Siemens to power Yemen

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-led consortium has secured a contract from Yemeni utility, Public Electricity Corporation (PEC) to construct a gas turbine power plant in

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The contract, signed in Sanaa, is valued at approximately 120 million Euros. The share of the contract for Siemens Power Generation (PG) is about 75 million Euros.

The new gas turbine power plant, which will have a capacity of 340 megawatts, will be built in Marib, some 200 km east of the capital Sanaa. PG’s scope of supply and services for the Marib I unit includes three gas turbines, the instrumentation and controls systems, and overall project management.

Arabian BEMCO, the Saudi consortium partner, will be responsible for the other electrical and mechanical equipment, and for the civil structures and installation. Project financing will be secured through the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, the Saudi Fund for Development and the Yemeni state.

The plant will begin commercial operation in the summer of 2007 and feed power into the Yemeni grid. Previously unutilised natural gas from the oil recovery operations of Yemen Hunt Oil Company will be used to fuel the plant.

Marib I is the first major milestone in the expansion of the country’s power supply. Based on the plans of the Yemeni government, a total power plant capacity of 1,000 megawatts will be installed at this site in three phases.