On 2 March 2017 an inauguration ceremony, with a guest list that included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, was held to mark successful completion of the first phase of Siemens’ Egypt Megaproject. This first phase has consisted of the delivery and grid connection of the first twelve H class gas turbines, currently operating in simple cycle mode, with a total installed capacity of 4.8 GW, at three power plant sites, Beni Suef, New Capital and Burullus, The event marked an important milestone towards the completion of the project, which will boost the country’s power generation capacity by 45% when finished. Once completed and converted to combined cycle the total installed capacity of the three power plants will be 14.4 GW.
The Siemens scope of supply for the three power plants includes 24 H class gas turbines, twelve steam turbines, 36 generators, 24 heat recovery steam generators, three 500 kV gas-insulated switchgear systems, and 9-yearserviceandmaintenanceagreements for each power plant, with the financing package for the Siemens part of the contracts structured by Siemens Financial Services.
Together with its local partners, Orascom Construction and Elsewedy Electric, Siemens says it “broke all records in modern power plant construction” by connecting the first 4.8 GW of new capacity to the grid in only 18 months after the signing of the contract (in June 2015) for the company’s biggest single order ever.
Siemens points out that the 4.8 GW achieved so far in fact exceeds its undertaking to have 4.4 GW of new capacity connected to the grid during the first phase, by 400 MW, ie, one H class turbine installation.
Following the delivery of the SGT5-8000H gas turbines, the first steam turbine for the Egypt Megaproject began its journey in December 2016 from the Siemens factory in Muelheim to the Beni Suef site. The main components of the 670-ton cargo were lifted with a heavy-duty crane from the production hall onto a transport vessel standing by at the plant’s inland harbour facilities. The vessel transported the SST-5000 steam turbine from Muelheim to the deep-water port of Antwerp where it was loaded onto a heavy cargo ship and transported to Egypt.
“We made a promise to Egypt and we keptourword.Andbydoingso,wenot only overachieved in performance, we also broke all records in modern turnkey power plant construction. This was only possible by an outstanding collaboration between the Government, the Ministry of Electricity, the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and a dedicated and competent Siemens team,” said Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG.
After completion, projected to be by May 2018, the three power stations will be the largest gas-fired combined cycle power plants ever built and operated in the world.
Emad Ghaly, CEO of Siemens Egypt, said: “The plants will supply enough electricity for 45 million people and enable Egypt to achieve USD1.3 billion in fuel savings on an annual basis.”
The projects are being implemented by a construction workforce of over 20 000 people. Complementary to the Megaproject, Siemenssaysitissupporting“thedevelopment of a future highly skilled Egyptian workforce”, and has announced the details of a strategic alliance agreement between Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the company to support occupational training in Egypt. Siemens says it has also successfully put the first three substations into operation that will transmit the electricity generated by the three power plants to Egypt’s power grid. The three substations, Etay El-Baroud, Maghagha and Kafr El Zayat, were ready for operation within ten months from signing the contracts, to match the implementation timeframe of the power plants. In December 2016, Siemens and El Sewedy Electric T&D, signed a contract with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) for the design, engineering, supply and installation of further substations.
