(Yicai) Jan. 17 -- GD Power Development and Tgood Electric have secured major project contracts to help Saudi Arabia develop its green energy infrastructure and address the Middle Eastern nation’s growing electricity needs.

GD Power will set up a joint venture with Masdar, also known as Abu Dhabi Future Energy, and Korea Electric Power to invest USD1.1 billion in building and operating a two million gigawatt solar power plant and power transmission facilities in the eastern Saudi province of As Sadawi, the Beijing-based thermal electricity producer said late yesterday.

GD Power will have a 40 percent stake in the JV, the Chinese state-owned company noted, without disclosing the stakes held by its partners nor the project's construction schedule and expected return on investment.

Based on the project's 25-year life span, an average annual power generation of just over 6 billion kW-hours, and an average electricity price of around 13 US cents per kWh, its ROI should meet the GD Power’s target for such ventures, it said.

Shares of GD Power [SHA: 600795] ended unchanged at CNY4.28 (58 US cents) each in Shanghai today. The stock is down 3.4 percent so far this year.

Tgood, a Qingdao-based maker of electrical transformers, has secured a SAR353 million (USD94.1 million) order for power equipment supply and installation services from Saudi Electricity unit National Grid, it said yesterday.

The firm will deliver and install 132-kilovolt mobile substations by the end of April and be responsible for the gear's usable state. Mobile substations are self-contained electrical systems that can be moved and installed to provide temporary power during emergencies or for events.

Tgood [SHE: 300001] closed 2.9 percent higher at CNY23.26 (USD3.17) a share in Shenzhen, after earlier jumping by as much as 3.8 percent. It has gained more than 11 percent to date this year.

The project is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, Tgood pointed out. Vision 2030 seeks to reduce the country’s reliance on crude oil, expand its renewable energy capacity, and modernize its power infrastructure.

Editor: Martin Kadiev