Executed by ENKA Awbari Gas Turbine Power Plant project aimed to construct a power plant with total capacity of 640 MW and to be operated by crude oil as main fuel & LFO. The EPC turnkey project consisted of four 160 MW Siemens SGT5-PAC 2000 E combustion turbine generators with auxiliaries and the required balance-of-plant systems. It also included the construction of a 50 km 12“ crude oil pipeline connecting the project site to the oil field facilities located in Fezzan in the Southern Region of Libya. The project site was situated in a remote desert location with harsh climatic conditions in a sparsely-populated region of Libya.
The contract had been signed in 2007 with the General Electric Company of Libya in accordance with the Libyan Government’s ambitious targets for increasing its power generation capacity. The initial mobilization had taken place in November 2010. However, site activities had to be suspended in February 2011 due to the revolutionary events in Libya. The site had been activated again in October 2012, but work had to be suspended for the second time in September 2014 due to deteriorating security conditions in an area close to the job site. The site had therefore been evacuated, together with Siemens & 396 Turkish employees.
ENKA had continued to maintain close contact with General Electric Company of Libya and other administrative and governmental bodies, and to monitor developments in Libya closely pending the restoration of a tolerable level of law and order. In October 2016, following a series of meetings with the client, a protocol had been signed which determined the commitments of the client, supported by Libyan governmental bodies and established principles for the resolution of technical, administrative, contractual and financial matters.
Clear milestones had been set for maintaining adequate working conditions. The re-activation of the project had required the resolution of key issues in the areas of security, immigration, customs, transportation, availability of goods and services necessary for working in the area, operational availability of contract items, and financing.
Work on the site finally resumed with the mobilization of a pioneer team in April 2017. The temporary site facilities were improved and arrangements were made for construction equipment and accelerated site mobilization. The project team then restarted its remaining activities with the involvement of its commissioning group in May 2017.
Since ENKA decided to re-activate the Awbari project, there have been a number of positive developments:
- Previously, the city of Awbari had been largely evacuated. Its population was limited and it lacked basic living facilities. The citizens of the city have now returned to their home town, welcomed ENKA and committed themselves to continuing to live there.
- Public services have resumed as the local administrations and airport, hospital, municipality, bank, police and military authorities have returned to their duties.
- There has been a considerable increase in the availability of basic goods and construction materials both for citizens and for the project. Previously, these had to be transported from northern cities by charter plane or truck.
- Domestic flights have been re-activated.
In September 2017, following the resumption of activities and improvements in working and accommodation conditions, one of the main parties, Siemens, the main equipment supplier, was convinced to resume its supervision activities.
ENKA completed the whole Power Island (Combustion Turbine Generators & their auxilliaries) and BOP systems’ erection in Awbari Power Plant. In line with ENKA’s commitments, the first synchronization with the grid followed by the first ignition was achieved in October 2017. Although the completion date was set for the end of December 2017, due to the worsening security conditions in the Southern Region of Libya, the project went through a complete evacuation for the 3rd time.
In terms of BOP systems readiness, ENKA completed the commissioning of MV and LV Motors, MV Switchgears, LV Switchgears, BOP DC/UPS System, IPB (Isolated Phase Bus), GCB (Generator Circuit Breaker), Step-up & Aux Transformers (Unit 4 and 3 had already been energized), Emergency Diesel Generator, Overall Protection Panel (Unit & Transformer Protection Panel), DCS – Distributes Control System, PLC – Programmable Logic Controller, FOTP – Fuel Oil Treatment Plant, WTP – Water Treatment Plant, CEMS – Continuous Emission Monitoring System, Fire Systems, LDO forwarding systems, FOTP systems, Instrument/Service/Nitrogen generation compressor system.
