An international consortium, headed by Germany's Siemens Power Generation Group (PG), recently signed an $895 million contract to build a water and power plant near Abu Dhabi, which will become fully operational by 2004. The deal, signed with the state-run Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA), is Siemens’ largest investment in the Gulf region to date, and provides for the company’s fifth power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Shuweihat complex will be located 250 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi, and will consist of a gas-fuelled 1,500-megawatt power plant and a water desalination facility with a capacity of 100 million imperial gallons per day. The facility is designed to expand its capacity in the future, to 5,000 megawatts and 300 million gallons of potable water a day, reported .
Siemens president Heinrich von Pierer recently signed the contracts providing long-term maintenance and high-voltage switchgear for the new power plant. Siemens will also be responsible for turnkey construction of the power plant and will supply five gas turbines, two steam turbines, seven electrical generators and all the ancillary systems. Consortium partner, Italy’s Fisa Italimpianti, will be responsible for the desalination facility.
British energy group International Power and the American CMS Energy, joint developers of the project, will operate and maintain power and desalination operations for 20 years. ADWEA will own 60 percent of the project, while CMS Energy and International Power will have 20 percent each.
In addition to the new plant in the UAE, Siemens recently signed a contract to contribute $7.7 million to the Omani Abu Hatem Group for the construction of a new information technology village in the Al-Rasil Industrial region, reported Al-Ittihad.
The Siemens Power Generation Group (PG) had supplied around 30,000 megawatts of power plant capacity to the Gulf region. The electronics and engineering group posted $7.6 billion sales for fiscal year 2001, according to preliminary figures. The group received new orders totaling $10.8 billion for the same period. Siemens PG has a workforce of around 26,500 worldwide. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
