SIEMENS has been contracted to supply the key components for what will be the largest gasification-based power plant in the world for Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia under a contract worth $966.8 million.

The major combined-cycle power plant will have an installed capacity of 4,000 MW and will deliver electricity to the Jazan Industrial City area in the southwest of the country and to the refinery of Jazan, which will additionally be supplied with process steam.

The plant will be fuelled with gasified refinery residues, which contribute greatly to the preservation of the country’s energy resources.

“This is not only the largest order to date for Siemens from Saudi Aramco, but also a significant milestone in our successful cooperation with the biggest oil company in the world, and is proof of success of our regionalisation strategy,” says Michael Suess, member of the managing board of Siemens and CEO of the Energy Sector.

Siemens’ scope of supply includes 10 gas turbines specially designed for synthesis gas (syngas) and diesel fuel, of which six will be manufactured in Saudi Arabia, five steam turbines, 15 generators and 10 heat recovery steam generators. The gas turbine model (SGT6-5000F) to be used in Jazan is optimally suited for operation with syngas from gasification plants and has a successful track record of more than nine million operating hours.

The SGT6-5000F … the gas turbine model to be used at Jazan.

“This new, highly efficient combined cycle power plant is an important part of our major project in the new economic zone in Jazan, and for this we must have efficient and reliable technology. We are looking forward to working with Siemens on this strategic project,” says Nabil Aldabal, managing director of Aramco Overseas Company.

“Our flexible, efficient and proven technology will further contribute to support Saudi Arabia with its ambitious industrialisation and economic development plans,” says Suess.

Saudi Arabia, with its large oil and natural gas reserves, is the largest economy in the Gulf region and a significant growth market for efficient fossil power generation. In this decade, it is anticipated that Saudi Arabia’s population will increase from the current 28 million to 34 million in 2020. To meet the predicted annual rise in power demand of about six per cent per year, the installed power generation capacity will have to at least double within 10 years from 67 GW in 2012 to an estimated 140 GW in 2020.

Siemens Saudi Arabia is investing in this growing market by constructing a facility in Dammam for the manufacturing of gas turbines and related equipment and for the servicing of this equipment in the country. Six of the ordered combustion gas turbines will be manufactured at this new facility.

The Jazan power plant comprises five units. Commissioning of the first two blocks is scheduled for spring of 2016. The next block will follow in spring 2017. The other units will go online successively after this at intervals of a few months each.

Siemens is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare as well as providing infrastructure solutions, primarily for cities and metropolitan areas.

A major part of Siemens is the Energy Sector – the world’s leading supplier of a broad spectrum of products, services and solutions for power generation in thermal power plants and using renewables, power transmission in grids and for the extraction, processing and transport of oil and gas. In the 2012 fiscal year, the Energy Sector had revenues of €27.5 billion ($36.53 billion) and a workforce of almost 86,000. It received new orders totalling approximately €26.9 billion ($35.69 billion) and posted a profit of €2.2 billion ($2.91 billion).