ALTAAQA Global Cat Rental Power, a leading global power solutions provider, has successfully installed a 54 MW power plant in Aden, Yemen.

The power plant will supply power for  up to 150,000 customers thus providing up to 15 per cent of the summer electricity demand in the province of Aden.

The project was the result of successful collaboration between Altaaqa and the local Yemeni team.

“This is one of the great success stories of synergy between the government, local community and private company in the power industry,” says a spokesman for the company.

Wahid Ali Rashid, governor of Aden province, and Public Electricity Corporation (PEC) officials, together with various government officials and the executives of Altaaqa Global inaugurated the power plant recently.

Director general of PEC Khalil Abdul-Malik says the power plant was built within 23 days from the day of signing the contract  and the fastest ever built in the history of Yemen. “This is a record breaking power project. The government, PEC and Altaaqa Global have worked together to deliver electricity to the province of Aden,” he says, adding that the power plant will alleviate the suffering of the citizens due to power outages and reduce the power deficit.

Abdul-Malik says that 95 per cent of the workforce working on the new power plant consisted of local Yemeni engineers and the remaining five per cent were from Altaaqa Global Caterpillar.

Peter den Boogert, general manager of business development of Altaaqa Global, comments: “Despite the fact that temperatures in summers reached 38 deg C, and that we could work for shorter periods during Ramadan, we were able to complete the power project due to our strong operational and streamlined business process.”

Altaaqa Global, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Zahid Group, has been selected by Caterpillar to deliver multi-megawatt turnkey temporary power solutions worldwide. The company owns, mobilises, installs, and operates efficient temporary independent power plants (IPPs) at sites, focusing on the emerging markets of sub-Sahara Africa, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Latin America, South East Asia, Middle East, and North Africa.