GE Awarded EPC Turn-key Contract in Spain's Canary Islands

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Union Electrica de Canarias (Unelco) (Las Palmas de Granadilla, Canary Islands), the subsidiary of Spain's largest utility Endesa SA (LSE: END) (Madrid Spain), has recently awarded a turn-key engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a 241 megawatt natural gas fired combined-cycle power station. The power plant is to be located in the city of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife which is part of an island chain belonging to Spain called the Canary Islands that are situated off the northwestern coast of Africa. The contract was awarded to a consortium consisting of General Electric Power Systems (GEPS) (NYSE: GE) (Schenectady, New York) and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas SA (Madrid, Spain).

General Electric's contract calls for the installation of two 70 megawatt (GE MS6001FA) combustion turbine generators each with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to drive a single 74 megawatt steam turbine generator. GEPS contract also includes the plant's distribution control system, technical advisory servicing during erection, commissioning, and training.

Tecnicas Reunidas SA will be responsible for the civil work, design, balance-of-plant equipment erection, and commissioning at the plant site. As things currently stand, mechanical construction kick-off should start during the second quarter of 2003, and is scheduled for commercial operation in second quarter of 2005. All power generated from the plant will be used to supply the Island's energy needs.

Endesa SA is Spain's largest utility corporation and has 21,000 megawatts of domestic and over 19,000 megawatts of international capacity and has additional interests in Spanish gas, water and telecommunication companies. Endesa has 26,885 employees worldwide and has just over $1.3 billion in total company worth.

General Electric Power Systems is General Electric's second-largest division that serves the utility, industrial and governmental customers worldwide. GEPS supplies products such as turbines, generators, compressors and nuclear reactors. It also provides fuel and support services plus equipment that supports the oil and gas distribution industry. GEPS has over 3,500 employees and had over $23 million in total sales in 2002.