KAR Group and Siemens to operate Khormala plant in Iraq
Demonstrating the company’s commitment to supporting Iraq’s power sector, Siemens has expanded the company’s existing service agreement with KAR Group in Iraq to provide comprehensive operations and maintenance (O&M) for two newly added units “SSC5-2000E” at Khormala power plant in Kurdistan region. The approximately 930-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired power plant meets almost 30 percent of the power demand targeted by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), supplying more than three million Iraqi people with reliable electricity.
The extension of the service agreement is set to improve operational flexibility, availability, and performance of gas turbines for the next 15 years. The agreement between Siemens and KAR Group aligns with Iraqi energy production goals. According to the Mena Power Report 2017, the current power demand in Iraq stands at 21GW and is growing faster than supply. The Kurdistan Regional Government plans to increase capacity by building new power plants and increasing the efficiency of existing facilities.
“With more than 20 years of experience in O&M of power plants, we currently manage approximately 2,800 MW across the Middle East and North Africa region and over 16,000 MW globally. Our global resources and fleet expertise enable us to provide complete plant services and management,” said Gianluigi Di Giovanni, Senior Executive Vice President of Siemens Power Generation Services in the Middle East.
“The plant is truly a landmark project, supporting the development goals of the Kurdistan region. That’s why we are proud to expand our collaboration with KAR Group to deliver reliable and stable electricity supply to people’s homes.” The Khormala multi-year agreement with Siemens covers the operation and maintenance of six SGT5-2000E gas turbines, six SGen5100A generators along with the associated auxiliary and ancillary systems. It also includes the implementation of Siemens Power Diagnostics, which is part of the company’s “Digital Services for Energy” portfolio, to improve asset visibility, reliability and availability.
Siemens data-driven services enable valuable data from different assets to be analyzed. From there, data is transformed into actionable insights-such as diagnostics, troubleshooting and condition forecasting-that can help improve plant reliability and reduce downtime. In addition, the data processed by Power Diagnostics(r) can help balance maintenance costs, improve inspection intervals and provide invaluable insights into operational risks.
With over 40 years of presence in the country, Siemens’ advanced technologies are perfect fit to support Iraq’s development plans. Today, Siemens’ technologies are responsible for generating more than 30 percent of the electricity distributed across the country. Siemens has managed the operation and maintenance of Khormala since 2013 under a multi-year services agreement. Currently, the company has more than 40 personnel on-site managing the power plant on behalf of KAR Group.