Saudi Electricity Company signed long-term partnership with General Electric on solar fields’ integration to combined-cycle enterprises. Alternative energy sources will help Kingdom’s government to save natural resources.
This project is supposed to condensate fuel for gas turbines. Future combined-cycle enterprises with integrated solar energy will generate enough amounts to supply more than 600 thousand civil houses with power for a year. They are supposed to construct on the Red Sea coast in northern west part of Saudi Arabia.
Arabian energy company president and executive director Ziyad M. Alshiha remarked that this part of the country is developing area with limited access to interconnections that is why an additional energy resource is extremely important for the further development. Both future project cost-efficiency and fuel flexibility are expected to encourage the Kingdom’s initiatives in fuel saving and renewable technology implementation. Above mentioned combined-cycle unites will provide country with 550 MW of energy while new designed solar fields are planned to supply people with additional 50 MW.
General Electric offers the engineering equipment to construct these combined-cycle plants including high-performance 7F0.5 and 7F0.3 F-class gas turbines, compensator, generators, boiler feed pumps, heat recovery steam generators and Mark Vle control system. Also it supplies future enterprises with servicing and warranty maintenance. The partner side from Saudi Arabia provides all other equipment required to install the solar fields, labour power, testing, installing and startup services.
7F0.5 gas turbine offered by American side is planned to operate with condensate, meanwhile 7F0.3 turbine will use natural gas and crude oil as a fallback.
General Electric president explained that implementation of solar energy and integration of condensate fuel correspond the government aims to support energy efficiency with increased focus on renewable energy sources.
