GE to manufacture H-class gas turbines in Saudi Arabia

GE's joint venture to manufacture gas turbines in Saudi Arabia will start production by the end of the year, Reuters has reported.

GE and Saudi industrial development company Dussur have signed an agreement to set up the one billion riyal ($267 million) joint venture in the eastern city of Dammam.

Dussur CEO Rasheed al-Shubaili said manufacturing of GE's H-Class turbines in Saudi Arabia would start before the end of the year. The first turbine will roll out of Dammam by 2018.

The joint venture followed a memorandum of understanding signed last year by GE and Dussur that is expected to draw nearly 3.75 billion riyals of investment by the two companies in 2017.

Focusing on the enhancement of local manufacturing capabilities at the GE Manufacturing and Technology Center in Dammam, will allow for a major scaling up of the global industrial supply chain for the energy industry. The investment from Dussur in GEMTEC is a testament to GE’s commitment to advance and transform the industry, beginning with the opening of phase 1 of GEMTEC in 2012 – the company’s largest heavy-duty gas turbine repair facility worldwide– and building on it through GEMTEC phase 2 in a bid to further support local, regional and global development.

 GE has taken significant steps in supporting the delivery of Saudi Vision 2030, announcing in partnership with the Kingdom a range of Memorandums of Understanding [MoU] and projects valued at $15 billion – of which almost $7 billion are GE technology and solutions – across multiple sectors and partners aimed at creating a truly diverse and sustainable economic platform.

Signed in the presence of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, the agreements cut across the power, healthcare, oil and gas, and mining sectors.