SEC signs deal with GE for gas turbines

According to a report published by Arab News on 5 January 2015, the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has selected General Electric (GE) to provide equipment for Saudi Arabia's Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) power plant.

The Duba 1 ISCC project is a first-of-a-kind in the Kingdom and will be built in the Tabuk region, in the North-Western part of Saudi Arabia. The project is designed to generate up to 550 MW from the combined cycle plant, whereas the solar field will supply steam for an additional 50 MW.

The deal includes “two 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”, as said in the report.

“The 7F.05 gas turbine will operate on condensate, whereas the 7F.03 will operate on natural gas, with Arabian Super Light (ASL) crude oil as backup”, said Hisham Al Bahkali, GE’s president and CEO for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Another local newspaper, citing the SEC, indicated that the deal amounted to SAR 1 billion, approximately USD 267 million. “The project is expected to cost a total of SAR 2.5 billion (USD 667,5 million) and is due to be fully operational before the end of 2017”, it also said.

GE has a long-standing presence in Saudi Arabia and “it currently assists in the generation of more than half of the Kingdom’s power supply and has over 500 gas turbines installed in the country”, according to the press release.

Dii moves headquarters from Munich to Dubai

The Desertec industrial initiative (Dii) has announced in a written statement issued on 30 December 2014 that it will relocate its main base from Munich to Dubai. The aim of such a move is “to dedicate our attention to the emerging energy projects and grid extensions on the ground in MENA and possible connections and exchanges between the MENA and European markets”.

Current Dii’s shareholders include the Saudi ACWA Power, the State Grid Corporation of China and the German RWE. The press release also indicates that “the ‘New Dii’ will be solely committed to a ‘no nonsense’ focus on improving conditions for concrete RE projects in MENA and on preparations for long term exchanges between related power markets”.

Nevertheless, Dii indicates that it “will stay represented in Europe, as Europe will undoubtedly remain an important neighbour”.

The Dii was established in October 2009, as a limited liability company, to represent a consortium of 55 enterprises and institutions, including the Fraunhofer and Max-Planck research institutes. Its goal was to foster the creation of power generation capacity in MENA with a view to exporting it to Europe.

Abengoa awarded 950 GWh/year in Chilean supply tender for 15 years

The Spanish company has been awarded 950 GWh/year in the Distribution Companies Supply tender (Tender Process SIC 2013/03-2º Llamado) held by the Chilean Energy Commission (CNE).
Abengoa is currently constructing a solar platform in northern Chile with two solar plants, Atacama 1 (Cerro Dominador) and Atacama 2, both CSP tower plants with a capacity of 110 MW each, and a 100 MW photovoltaic plant.

According to the press release issued by the company, “the award forms part of a series of tenders in which a total of 13,000 GWh/year has been offered”. This makes up to in between 35 and 37 % of the regulated power in Chile, according to the text.

Furthermore, it states that “production has been divided into four blocks, which would come online between 2016 and 2019 depending on the block in question, and will have a duration of 15 years each”.

The company participated in “19 sub-blocks in Block 4 of the tender, which will begin to supply power on January 1, 2019 and will end on December 31, 2033”.

Xiang Yang Institute and Focused Sun partner up to develop microgrids

The Chinese Xiang Yang Institute and the US-based company Focused Sun have joined forces to develop microgrids. “They are small local electric grids for supplying energy to gated communities, shopping malls, eco-resorts and agricultural projects”, stated Focused Sun in a press release.

XYI Dean Jihong Chen explains that: “Focused Sun has squeezed the cost out of solar concentrators, the key part of the microgrid system that focuses sunlight. Together with thermal storage and Chinese turbogenerators, we can produce small power plants for microgrids”.

“For microgrids in the 100 kW to 10 MW range, low cost solar concentrators and thermal storage combined with turbo generators make more sense than photovoltaic collectors and battery storage. Thermal storage is the key missing ingredient,” indicates MIT Professor David Gordon, as cited in the statement.

The partnership also claims that “the system produces both electricity and hot water and can pay for itself in as little as two years”. Furthermore, “the Focused Sun concentrators are made locally bringing local jobs plus cheap, clean energy. For every dollar spent, four times more solar energy is captured”, they say.