Power plants upgraded in Egypt

31 March 2009

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that its subsidiary, Yokogawa Middle East B.S.C.(c), has received five orders from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Co. (EEHC), a governmental electric company which regulates the production, transmission and distribution of electricity throughout Egypt, to supply automation and control systems for the construction and upgrade of power plants in Egypt.

Power plants upgraded in Egypt

These systems are for the control of boilers and balance of plant facilities of the Cairo West Power Plant, the Nubaria III Combined Cycle Power Plant, the Kafr El Dawar Power Plant, the El Atf Combined Cycle Power Plant, and the Sidi Krir Combined Cycle Power Plant.

The Cairo West Power Plant is a new 700 MW installation run by the Cairo Electricity Production Company, while the Nubaria and El Alf installations are 750 MW plants owned by the Middle Delta Electricity Production Company. The Sidi Krir order is for a new 750 MW plant run by the West Delta Electricity Production Company, while the Kar El Dawar order is for the upgrade of the instrumentation system of a plant run by the West Delta Electricity Production Company. For all the new installations, the consultant was PGESCo (Power Generation Engineering & Service Company) – a consulting company operated by a joint venture between EEHC and Bechtel.

For each of these installations, Yokogawa Middle East will provide the CENTUM Integrated Production Control System and carry out engineering, commissioning, and supervision of the installation. For certain of these projects, it will also supply sensors such as transmitters and analysers.

Egypt is planning to construct many new power plants as well as upgrade existing plants due to the rising demand for electric power driven by steady economic growth. Yokogawa has therefore been seeking to capitalise on this opportunity by developing the power control system market in Egypt.

Yokogawa has received these five contracts because of its extensive, global track record in providing control systems for power plants such as an 800 MW combined cycle facility in Spain, coupled with its highly-regarded power plant automation expertise and engineering capability. A further important factor is Yokogawa’s global approach to project execution based on the One Global YOKOGAWA initiative, which brings together the expertise and capabilities of the entire Yokogawa Group and is based on leading edge technology.

Global demand for power plant control systems is predicted to grow by approximately 20% between 2008 and 2010, according to an ARC Report from May 2008. While growth is expected to slow down in 2009, the forecast is for steady growth in the power plant control system market driven by rising demand for electricity in emerging countries.

Yokogawa entered the international power plant control market in 2001 and has been expanding this business by developing close relationships with customers and carrying out extensive sales, engineering, and service activities through its regional subsidiaries. Since the establishment of Yokogawa Middle East in Bahrain in 1990, Yokogawa has begun to experience steady growth in the Middle East. With the growth of its business, particularly in the oil and petrochemical industries, the company has achieved a full-scale entry into the power market.

Encouraged by this success at securing orders in Egypt, Yokogawa will accelerate its global business activities in the Middle East and other regions, and plans to receive 30 billion yen (£210M) of power plant system orders in fiscal year 2010.