Hanwha Engineering and Construction Co. has won a $220 million refinery facility contract in Kuwait.

Under the deal signed Monday, the company will update fire detection and alarm systems at three refinery facilities near Kuwait City, and two office buildings, the company said.

The project, issued by the state-run Kuwait National Petroleum Co., is to be completed in 30 months, the builder said.

“The latest contract, on top of last year’s LPG plant contract, will be an opportunity for the company’s capabilities in carrying out projects in Kuwait,” Hanwha Engineering and Construction said in a statement.

The contract boosts Hanwha Engineering and Construction’s already significant presence in the Middle Eastern nation.

In September 2010, the company won a 230 billion won ($203 million) order to build a liquefied petroleum gas complex in Kuwait.

The contract, issued by the state-owned Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., calls for six LPG storage tanks, pumps, compressor stations and truck-loading facilities, as well as three production lines each capable of filing 1,600 cylinders of 12 kilograms per hour to be built.

The plant, located in a 150,000-square-meter area in Umm Al Aaish, 30 kilometers north of Kuwait City, is scheduled for completion in 2013.

The Kuwait contracts provide the company a stable foundation from which to reach the target of becoming one of the world’s top 100 construction firms by 2015.

Earlier this year, the company announced that it would aim to become one of the world’s top 100 builders with an annual sales figure of 5 trillion won, and win contracts worth 7 trillion won in that year.

Hanwha E&C has explored the Middle Eastern market for the past several years mainly by diversifying its operations in the plant-building business.

The builder has nabbed a number of projects in the oil-rich region. In 2009 the company won a $75 billion contract with a Saudi electricity firm to establish a steam turbine generator and a $2 billion project with SEPGO, a Jordanian state-run electricity firm, to build a gas turbine generator.

As a result of the company’s efforts at expanding its presence in the Middle East and northern Africa, Hanwha Engineering and Construction is currently carrying out five projects in the region.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)