Aug 10 2005
The Siemens Power Generation Group (PG) is to build a turnkey combined cycle power plant in Azerbaijan. With this major order PG will at the same time gain a foothold in the dynamic oil production region on the Caspian Sea. Purchaser is the state-owned utility Azerenerji JSC based in Baku. The contract is valued at approximately EUR260 million.
In Sumgait, approximately 30 kilometers northwest of the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Siemens will build a combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 500 megawatts. The seawater-cooled plant is to be built at an existing power plant site on the Caspian Sea. For the turnkey project Siemens PG will supply two gas turbines, one steam turbine and three generators. The scope of supply will also include the entire mechanical equipment with two heat-recovery steam generators, and the electrical and I&C equipment. Following the start of commercial operation in the fall of 2007, the natural gas-fired power plant will feed electricity into the country’s public grid.
The recovery of Azerbaijan’s extensive oil and gas reserves has resulted in significant growth. In the last seven years the country’s gross domestic product has more than doubled. Power demand is increasing at a rate of approximately 5 percent per annum. The present installed power plant capacity is not sufficient. Electricity therefore has to be imported from Turkey, Iran and Russia. Power supply bottlenecks are hindering the country’s economic development and power failures are a common occurrence above all in the winter months. Azerbaijan urgently needs additional power plant capacity. The construction of further new combined cycle power plants is therefore planned in the next few years.
“The Sumgait power plant will not only considerably stabilize supply security in Azerbaijan but also significantly relieve the burden on the environment,” stated Klaus Voges, President of Siemens Power Generation. “With this project we have at the same time gained a foothold in the rapidly developing market in the oil production region of the Caspian Sea,” said Voges.
http://www.siemens.com