices and steady population and economic growth,” Hyundai said.

“We expect more orders in the future from the Saudi government, which puts a top priority on increasing power and water desalination capacity,” it added.