Power supply: KESC kicks off first turbine of $450m project

The new machinery is meant to provide 560MW when completed.

KARACHI:

The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) claims to have successfully synchronised the first of the three gas turbines of the 560-megawatt (MW) Bin Qasim Power Station (BQPS-II). The company plans to start operating the station commercially after commissioning tests. Commercial operation requires a gas supply of 130 million cubic feet per day which been promised to KESC earlier.

In a statement issued on Thursday, KESC said that the first gas turbine will add 115 MW to its grid. The other two turbines will be commissioned in the next few months to provide 345 MW by September. They plan to complete the project in the first quarter of 2012 by adding a steam turbine, giving the station a total capacity of 560MW.

“KESC has just synchronised the turbine with the rest of the plant successfully,” KESC spokesman Aminur Rahman told the The Express Tribune. “Presently, we cannot give you any information about when the commissioning will be completed nor when commercial productivity will begin. The details being released in the statement are all at the moment.”

The project, financed through multi-lateral funding partners, is based on a $450 million investment.

The statement also spoke of three more projects that have added 450 MW to the grid. The company inaugurated a 220 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Korangi in 2010 and two gas-engine-based plants - 90 MW each - at the Korangi and Site gas turbine power stations. Meanwhile, around 50 MW have been added to KESC’s existing generation capacity through major overhauls and maintenance plans of the six generation units at BQPS.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2011.