JAZAN

The projects

The project involved two EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contracts for the Jazan Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle project, located near the city of Jazan, in southwestern Saudi Arabia. 

The Package 1 contract includes the gasification unit, the soot and ash removal unit, the acid gas removal unit and the hydrogen recovery unit. 

The Package 2 contract includes six Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRUs) trains and related storage facilities. 

The overall scope for both packages includes: engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning support and the performance testing of the plants. 

Project impact

The Jazan refinery and terminal project is promoted by Saudi Aramco, our main client, followed by Total, BP and Eni. Together with Saudi Aramco, the project is promoted by Jazan Economic City (JEC) and is part of a broader strategy for the diversified and sustainable growth of the Saudi Arabian economy. This will make the country’s energy industry more competitive and dynamic worldwide.

The refinery and terminal are part of a project begun by Saudi Aramco to build the largest gas-fired power plant in the world. The plant will use gasification technology and will be fuelled mainly with vacuum distillation residues obtained in the refinery, as well as with high sulphur fuel oil. 

The plant will meet the refinery’s electricity requirements, and a significant amount of energy will be exported to the national electricity grid. 

This will help Saudi Arabia to make the important transition from its current political-economic condition of producer and user to a transformer in terms of consumption diversification. 

An extraordinary project

The project is especially complex, involving the engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning support and performance testing of a gasification unit, a soot and an ash removal unit, an acid gas removal unit and a hydrogen recovery unit, as well as six sulphur recovery unit (SRUs) trains and the associated storage facilities. 

All these operations took place in the remote Jazan area, characterised by harsh climatic conditions with sandstorms, very high temperatures and sudden rains. 

In addition, the construction area did not have a developed logistical infrastructure, and together with its limited industrial development, this made it difficult not only to transport materials, but also to find suppliers and resources for construction. 

In order to overcome the difficult accessibility by road and the lack of port facilities, the client made a temporary dock available for large equipment and machinery.

Assets and people

The project involved around 10,000 people, mostly from the Far East.