ESB lands contracts worth $33 million in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

ESB International, an engineering consultancy firm, recently won two contracts with Gulf region energy agencies worth more than $33 million.

Dublin-based ESB, which has been in business for 40 years, won a $19 million contract to manage construction on an efficient gas-fired combined cycle power plant in a developing region of Saudi Arabia.

The combined cycle format uses heat sources to create mechanical energy, which turns turbines to generate electrical energy.

ESB will have 40 staff onsite in Saudi Arabia to manage the project, while bringing 15 Saudi engineers for training, which will work to increase the ties between ESB and Saudi Arabia where the company has worked on projects since its foundation.

The other contract is work on Bahrain’s new Electricity Transmission System Development Project, which will enhance the reach of the country’s electrical grid. The work there will bring in nearly $14 million for ESB.

ESB’s CEO Pat O’Doherty said the new contracts show ESB’s experience and expertise in the engineering field provide a competitive advantage in a field of many challengers in the Middle Eastern building market.

“In winning this new business, we were pitched against some of the larger consulting firms from Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, where we had the competitive advantage of understanding the challenges that energy utilities face,” O’Doherty said.

ESB International is wholly owned by ESB, Ireland’s national energy company.