Middle Eastern energy expansion

GE Energy has received three contracts worth more than $1.8bn in total to supply 32 gas turbines and additional equipment for power plant projects in Kuwait and Qatar.

For the first contract, GE will supply 20 Frame 9E gas turbines, with a capacity of 2.5GW, to Kharafi National of Kuwait for the Sabiya Power Station, which will be operated by Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity & Water. The other contracts are for power plants to be built in the industrial city of Mesaieed, Qatar.

The Sabiya plant will operate in simple-cycle base load mode, initially using liquid fuel that will switch to natural gas in three years time.

GE will manufacture the gas turbines in Belfort, France, and is expected to make shipments to the project site from October 2007 through to June next year.

In the second contract, GE will supply gas and steam power plant system services for a 2GW power plant in Qatar. The plant will be built by Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion, Madrid, Spain, and owned by the Mesaieed Power Company.

GE will deliver six Frame 9FA gas turbines, six 330H type generators and three D11 steam turbines and two Frame 6B gas turbines for the Qatar power plant. It will be fuelled primarily with natural gas.

In addition to supplying equipment, GE has also agreed to provide 12 years of maintenance services.

The Qatar plant is expected to start producing power in July 2008, with full power output of 2GW reached by April 2010.

For the third project, GE will lead a consortium with Doosan Heavy Industries to provide four 9FA gas turbines and two steam turbines for Qatalum’s new, 1.25GW combined-cycle power plant that will be used to power Qatar’s first aluminium smelter.

Doosan’s role in the project will include work on a heat recovery steam generator, as well as the engineering, procurement and construction of the new power plant. It is expected to begin operating commercially by mid-2010, and will be also fuelled by natural gas.

GE also announced the expansion of its offices by establishing new power generation project bases in the Middle East to coordinate project management activities in the region.