GE Wins Contract For 600 MW Integrated Solar Combined-Cycle Project In Saudi Arabia
General Electric (GE) has won a contract to supply a 600 MW integrated solar combined-cycle power plant for the Green Duba project in Saudi Arabia, according to recent reports.
As the name of the project implies, it is being developed in the Saudi Red Sea port-city of Duba — by the country’s utility, the Saudi Electricity Company. The project represents Saudi Arabia’s first (presumably in a line of projects) integration of concentrating solar energy technology in a combined-cycle power plant.
As per what’s been revealed, the parabolic trough portion of the project will generate around 50 MW. Note that this project is quite similar to the concentrated solar power and gas plant in Abu Dhabi, UAE, called Shams 1. Also worth noting (though not pertaining to renewables), is that this project will also mark Saudi Arabia’s first use of condensate as a gas-turbine fuel.
Reportedly, the project will mostly utilize F-class gas turbines for energy generation, with the concentrating solar parabolic trough addition being a sort of “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” kind of thing. Or perhaps the country is dipping its toes in here in order to see how it works before progressing with bigger projects.
The full order from GE includes: “two highly efficient, reliable F-class gas turbines, a 7F.05 and a 7F.03; steam turbine; generators; heat recovery steam generators (HRSG); condenser; boiler feed pumps; Mark VIe distributed control system and a long-term service agreement.”
The project as a whole will generate enough electricity every year to power the equivalent of ~600,000 households.
Commenting on the project (to Zawya), the Saudi Electricity Company’s CEO, Ziyad M Alshiha, noted that the region where the project was being developed was a “developing region with limited grid interconnection, so the additional power generated by the Green Duba project will be tremendously important in supporting growth.”
“We expect the plant to provide cost-efficiencies over its lifecycle, along with the fuel flexibility and solar capabilities needed to support the Kingdom’s fuel conservation and renewable technology initiatives.”
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This is pretty much greenwashing: 50 MW of CSP solar to 550 MW gas. The most favourable reading is that it allows GE – not hitherto a player – and Saudi Arabia to get some hands-on experience with the technology.
That most new capacity is now gas (either NG or condensate) is an environmental improvement in itself for a country that has historically leaned heavily on fuel oil for electricity generation.
But you’re right, the solar part is pathetic. Oh well, let’s be generous and say that it’s a demo project 🙂
Saudi Arabia gets most of its power generation from burning its own oil.
Obviously, even with the current dip in oil prices, it would make much better business sense to use PV panels to generate power and make more money selling the oil abroad. And that oil will run out one day.
Arabia has the sun and empty space to power all of the Middle East.