Last June, Siemens has signed contracts worth EUR 8 billion to boost Egypt’s power generation capacity. Together with local Egyptian partners Elsewedy Electric and Orascom Construction, Siemens will supply on a turnkey basis three natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants. Each of the three power plants – Beni Suef, Burullus and New Capital – will be powered by eight Siemens H-Class gas turbines, selected for their high output and record-breaking efficiency. The transformers for the gas turbines are produced at the Siemens plant in Weiz, Styria.
The transformers plant in Weiz is the world’s biggest Siemens site where transformers are developed and constructed. Given the export ratio of more than 80 percent, the transformers produced at this site can be found in more than 70 countries around the globe. In addition, the plant has about 900 suppliers from all over Austria.
The first generator step-up transformer with 455 megavolt amperes (MVA) and 515 kilovolts (kV) has been successfully tested in the plant in Weiz, and is now on its over two-month trip to the power plant project Beni Suef. The 185-tonnes transformer will cover the approximately 7,700 km route on the railway from Weiz to the Danube port of Linz. From there it will pass via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal to the port of Antwerp(Belgium) for embarkation.
The further travel leads the transformer via the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. Via the Suez Canal it reaches its destination port Adabiya, Egypt on the Red Sea. Further transport takes place by means of a trailer, which covers a 250 kilometers route along the Nile to Beni Suef. The first transformers will be installed in June 2016.
The Beni Suef power plant will initially operate as a pure gas power plant. After an enlargement, the combined cycle power plant with a total installed capacity of about 4.8 gigawatts (GW) can supply approximately 21.6 million people with electricity. After completion it will be the world’s largest combined cycle power plant. The plant is expected to feed electricity into the Egyptian network already in the winter of 2016/2017.
