First 560MW gas turbine arrives Karachi

Updated at: 1023 PST, Sunday, July 04, 2010 KARACHI: The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has announced the arrival of the first gas turbine for its 560 megawatt (MW) Combined Cycle Power Plant at the Bin Qasim site. According to a KESC press release issued on Saturday, the 377 million dollars project, called the BQPS-2, is being financed through a combination of equity funded by shareholders and long term loans provided by the Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, and a syndicate of Pakistani banks. Two more gas turbines of the BQPS-2 project are expected to arrive in Karachi in the middle of July. The shipments of associated auxiliaries of the power plant have already landed and the ground work is in full swing. Installation of the turbines will commence in August. The first gas turbine of the plant will start providing electricity to the KESC power network in June 2011, second in July 2011 and third in August on the open cycle mode the same year .The combined cycle operation of the plant will start in March 2012. According to the KESC statement, the Environmental Monitoring Plan of the 560 MW power generation project has been initiated while the Detail Design Engineering Review is in progress. Pilling work for gas and steam turbines has been completed, foundation of GT-1 has been poured, intake and outfall channel work and fuel oil tank foundation works are in progress with rapid pace. The three gas turbines are manufactured by GE, France, and the steam turbine has been procured from HARBIN, China which is the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor for this project.