Project description

The mission was to build a vast power plant on a small area of land. The conditions were Jordan’s dry desert landscape and very strict owner and official requirements, especially with respect to health, safety and the environment (HSE). The project, one of Wärtsilä’s biggest-ever power plants, was not easy, but it was a great success.

In the summer of 2014, the 250 MW power plant’s 16 x 20 MW 18V50DF engines began to generate electricity for the Kingdom of Jordan’s grid. The tri-fuel plant uses either heavy fuel oil, light fuel oil or natural gas, according to availability and price. The power plant project is in many ways exceptional and has broken many records.

Citec's scope

Citec produced all of the engineering and documentation for the plant. Because of the location, several special conditions had to be taken into consideration.

As there are people living on a nearby hill, noise had to be minimised. Fuel tanks were therefore built side by side, forming a sound barrier. And because of that, an efficient tank cooling system had to be engineered in case of fire. Due to Jordan’s fire standards and limited water resources, a larger than usual fire-fighting and raw water storage tank was added to the site.

As the project progressed, the number of requirements grew, and the engineering work expanded massively. “The site was full of unusual features that we had to grapple with. Each discipline had its own challenges, but Citec succeeded in everything it did,” says Kai Kettu, Project Manager at Citec’s customer Wärtsilä.

Citec’s engineering hours: 49 000