Misurata Simple-Cycle Power Plant

The Misurata power project is a 650MW gas-fired simple-cycle power plant (SCPP) under construction in the Misurata district of Libya.

State-owned General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) is the owner and developer of the project.

Construction works on the project were started in June 2021 with commissioning expected by October 2022.

The Misurata power plant, along with the 671MW Tripoli West power project, is being developed on a fast-track basis to meet Libya’s acute power supply shortage at the earliest.

While GECOL signed a contract with a Turkish-German consortium comprising Enka and Siemens in December 2017, the project remained suspended for nearly three years due to security reasons in the country.

Location and site details

The Misurata simple-cycle gas-fired power project is being developed near the existing Misurata power plant, on the Mediterranean coast in north-western Libya.

The project site lies approximately 200km east of Libya’s capital Tripoli.

Misurata simple-cycle power plant make-up

The Misurata simple cycle gas-fired power project will comprise a power island equipped with two sets of SGT5-PAC 4000F gas turbines and SGen5-2000H hydrogen-cooled generators (GTG). Each unit will have a rated power of 329MW002E

The SGT5-PAC 4000F gas turbine features a light and stiff rotor with internal cooling air passages to provide fast cold starts and hot restarts. It is equipped with a 15-stage axial-flow compressor and an annular combustion system.

The turbines will operate on natural gas (NG) as the primary fuel, while light distillate oil (LDO) will be used as the back-up fuel. The electricity generated by the combustion turbine-generator units will be stepped up through main transformers before being evacuated into the grid.

The other mechanical and auxiliary systems of the power plant will include air intake structure, an exhaust gas diffuser, fin-fan coolers, and a compressor cleaning unit.

The plant will also be equipped with continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) and distributed control system (DCS).

Contractors involved in the Misurata power project

Turkish engineering and construction company Enka has been engaged as the turnkey engineering, procurement and engineering (EPC) contractor for the Misurata simple-cycle gas-fired power project.

Enka’s scope of services included the design, detailed engineering, procurement, shipment of project materials, as well as construction, installation, pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up, and performance testing of the plant.

Siemens is responsible to manufacture and supply gas turbines and generators. It also has a long-term service agreement (LTSA) for the Misurata power plant.

Cimtas Pipe Fabrication and Trading, a company based in Turkey, was subcontracted to manufacture and supply pipe spools for the project in 2021.

Kortek Corrosion Technologies, which is also based in Turkey, was subcontracted by Enka to supply impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) for the tank bottom and galvanic cathodic protection CP system for tank internal surfaces.

Optilan, a subsidiary of US-based technology company DarkPulse, was contracted to provide the security and communications systems for the project in August 2021.

Ozgur Engineering Air Conditioning Industry Trade has been engaged for the mechanical installation works, while Hidromontaza, an engineering and construction company based in Slovenia, was contracted to build the physical security infrastructure at the project site.