Orascom to Build 62-Megawatt Combined-Cycle Solar Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The largest solar power plant in the Middle East and northern Africa will be constructed by Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) (Cairo, Egypt) in Kuraymat, Egypt. This is one of several large solar projects announced worldwide in 2007.The combined-cycle configuration, combined with incremental improvements in solar technology, is allowing increases in average power output per unit.

The $109 million contract was signed with the New and Renewable Energy Authority, a subsidiary of Egypt's Ministry of Electricity for the construction of the 62-megawatt (MW) integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) plant. The leading independent German engineering and renewable energy project company Fichtner Solar (Stuttgart, Germany) has been contracted for the technology and engineering of the new plant.

The project will be co-financed by the Global Environment Facility through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and by Egypt's government through a loan provided by the Bank of Egypt.

The engineering, procurement and construction) contract covers the testing and commissioning of the solar field and service area for the ISCC plant and all civil work plus two years of operation and maintenance for the plant. The plant will also have a meteorological station, special solar field equipment, a heat-transfer (HTF) area and an operation building. The solar power island will house a parabolic solar trough solar field capable of generating 62 MW of solar heat at a temperature of 393 degrees Celsius. It will also include the related instrumentation and communication systems, the control room and the HTF system, as well as the HTF inlet and outlet flanges of the solar heat exchangers.

OCI's Managing Director Osama Bishai said the company would continue to bid on similar projects in which the group's technical expertise could be fully leveraged. Orascom is a leading cement producer and construction contractor active in emerging markets and is currently active in more than 100 projects in more than 20 countries where it employs more than 40,000 people. The company also has partnerships with manufacturers and investments in natural gas and fertilizers.

In another Egyptian project incorporating solar power generation, a consortium of Spain's Iberdrola and Japan's Mitsui will build the thermal elements of a hybrid power station that will comprise a gas turbine combined-cycle unit, to be used at night, and a solar power unit that will operate during the day. The ISCC plant will have a total capacity of 150 MW with 110 MW coming from the thermal elements. The $210 million plant is scheduled to come on stream in 2010.

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