ENKA was awarded a contract on an EPC basis, by the General Electricity Company of Libya in April 2008 to design, supply and built a power plant project with a capacity of 2 x 285 MW in Zwitina, Libya.

The Zwitina Power Plant is designed for simple cycle operation with natural gas as a base fuel, while diesel oil is also available as backup. The plant consists of two Combustion Turbine Generators (Siemens Model SGT5-PAC4000F), each nominally rated at a capacity of 285 MW.

The overall plant design, sub-systems design and selected equipment are suitable for future conversion into a combined cycle operation.

Power island equipment (i.e., Combustion Turbine Generator packages and their auxiliary packages) were procured directly by Global Electricity Services Company while ENKA was responsible for complete plant engineering, procurement of Balance of Plant equipment and material, natural gas pipeline, as well as complete construction and erection work, commissioning and start-up.

By feeding the newly established 400 kV National Electricity Network, the Zwitina Power Plant was planned to assist with the elimination of a significant power shortage, not only in the eastern part of Libya, but also in the rest of the country.

The project site is located near the sea on a sandy coastal area.

The level of underground water at the project site is just 80 cm below ground level; therefore, piling and continuous dewatering were needed during the civil construction.

Comprehensive insulation systems were applied for protection against salty sea water absorption into the facilities’ infrastructure.

At the end of successful commissioning and the plant becoming operational, each unit’s actual capacity reached 305 MW. This figure is above 285 MW design capacity and offers an exceptionally good output compared with all other similar model turbine applications in other parts of the world.

ENKA’s scope as the EPC contractor of the Zwitina Power Plant Project covered all the works including engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up of the 2×285 MW Simple Cycle Power Generation Plant. Furthermore, ENKA provided onshore and offshore training for the Owner’s personnel for the operation and maintenance of the plant.

The specific scope of services provided by ENKA included: complete basic and detail design with in-house resources, supply of Balance of Plant system and equipment such as Main Step up, Unit and Auxiliary Distribution Transformers, 16’’ Natural Gas Pipe line with hot taping to 36’’ Gas Pipe, Pressure Reducing and Metering Station, Compressed Air System, Fire Fighting and Detection, Fire Water station with Fire Water ring, Completely Closed CTG Buildings, LDO forwarding Pump Station, LDO Treatment Plant, Ignition Gas Storage, Overhead Travelling Maintenance Crane (130 tons capacity) , HV (220 kV), MV and LV systems with cabling, Distributed Control System with Overhead Line Protection and RTU extension to National Control Center of Libya.

• 1.7 Million person-hours without a lost time incident
• Completion on schedule
• Project significantly lowered power shortages in the vicinity of project area and the region
• Part of the Strategic Investment by Libyan Government to cover growing Electricity Demand of Libya