Power Engineers Helps Commission New Iraqi Power Plant

Power Engineers Helps Commission New Iraqi Power Plant

Oct 27 - Bulletin. Northwest Public Power Association

POWER Engineers (Boise, Idaho) has helped bring welcomed relief to Iraq in August 2004 when the new power plant was completed in Buzurgan, Iraq, and connected to the Iraqi electrical grid.

Coming at the height of summer, when temperatures reach in excess of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, the new electric power is a welcome addition for the people of southern Iraq. More importantly, the plant is located in a remote area that had been poorly served by the pre-war electrical distribution system. The plant will also furnish reliable power to a nearby oil field operation, which is critical to maintaining the efficient production of oil and improving Iraq's economy in the short term.

The new plant is a 40 megawatt, GE EM6000PC, which was designed and equipped to utilize either natural gas or diesel as the operating fuel. In October, there was nothing at the site but a high voltage transmission tower, with gas wells burning in the distance. As a subcontractor to Perini Corporation, POWER was part of the team that designed the plant, as well as the adjacent switchyard to connect to the nearby 132-kilovolt transmission line. Perini was the prime in charge of construction of this plant; POWER was the lead design engineer, with Tetra Tech and General Electric's Aero Energy and Industrial Systems divisions providing specialized support.

POWER is involved in another 40 megawatt generator installation at an existing power plant in Southern Iraq that is nearing completion, and has just turned over two refurbished 63 megawatt generators at a second existing plant to the Ministry of Electricity. Together with the Buzurgan plant, these projects will contribute nearly 200 megawatts to the national grid, enough to service an estimated 600,000 Iraqi homes. In April, under a contract with Perini, POWER Engineers completed the rehabilitation of 360 kilometers of high voltage transmission line and towers in Southeastern Iraq. All of these projects were awarded under a previously announced contingency contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The new power will benefit the local population, which now receives 15-24 continuous hours of power a day, according to Colonel Thomas Koning of the Corps. This is in comparison to approximately only three hours of power per day before the war. Colonel Koning recently spent six months in Southern Iraq as the District Engineer of the Corps' Gulf Region Division-South District.

"This has been some of the most challenging work ever undertaken by our company," said Perini President & Chief Operating Officer Robert Band. "While we have a history of completing complex projects in short time frames in our U.S. markets, to complete this amount of work in just 10 months in Iraq was quite a feat. It is a real tribute to the dedication and team spirit of our employees, subcontractors and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We are very proud of the entire team."

"POWER'S philosophy of teamwork was evident. We believe in working together to get the job done," said POWER Engineers Vice President and Manager of Transmission & Distribution Bill Eisinger. "That's how we do all of our projects. Working in a war zone brought some unique and difficult challenges that made teamwork all that more important."