US-based General Electric (GE) has won contracts worth $1.8 billion (Dh6.6bn) to supply 32 gas turbines for power plants in Kuwait and Qatar. GE group company GE Energy has signed the deal.
Under the first of the new contracts announced yesterday, GE will supply 20 Frame 9E gas turbines to Kharafi National of Kuwait for the Sabiya Power Station, which will add more than 2.5 gigawatts of power capacity for the State of Kuwait. The new power plant will be owned and operated by Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity and Water, said a company statement.
The gas turbines will be manufactured at GE's facilities in Belfort, France, with shipments to the project site planned for October 2007 through June 2008. The commissioning phase for the new units is expected to begin in May 2008 and be completed in September 2008.
The Sabiya plant will operate in simple-cycle base load mode, initially using liquid fuel with plans to switch to natural gas when it becomes available in approximately three years.
In the second project, GE will supply gas and steam and power plant system services for a two-gigawatt power plant in Qatar - the largest such facility in the country and among the largest in the Middle East.
Owned and operated by the Mesaieed Power Company Limited of Mesaieed, Qatar, the new plant is being built by Iberdrola Ingenieriay Construccion SAU of Madrid, Spain.
GE will supply six Frame 9FA gas turbines, six 330H type generators and three D11 steam turbines, to be used for combined-cycle base load and part load operation.
It will supply two Frame 6B gas turbines for simple cycle black start duties.
The scope of GE's supply contract also includes additional plant equipment, technical advisory services, commissioning, performance tests and training. Under a separate contractual service agreement, GE will provide 12 years of maintenance services, encompassing two major inspection cycles.
Qatar's demand for power has increased by an average of around nine per cent from 2001 to 2005, while in 2006 it increased by more than 17 per cent, according to the International Energy Agency.
The first Frame 9FA gas turbine-generator was prepared for shipment and left the GE factory in June of 2007. The first Frame 6B gas turbine-generator is expected to be shipped in July 2007 and the first steam turbine-generator in February of 2008.
The plant is expected to begin producing its first gigawatt of power in July of 2008, with the full power output of two gigawatts planned by April of 2010.
The Frame 9FA gas turbines are being manufactured at GE's facilities in Greenville, the Frame 6B gas turbines in Belfort, France, and the steam turbines in Schenectady, New York. Natural gas will be the primary fuel for the power plant, with distillate as the backup. Emissions will be limited in the combined-cycle operation.
The third project, also in the Mesaieed Industrial City of Qatar, is a turnkey project in which GE will lead a consortium with Doosan Heavy Industries.
It will also provide four 9FA gas turbines and two steam turbines to Qatalum to generate power for the first aluminum smelter in Qatar.
By Emirates Today Staff
© Emirates Today 2007
