State-run Korea Electric Power Corp, the county’s biggest utility firm, said Friday it finished building a 1,204-megawatt thermal power plant in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.

“It is the biggest power plant project in Saudi Arabia, completed by an independent power producer,” KEPCO said in a press release.

KEPCO CEO Cho Hwan-ik took part in the ceremony with other VIPs, including Saudi Deputy Minister for Electricity Saleh Bin Hussein Al Awaji to celebrate the competition of the mega-power project. 

The $2.5 billion project is expected to supply power to some 1.2 million people in the city, KEPCO said.

“KEPCO will continue to help Saudi Arabia to build the foundation of its economic development by providing power,” the KEPCO CEO said in his speech.

In 2009, KEPCO was picked by the Saudi Electricity Company as the prime bidder for the Rabigh power plant project, in a consortium with ACWA Power International, a Saudi Arabian company.

During the 20-year operation period, the KEPCO-led consortium expects to make about $5.54 billion in profit, the company said in a statement.

KEPCO has been making a stronger push into the Middle East, in line with the government’s efforts to become a bigger player in power generation in the region.

By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)