A consortium led by Samsung Engineering Co. has secured an order worth $3 billion to build a power plant in Saudi Arabia, South Korea’s largest industrial plant builder said Monday.

Under the deal with Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corp., the consortium will build the 3,100-MW power plant in Yanbu, 350 kilometers north of the country’s second-largest city of Jeddah, in 48 months after it begins work.

Samsung’s share in the project is valued at around $1.5 billion, according to the company.

Samsung Engineering started its power plant business in August 2010 in a bid to diversify its business portfolio.

Shares of Samsung Engineering closed at 168,500 won on the Seoul bourse, down 2.03 percent from the previous session’s close. (Yonhap News)