In collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Siemens and its consortium partners ? Orascom Construction and Elsewedy Electric ? have completed of the world?s largest combined cycle power plants in Egypt in record time
The parties celebrated the combined cycle commissioning and the start of operations at the Beni Suef, Burullus and New Capital power plants.
According to Siemens, the stations will add a total of 14.4 GW of power generation capacity to Egypt?s national grid, which is expected to meet the electricity needs of 40mn people in the country.
?The completion of the power plants is a significant milestone in the government?s strategy to modernise energy infrastructure in Egypt to drive industrial growth and economic progress,? said Mohamed Shaker, Egypt?s minister of electricity and renewable energy.
?This is also why the plants were built in select locations across the country to serve the growing demand for electricity among households, businesses and industries. This new power infrastructure will serve as the backbone for economic prosperity in Egypt for years to come,? he added.
The power plants are expected to deliver more electricity to people in Upper Egypt, Delta Nile and Greater Cairo area, and support the country?s focus on industrialisation by providing reliable power supply to energy-intensive industries.
?The Burullus plant is expected to feed power to cement, oil and gas and petrochemical facilities as well as ongoing infrastructure development projects. The New Capital plant will energise Cairo?s new administrative capital, expected to be home to five million Egyptians, as well as the strategic New Suez Canal Development Zone, while the Beni Suef plant will service homes, businesses and industries in Upper Egypt area,? Siemens added.
Egypt megaproject
Each of the three power plants is powered by eight SGT5-8000 H-class gas turbines, four steam turbines, 12 generators, eight Siemens heat recovery steam generators, 12 transformers as well as a 500kV gas-insulated switchgear.
To improve the resilience of Egypt?s power grid, Siemens has also energised six substations to transmit electricity generated by the new power plants.
Karim Amin, global head of sales, power and gas division at Siemens AG, commented that the company will generate power at the three combined cycle plants, reaching a total net efficiency of more than 61 per cent, aiming to ensure reliable power generation.
?The H?class gas turbine technology will also help the country save more than US$1bn in annual fuel costs through better fuel utilisation,? Amin added.
