Siemens Energy's expanded Charlotte hub will make 10 gas turbines and 18 generators as part of a $1 billion sale to Saudi Arabia, the company said Wednesday.

It's the largest order yet for Siemens' $350 million gas turbine expansion, which opened in November, and reflects the global surge in natural gas to generate electricity. Government officials touted it as an example of the federal role in buoying exports.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that helps foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services, approved a $638 million loan to finance Siemens' deal with a borrower called Hajr for Electricity Production Co. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"This is exactly why the Charlotte hub was created," said Mark Pringle, vice president of the Siemens Charlotte Energy Hub, as it is now known. "We export around the world."

About 70 percent to 80 percent of Siemens' gas turbine production this year is likely to be exported, he said.

The Saudi company will build a combined-cycle plant with a capacity of 4 gigawatts - one of the biggest such plants in the world - in Qurayyah, on the kingdom's eastern coast. The plant will generate electricity both with gas-fired turbines and steam turbines powered by the heat from the gas turbines' exhaust. It will start operating in 2014.

Financing by the Ex-Im Bank helped Siemens win the sale against competitors from Japan, Germany and Korea. A $134 million loan guarantee by the agency helped Siemens win a turbine-generator sale to the Republic of Korea last July.

Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., who convened a global-access forum for small businesses at Siemens' Charlotte site last June, said the financing deal helps bring jobs to North Carolina.

"Business owners tell me all the time that they locate in North Carolina because of our outstanding business climate and second-to-none workforce," she said in a statement. "My four favorite words are 'Made in North Carolina,' and I will continue working to connect the Export-Import Bank to companies that will bring business and, most importantly, jobs to our state."

Siemens USA president Eric Spiegel took part in a White House forum Wednesday on "insourcing" - companies bringing jobs and investment back to the United States.

In Charlotte, Siemens added gas turbines to its existing steam turbine and electric generator product lines at a once-troubled plant that turned itself around with cost-cutting and production efficiencies. With the expansion, Siemens doubled its local employment, to 1,400 people.

President Barack Obama said at Wednesday's forum that he will propose new tax benefits to reward companies that invest in the U.S. and end advantages for those who move jobs overseas.