Despite the reported fall in people moving to the Middle East to live, plentiful population growth continues across the region, forcing local governments and companies into making sure that sufficient water, waste water and electricity infrastructure is in place to provide for the local inhabitants.
As ever with the Middle East, some of the large-scale projects proposed are as grand and sophisticated as they are lofty in their aspirations; huge mega projects costing vast sums of money with the latest technologies available. We, therefore, supply you with a list of ten such projects around the Middle East that we feel your company needs to be involved with.
- Shuweihat 2 (UAE)
- UAE Nuclear Programme
- Ras Girtas Power Project (Qatar)
- Marafiq Jubail and Yanbu Projects (Saudi Arabia)
- Hassyan Power and Desalination Plant (UAE)
- Mesaieed Independent Power Plant (Qatar)
- Masdar City (UAE)
- Qatar Solar Power Plant (Qatar)
- Subiya Plant (Kuwait)
- Abu Dhabi Project (UAE)
1. Shuweihat 2 (UAE)
Type: IWPP
Clients: Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, GDF Suez (France)
Capacity: 1500 MW power / 455000 m3/d desalinated water
Cost: US$2.9 billion
Completion: September 2011
Formed as a joint venture (JV) between the Abu Dhabi Water and Electric Authority (ADWEA) and France’s GDF Suez, the Shuweihat 2 Independent Water and Power Plant (S2 IWPP) will be capable of producing 1500 MW of power and 455000 m3/d of desalinated water once completed in 2011.
Located in Jebel Dhana, Shuweihat, UAE, the eighth IWPP from ADWEA is being built to meet growing demand in the region. In December 2008, both GDF Suez and ADWEA issued a notice to that the IWPP construction was proceeding and that the EPC contractors were Samsung Corporation, Siemens and Doosan Heavy Industries.
Financing of the project will be closed in August, according to a representative from GDF Suez, with the total cost of the project thought to be approximately US$2.9 billion. The project is 60% owned by ADWEA and 40% by GDF Suez.
2. UAE Nuclear Programme
Type: Nuclear power
Capacity: Unknown
Cost: $60 billion (est.)
Completion: Unknown
While other countries in the region seriously consider the possibility of developing nuclear programmes to meet growing energy needs, the UAE looks to be the closest to implementing what would be the GCC’s first. It is currently establishing a legal and regulatory framework for the industry and firm decisions and strategies are expected soon.
A recent government study concluded that the demand for energy in the UAE will grow by 9% by 2020 to 40,000 MW, a figure too high to be supplied by natural gas and alternative energy supplies such as wind and solar, and the report rejected the use of oil liquids or coal fired power generation as environmentally unsound. The study concluded that nuclear power was an “environmentally promising and commercially competitive option which could make a significant contribution to the UAE’s economy and future energy security”.
In January 2009 an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation with the US was signed, also known as a 123 Agreement, while the UAE has also signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreements on nuclear energy with France, the US, the UK and Japan. Reactors from France and the US are being assessed and teams from international companies have begun establishing the nascent UAE nuclear industry.
3. Ras Girtas Power Project (Qatar)
Type: IWPP
Client: Ras Girtas Co. for Power
Capacity: 2730 MW and 63 million gallons per day (MIGD)
Cost: $3.9 billion (est.)
Completion: 2011 (est.)
The Ras Girtas Company for Power project will see the construction of Ras Girtas power and water plant in Qatar. The plant capacity is 2,730MW of electricity and 63 million gallons per day of potable water, and will be located in Ras Laffan.
Mitsui Corporation of Japan was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract which in turn sub-contracted Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company of Korea, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry of Japan and Sidem of France. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2010; meanwhile the project will be completed in April 2011.
Ras Girtas Co. for Power is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (15%), Qatar Electricity and Water Company (45%), GDF Suez of France (20%), Mitsui Corporation of Japan (10%), Chubu Corporation of Japan (5%) and Shikoku Corporation of Japan (5%).
4. Marafiq Jubail and Yanbu Projects (Saudi Arabia)
Type: IWPP
Client: Marafiq
Capacity: 2745 MW and 800,000 m3/d (Jubail), 1700 MW and 150,000 m3/d (Yanbu)
Cost: $7.4 billion (combined est.)
Completion: 2010 (Jubail) and 2013 (Yanbu, est.)
Saudi Arabia’s Marafiq is in charge of two of the largest IWPP projects currently underway in the region for both the east and west coast of the country, located in Jubail Industrial City and Yanbu Industrial City.
The Jubail power plant will be comprised of four blocks and based on Combined Cycle Gas turbines, while the desalination plant will comprise 27 units using Multiple Effect Distillation Technology (MED). Once completed in 2010, the Jubail plant will add 2745 MW of power and 800,000 m3/d of desalinated water to Jubail Industrial City and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
The more recent of the two Marafiq projects, The Yanbu plant will have a smaller capacity of 700MW and a desalination capacity of 150,000 m3/d. Marafiq has now invited tenders for the IWPP located in Yanbu Industrial City, on the north-western (Red Sea) coast of Saudi Arabia. The plant will use cracked heavy fuel oil (HFO) with (LAC) as a backup fuel.
