TMX group

May 20, 2010 (Canada NewsWire Group) --

MONTREAL, May 20, 2010 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin Construction is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Saudi Tabreed for district cooling facilities in Dhahran in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The value of the contract is over CAN $105 million.

The project consists of a 27,000 RT district cooling plant, 14 km of dual underground chilled water pipeline, energy transfer stations with a total capacity of 32,000 RT, 115 kV high voltage electrical power transmission lines and a substation upgrade.

"Saudi Arabia is an extremely important market for us and we are very happy for this opportunity to bring our extensive district cooling expertise to the Kingdom," said Riadh Ben Aïssa, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. "We have been very active in district cooling in the United Arab Emirates for many years, and we recently expanded our market into Bahrain. This new contract should position us well for further similar mandates in the KSA and other Gulf Cooperation Countries."

Engineering work on the project is already underway, with construction of the main civil works scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2010. The overall project duration will be 20 months.

SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure, and in the provision of operations and maintenance services. SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 35 other countries around the world, and is currently working in some 100 countries. www.snclavalin.com.