Qatar (thermal and water)

Background

• Following a competitive bidding process in 2013, Qatar’s General Electricity & Water Corporation (KM) selected the consortium K1 Energy Ltd, formed from Mitsubishi Corporation and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as the preferred bidder. K1 Energy, along with local shareholders – Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), Qatar Petroleum (QP) and the Qatar Foundation (QF) – formed the Um Al Houl Power Company and completed a Power and Water Purchase Agreement (PWPA) with KM in May 2015.
• The PWPA requires the company to develop, finance, construct, commission, operate and maintain this major power and water project over a 25-year term. At the end of the term, under the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) arrangements, the facility will be transferred to KM in good order and capable of continued operation.
• The equipment, materials and technology selected for this facility – sourced from companies including Siemens, Nooter/Eriksen, Acciona, Hitachi Zosen and Samsung C&T – are designed to provide an operational life-span of at least 30 years.

The facility

• The power plant consists of two combined cycle power blocks. Each block has three gas-fired turbines and three heat recovery steam generators, which power two steam turbine generators and a multi-stage flash (MSF) plant. The use of natural gas is enabling the project to demonstrate the lowest emissions of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide to comply with strict development and financing requirements.
• The facility has been designed to provide operational flexibility and the highest efficiency over the entire seasonal load range between summer and winter, while still maintaining near full water production. Such a high efficiency plant contributes to lower annual fuel consumption and, therefore, lower overall carbon dioxide emissions as a key benefit.
• The water plant consists of five MSF evaporation desalination units and a reverse osmosis plant. The facility has on-site water storage capacity for one day’s production of safe drinking water.
• The facility includes a 400-kV gas-insulated (GIS) substation and a 220 kV/132 kV GIS substation, which was transferred to KM on completion for operation as part of the power grid.
• The plant has been fully operational from June 2018. The facility is being operated and maintained by the Um Al Houl Power Company with the assistance of Siemens (power plant) and Acciona (water plant).