Siemens has set a new global record for the execution of fast-track power projects byconnecting 4.8GW of generation capacity to the Egyptian grid, Julian Turner writes for Power-technology. Turner interviewed Peter Ullrich, project director of the three combined-cycle power plants at Siemens Power & Gas Division, who told him the project “sets a new industry benchmark in terms of modern power plant construction — the connection of 4.8GW of new capacity to the grid in only 18 months, 400MW more than promised.” He says the three plants in Beni Suef, Burullus and the new administrative capital — two of them built by Orascom Construction and one by Elsewedy Electric — will be the largest combined-cycle gas-fired plants ever built and operated. “In January 2017, 18 months after the signing, we achieved 4.8GW; in short, 10% more generating capacity than originally promised. Never before has the energy system of an entire country been developed so fast,” Ulrich adds.

The higher efficiency of the power plants saves Egypt an estimated USD 1.3 bn in natural gas consumption each year and Ulrich explains that each 1.5% improvement in efficiency reduces each plant’s carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 320,000 tonnes. He says Siemens is also working on Egypt on expanding renewables as a “combination of high-efficiency combined-cycle power plants and renewable sources are best suited to overcome the power shortages in the country.”