Iberdrola Commissions Gas-Fired, Combined-Cycle Power Plant for Mesaieed Power in Qatar

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Electricity generation and distribution company Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion S.A. (MCE:IBE) (Bilbao, Spain) has commissioned one of the largest combined-cycle power plants in the Middle East: the 2,000-megawatt (MW) power plant in Mesaieed, Qatar.

The plant was developed for the Mesaieed Power Company Limited (Mesaieed), which is a joint venture company owned by Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.S.C. (DOH:QEWS) (Kahramaa) (Doha, Qatar), which holds a 40% stake; Marubeni Corporation (TYO:8002) (Tokyo, Japan), which holds 30%; the state-owned Qatar Petroleum (Doha), which holds 20%; and Chubu Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9502) (Nagoya, Japan), which holds 10%.

Kahramaa was established in July 2000 to regulate and maintain the supply of electricity and water to consumers in Qatar. It operates as an independent corporation on a commercial basis, with the Qatar government holding more than 40% of the company shares.

Iberdrola was awarded the contract for the power plant in March 2007, when the project value was reported to be $1.66 billion, although according to reports the costs have increased to $2.3 billion. The commissioning of the plant raises the installed power generation capacity of Qatar by 55%, and the plant will supply the 1.2 million inhabitants of Qatar with about 40% of their power requirements.

The combined-cycle power plant equipment consists of three groups, set up in a 2x2x1 configuration, and two "black start" turbines, the latter used to restore the power station to operation in the case of a total breakdown of external power supplies.

In total, the plant uses six model 9 FA gas turbines supplied by GE Energy (Atlanta, Georgia), a division of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut), together with six heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), three D11 condensing steam turbines, and two 6B dual gas-diesel turbines.

Not only is the plant one of the largest in the Middle East, but it includes one of the largest power sub-stations in the world, consisting of three separate buildings that cover a land area of more than 12,250 square meters. Each of the buildings houses equipment designed for particular voltages: 400 kilovolts, 220 kilovolts and 132 kilovolts.

The system for the protection, control and measurement of the distribution facility, known as a Gas Insulated Switchyard, was developed by Iberdrola to simplify maintenance operations and to ensure correct operations under severe weather conditions, such as sandstorms and extreme heat. The control system for the sub-station is connected to the Kahramaa national control center by fiber optic cables.

Kahramaa is also working on the construction of a second large-capacity power plant in Ras Qurtas, which will have an installed capacity of 2,730 MW. The Qatar Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, while attending the inauguration ceremony, said that Qatar is looking at exporting electricity to neighboring countries such as Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation countries, although no "serious proposals" have been received so far.

When both power plants are fully operational sometime in 2011, Qatar will have an installed capacity of more than 9,000 MW, giving it a spare power capacity of more than 500 MW. Exporting this surplus is one option, with another being the exploitation of the excess power by increasing industrial projects that require large amounts of power, such as aluminum smelters.

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