POWER September 2015 - 36

TOP PLANTS
Qurayyah Combined Cycle Power
Plant, Qurayyah, Saudi Arabia
Owner/operator: Hajr Electricity Production Co.
Courtesy: Hajr Electricity Production Co.
Take one of the largest gas-fired plants in the world. Add 50C (122F)-degree heat
and frequent heavy sand storms. Then slot it into a three-year construction schedule.
What you get is a combined cycle behemoth with some unique technology and
a multi-faceted team that pulled off a massive job.
Thomas W. Overton, JD
T
he Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing
major population growth over the
next several decades and, with it, rapidly
growing electricity demand. In 2013, the
country generated 292.2 TWh of electricity,
which represents a year-on-year increase of
7% over 2012 alone, according to the 2014
BP Statistical Review of World Energy, and
more than double that generated in 2000.
Despite that rapid growth, the country has
struggled with razor-thin reserve margins,
which have hovered around 3% in recent
years, sometimes resulting in rolling blackouts
during summer months. In response
to this challenge, Saudi Arabia has one of
the most ambitious plans for its generating
capacity in the world: By 2032, it hopes to
double its current capacity of around 60 GW
to 120 GW, a process that will require tens of
billions of dollars in new investment.
Though it plans to greatly expand its currently
small renewable generation segment,
as well as begin generating nuclear power,
the bulk of the nation's power is likely to continue
to be fossil fuel-based-not surprising
for a country that holds a substantial portion
of the world's oil and gas reserves.
Because Saudi Arabia's population is concentrated
in a few urban and industrial areas,
very large power plants are the norm, with
36
some operating as many as 40 gas turbines
on the same site.
The country's electricity sector is dominated
by the Saudi Electric Co. (SEC), which
owns nearly all of the generating capacity-
about 58 GW. Still, efforts have begun to
liberalize the national electric market. One
change was allowing the national oil company,
Saudi Aramco, to sell excess generation
from its captive plants through the SEC.
But to help meet the enormous demand
for new generation and attract foreign investment
in its power sector, the Saudi government
elected to begin allowing independent
power producers (IPPs) to build and operate
their own power plants. This required a
number of changes in how power plants were
financed in the Kingdom. To help make it an
attractive target for investment, the Saudi IPP
program was set up to ensure power purchase
agreements (PPAs) would reflect the costs of
capital and returns.
Aggressive Plans
One such IPP is the Hajr Electricity Production
Co., a joint venture of SEC (50%), Saudi
firm ACWA Power (17.5%), Samsung C&T
(17.5%), and Mena Fund (15%). Hajr was
formed specifically to develop, build, and operate
the Qurayyah Combined Cycle Power
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Plant. Samsung C&T would be the engineering,
procurement, and construction provider,
and SEC would be the sole customer for its
electricity under a 20-year PPA. Despite the
project's enormous size, financial closing was
achieved seven months after contract signing.
The site was chosen to leverage several advantages.
First, it was in the center of an industrial
hub, with much of the demand fairly
close by. It was also close to natural gas supplies,
meaning relatively little new fueling
infrastructure would be needed. Finally, the
location along the coast meant seawater could
be used for cooling. That was an advantage,
as the hot climate in Saudi Arabia makes aircooled
condensers much less efficient.
The contract was signed in September
2011, and notice to proceed with construction
was received from the government in
December. Qurayyah was initially planned
for around 2 GW of total capacity, but the
nation's ever-growing demand caused that
goal to be doubled-on the same schedule.
The end result is one of the largest combined
cycle plants in the world. The facility
is composed of six separate power blocks,
each comprising two Siemens SGT6-5000F
gas turbines feeding two BHI heat recovery
steam generators and a single SST6-4000
steam turbine. Each turbine drives a Siemens
POWER | September 2015
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POWER September 2015

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