Siemens Powers to Multi-Project Contracts in Middle East

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Siemens (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) power generation group (SPG) has built up a string of projects in the Middle East and should be well set for further orders for power generation plant and services as more power and water desalination projects pass the planning stage for implementation before 2010.

The company has won its first turnkey project contract in gas-rich Qatar to construct a 1,025 MW combined-cycle power plant, with partner Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction (Seoul, Korea), for the desalination plant at Ras Laffan B. The scope of material and services SPG will supply under the contract includes three gas turbines, two steam turbines and the associated electrical and instrumentation and control equipment.

The first phase of the project is due to start operation in 2006. When full commercial operation begins in 2008, the seawater distillation plant supplied by Doosan will produce about 60 million gallons of water a day.

In Abu Dhabi, SPG is working on an $845 million contract as a consortium leader. German-based Babcock Borsig is performing upgrade work on the existing 1,000 MW Taweelah B plant. In the $3 billion expansion project, PSG will be responsible for the new power island. The company will supply the main power equipment, including three SGT5-4000F (formerly V39.3A) gas turbines, one steam turbine, four generators, and ancillary equipment, plus the plant island.

Fisia Italimpianti SpA (Genoa, Italy) will build and supply the equipment for the desalination plant and potable water system, including the new Transco pumping station. When the expansion project is completed in 2008, it will have double power generation to 2,000 MW and increased water output from 95 million gallons a day to 160 million gallons a day.

The own, operate and expand contract for the project was awarded to Marubeni Corporation (Japan), in cooperation with Japan's JGC, the U.S. company, BTU Power (Burlington, Massachusetts and Dubai), and Malaysian developer Powertek Berhad.

At the El Kureimat power station in Egypt, on the banks of the Nile, 90 kilometers south of Cairo, SPG will supply two 600 MW gas turbines and the plant's auxiliary systems. The grassroot EPC contract for the project was awarded by the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and the Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company to Washington Group International (NASDAQ:WGII) (Boise, Idaho). The scope of the project includes plant start-up and commissioning and initial operation. WGI constructed a switchyard with kV GIS equipment and about 160 kilometers of transmission lines at 500 kV and 230 kV, which will provide interconnection to the EEA grid.

In 2007, the Marib power station in Yemen will benefit commercial operation. The 340 MW plant will be powered by three Siemens SGT5-2000E gas turbines and will help to close the gap on the country's chronic power shortages. Also in 2007, a 400 MW power plant will be commissioned in Dubai using three Siemens gas turbines.

In February, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder inaugurated the 1,000 MW power station at Az Zour in Kuwait. The first 500 MW phase of the $523 million project, powered by four Siemens gas turbines, began operation in mid-2004.

Recent orders won by Siemens in the region in 2005 are worth $602 million, and over a twelve-month period, new business must be nearer the $1 billion mark.

Reports say that a consortium of Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, and the German government has had discussions in the UAE on the possibility of constructing an 800-kilometer Transrapid Gulf high-tech rail system, which would require an investment of over $16 billion.

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