General Electric Wins $700 Million Saudi Contract

General Electric is eager to begin a desert campaign.

On Tuesday, the industrial behemoth announced that it has signed a $700 million contract to supply the Saudi Electricity Company with additional F-class combined-cycle gas turbines, associated equipment, and related services.

GE turbines are already in place at Saudi Electricity's power plants Nos. 9 through 12. And indeed, GE boasts that "GE equipment assists in the generation of more than half of Saudi Arabia's power supply."

Now, GE says it expects its equipment to "provide significant fuel savings and lower emissions" at Saudi Electricity's large, combined-cycle power plants Nos. 13 and 14 as well, helping the customer to produced 3.8 gigawatts of electric power from natural gas. The new "PP13" and "PP14" will feature 12 GE 7F-5 gas turbines, four GE steam turbines, and 16 generators.

GE will begin delivering the turbines in early 2015. It will also provide maintenance services at both PP13 and PP14 for eight years, the cost of which is included in the overall quote of $700 million.