An oil-fired power plant in Saudi Arabia built by Power Construction Corporation of China, or Sinohydro, went into operation on Friday, the company announced on Tuesday.

It is the first time China-manufactured power construction equipment has entered the Saudi market.

Shandong Electric Power Construction Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinohydro, signed a deal with the national power company of Saudi Arabia in 2009 for the project valued at $1.7 billion.

"For a long time, the power construction market in Saudi Arabia was dominated by European, US, Japanese and Korean companies before the deal was signed," the company said. "The power plant will make a great contribution to the national grid of the country."

The plant, with a total capacity of 1,320 megawatts, the largest in the Middle East, is 150 km north of the port city of Jeddah, in western Saudi Arabia.