5. Hassyan Power and Desalination Plant (UAE)
Type: IWPP
Client: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
Capacity: 9000 MW and 700 million gallons per day (MIGD)
Cost: $8.6 billion
Completion: 2012 (Phase I and II)
Once completed, the Hassyan plant will become the world’s largest IWPP plant with a whopping capacity of 9000 MW and 700 MIGD. The plant is being built in six stages, with Phase I and II due by 2012, each with a capacity of 1500 MW and 120 MIGD.
The plant is being built on a 4km2 site situated south west of Dubai next to Nakheel’s Dubai Waterfront development. A seawater intake canal carrying 90,000 gallons of water per second, which is currently under construction, will provide each of the six stages of the plant with water.
6. Mesaieed Independent Power Plant (Qatar)
Type: IPP
Client: Mesaieed
Capacity: 2000 MW
Cost: $2.4 billion
Completion: 2010
The Mesaieed Project will see the construction of a 2000 MW power plant and a large substation, the output of which will serve the Qatar national grid and the proposed Mesaieed aluminium smelter.
GE was awarded the contract of installation six Frame 9FA gas turbines, two Frame 6B gas turbines, six 330H type generators, and three D11 steam turbines. Iberdrola Ingenieria Y Construction was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in November 2006. The project is expected to be completed by Q2 2010, and Qatar Petroleum will supply gas for the plant.
7. Masdar City (UAE)
Type: Sustainable energy city
Client: Masdar
Capacity: unknown
Cost: $22 billion
Completion: 2014
Masdar City is the development project run by Masdar, the wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, which aims to build a city which is carbon-neutral and has a zero-waste output just outside of Abu Dhabi. The main component of this is the provision of green and alternative energy sources to the businesses and inhabitants of the city.
Power will come from multiple sources, including photovoltaic technology, concentrated solar power, geothermal, wind farms, solar thermal evacuated tube collectors and waste to energy plants. The company is also researching less energy intensive forms of water desalination such as seawater greenhouses, as well as more advanced water recycling programmes.
Masdar City will cover approximately 6km2 and will be home to roughly 50,000 people and 1500 companies, some of which will be Fortune 500 companies and cutting-edge technological firms. The projected cost of the project has been put at $22 billion and is scheduled for completion in 2014.
8. Qatar Solar Power Plant (Qatar)
Type: Solar Cell Manufacturing Plant and Solar Power Plant
Client: Qatar Foundation
Capacity: 100 MW (initial)
Cost: $500 million (solar cell plant)
Completion: 2013 (est.)
Qatar Foundation, the private non-profit organisation, recently unveiled its plans for a $500 million solar cell plant to produce the polysilican required for solar cells. The cells manufactured at the plant will then be used to build a 100 MW solar power plant in Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) within the next five years.
The project will take only two years and the hi-tech modular plant is to be built in Europe by a leading manufacturer, then put together in Qatar on site. QSTP will also encourage its tenants Tata, Chevron, Shell, and Total, which are major players in solar, to collaborate with Qatari companies emerging in the sector.
9. Subiya Plant (Kuwait)
Type: IPP
Client: Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water
Capacity: 2000 MW
Cost: $2.4 billion
Completion: 2012 – 2014
The Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water recently launched a tender for the construction of a power plant in Subiya, Kuwait, with a deal expected to be signed by July. Subiya Plant will have a power capacity in the region of 2000 MW and cost approximately $2.4 billion to build.
Six pre-qualifiers for bidding included Germany’s Siemens, GE, Japan’s Mitsui & Co and Marubeni Corporation, Spain’s Iberdrola Ingenieria Y Construccion and Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Limited. Kuwait, with one of the world’s highest per capita power consumption rates, has said it plans to boost power capacity to around 16,000 MW from 10,000 MW by 2012.
10. Abu Dhabi Project (UAE)
Type: Hydrogen power plant and CCS system
Client: Hydrogen Energy
Capacity: 420 MW
Cost: $2 billion
Completion: 2013
Hydrogen Energy, the company equally owned by BP and Rio Tinto and formed in 2007, has begun construction of the first industrial-scale installation of an integrated hydrogen power and CCS system. Named the Abu Dhabi Project, the plant will supply 420 MW once completed in 2013 – 5% of Abu Dhabi’s current power generation capacity.
The hydrogen plant works by taking natural gas and converting it into hydrogen and CO2; the hydrogen then being used as fuel to create the power while the CO2 is re-injected into depleting reservoirs.
CO2 created by the plant will be transported and injected into one of Abu Dhabi’s oil fields, replacing the natural gas currently used for EOR freeing up the gas for domestic demand or export.
