Utilities

Bapco signs major deal with Technip

Bapco signed a US$27 million and 24.6 million Euro (US$36.4 million) engineering, procurement and construction management contract with Technip France - Abu Dhabi for the installation of new steam turbo-generators with new housing and substation. "This project marks a significant step towards improving the reliability and operability of the power generation system in the refinery and other facilities," Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and Bapco chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said. "It will result in significant maintainability improvement and hence cost savings, and most importantly will further enhance the safety within the power plant," he said. "Technip, with its international branches, is not a stranger to the Middle East and Bahrain. In the Middle East, Technip is accounting for around half of the onshore workload where it is implementing many major projects in Saudi Aramco, Qatar and Yemen.

Abu Dhabi power project secures US$2.15bn financing

Abu Dhabi has sealed a US$2.15 billion long-term financing deal for its Shuweihat 2 water and power project, signaling the return of appetite for regional project finance, officials and bankers said this month. The 22-year financing for the project by Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) from a consortium of 15 regional and international banks is the biggest financing deal in the region this year. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) committed half of the financing, while National Bank of Abu Dhabi is the only bank from the United Arab Emirates that is part of the deal.

GE to supply integrated control system for SEC's Riyadh Power Plant 10

GE Energy has signed a contract to supply a Mark VIe integrated control system for Saudi Electricity Company's Riyadh Power Plant 10 in Saudi Arabia. GE Energy has said that the advanced optimization and control technology is designed to improve overall plant reliability and deliver operational and maintenance efficiency over the generating life of the facility. GE Energy will be responsible for the engineering, supply and technical installation services for the integrated control system (ICS) at the 2,000MW Riyadh Power Plant 10, consisting of more than 30 GE Frame 7EA gas turbine generating units.

El Sewedy Cables starts production at Ethiopia’s $36 million plant

Egypt’s cables producer El Sewedy started production at its power cables plant in Addis Ababa, with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons of copper and aluminum, the company said in a statement. Total investment for the construction of the plant reached US$36 million, and was 40 per cent financed through equity. The remainder was financed through medium-term debt facilities raised in Ethiopia. The company owns 85.7 per cent of the new facility while its partner, Dynamic General Trading, owns the balance. The company said in July it would also build a US$25 dollar million electric transformer plant in Nigeria. El Sewedy is the largest Arab cable maker by market value.

UAE's Taqa sees growth and eyes Iraq expansion

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co plans to start construction of a 500 megawatt power plant on the outskirts of Iraq's capital Baghdad this year, the company's chief executive said. Taqa which is 75 per cent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, and is one of the vehicles the emirate uses to invest oil money, is also expecting strong third quarter growth in 2009, close to levels seen during the same period last year, Peter Barker-Homek said in an interview. "Quarter-on-quarter you'll see a growth in income, and I expect 2010 to be good, maybe getting us back to levels very close to 2008," said Barker-Homek. The company expects growth levels to pick up by 2010 following the global financial crisis, which has curbed spending on new projects.

Saudi Electricity eyes banks, sukuk to fund US$1.8bn deal

Power utility Saudi Electricity said it would borrow from banks and use Islamic bond to help finance a 6.88 billion riyals (US$1.84 billion) contract signed this month. The Gulf's largest utility by market value signed the agreement awarding South Korean builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and Arabian Bemco Contracting Co the contract to expand al-Qurrayah power plant. The contract is for the conversion of al-Qurrayah into a combined-cycle regime from a gas-powered plant to add 1,241 megawatts of new capacity, Saudi Electricity said.

Kuwait extends US$15.6m to upgrade Uzbek irrigation and drainage

Kuwait has signed a loan agreement with Uzbekistan worth US$15.62 million to fund building and renovating irrigation and drainage networks. The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KAFED) said that the projects, to be launched in the districts of Syrdarya and Jizzakh, are aimed at increasing agricultural production, improving living conditions of the farmers in these regions and realizing regional food security. The projects would renovate irrigation and drainage networks for areas as large as 222,000 hectares, and 210,000 hectares in the two districts. The projects also include renovating irrigation pipes 347 kilometers long in Syrdarya, and a fully equipped plant with irrigation networks, electrical equipment, and sewage plants in Jizzakh.