Second HA gas turbine synchronised at Pakistan’s Bhikki power plant

• 7 years ago (2017-04-13)
• David Flin

Gas 393 Middle East 326

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GE and Harbin Electric International (HEI) have achieved first fire and synchronisation of the second 385 MW GE 9HA gas turbine installed at the Bhikki Power Plant in Pakistan. This was achieved less than 18 months after the turnkey project was first announced.

The first 9HA unit achieved first fire on 13 February, 2017, less than 17 months after the project’s announcement.

The Bhikki facility will be the country’s first power plant to run on imported supplies of LNG. It will generate up to 1180 MW once it starts combined cycle operations later this year.

Mian Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, said: “The speed with which the Government of Punjab, HEI, and GE’s teams have been setting up the Bhikki Power Plant is to be commended. This is the fastest construction of a gas power plant of its size in Pakistan’s history, and was only possible because of the commitment of all involved. The project is a critical component of our strategy to expand access of electricity to over 90 per cent of the country’s population.”

GE entered an agreement to provide two high-efficiency 9HA.01 gas turbines and associated equipment to HEI for the Bhikki Combined Cycle Power Plant in September 2015. HEI is providing EPC services for the facility.

In Iraq, GE and Mass Group Holding (MGH) have announced that they have successfully commenced simple cycle commercial operations of four advanced GE 9F gas turbines under phase I of the Ministry of Electricity’s (MOE) Baghdad Power Plant in Besmaya. Located about 40 km from Baghdad, the facility is the first one in Iraq outside the Kurdistan region to be developed by an IPP on a BOO basis for the Iraqi MOE.

The new project is being constructed by, and will also be operated by, MGH, and will add 3000 MW of power to the grid when fully operational. The second phase of the project is expected to start commercial operations in 2018.

GE is supplying eight 9F.03 gas turbines and four D200 steam turbines for the Besmaya plant, which will be the first power generation project in Iraq to use advanced F-class gas turbines.

GE has also recently signed agreements with the Ministry of Electricity to set up the Samawa and Dhi Qar Power Plants, which will add a total of 1500 MW of power to the Iraqi grid. In the first phase of the project, GE will install four 9E gas turbines in simple cycle at each site by 2018. The second phase will entail the conversion to combined cycle operation.