GE’s Saudi joint venture to start gas turbine production this year

DUBAI

General Electric’s joint venture to manufacture gas turbines in Saudi Arabia will start production by the end of the year, the chief executive of its state-backed Saudi partner said on Thursday.

GE and Saudi industrial development company Dussur signed an agreement on Wednesday to set up the one billion riyal ($267 million) joint venture in the eastern city of Dammam. Dussur CEO Rashid Al Shubaili said manufacturing of GE’s H-Class turbines in Saudi Arabia would start before the end of the year with the first turbine to be completed in 2018. The Saudi-made gas turbines would be sold in the country and to international customers, he said in an interview in Dubai.