2 GW combined cycle plant to come up in Oman

Phoenix Power's IPP will account for roughly 30% of Oman's electricity generation capacity.

Phoenix Power Company recently showcased at an event its 2,000 MW Independent Power Project (IPP) which will account for roughly 30% of Oman’s total electricity generation capacity. When fully operational in 2014, the station will account for roughly 30% of Oman’s total electricity generation capacity.

The project site is located between the facilities of Oman LNG and Oman-India Fertilizer Company (Omifco) in Sur. The site will hold a combined cycle gas turbine plant which will service a significant portion of electricity demand covered by the main interconnected system (MIS). Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation is a 50 per cent shareholder in Phoenix Power in the execution of this mega project.

Fast execution of project

In parallel with the construction of the plant, EPC contractor Daewoo E&C is also building a seawater intake system that will pump massive amounts of water for cooling purposes. A temporary jetty is also being built to facilitate the delivery of the gas turbines, steam turbines and other project equipment directly to site. Underlining its commitment to HSE guidelines, Phoenix and its EPC contractor have already logged 1.6 million man-hours with a Lost Time Incident (LTI) in the execution of the project so far.

Speaking at Monday’s showcase of the project, executive managing director of Phoenix Power, David Fearon said: “We are on track to installing the required 400 MW of capacity under our Early Power commitments by April 1, 2013. The first gas turbines, manufactured by Siemens, will be delivered at site by June, and will be progressively taken through the commissioning phases. In all, five gas turbines each of around 400 MW will be installed and commissioned in the run-up to the Commercial Operation Date of April 1, 2014.” 

Project cost and workforce

Nearly 80 per cent of the capital cost of the project will be met through project finance committed by a consortium of international lenders comprising Japanese, British and German banks, and steam turbines for the plant will be manufactured by Fuji Electric, also from Japan. Marubeni will work along with its partners in Phoenix Power — Chubu Electric Power Co, Inc (30 per cent), Qatar Electricity & Water Co, QSC (15 per cent) and Multitech LLC (5 per cent) with an army of 1,500 workers. The size of the workforce at site will climb to around 4,000 during peak construction period later this summer.