Pakistan CCGT Starts Supplying Grid

US turbine-maker GE said May 10 that a 1,230 MW combined-cycle (CCGT) power plant in Pakistan had completed commissioning and started supplying the national grid.

The power plant, located at Haveli Bahadur Shah, 70km southwest of Faisalabad in Pakistan's northern Punjab region, is owned by Pakistan's state-owned National Power Parks Management (NPPM).

SepcoIII, owned by Power Construction Corp of China, was the project's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. GE has supplied two of the plant's advanced HA heavy-duty gas turbines, one steam turbine and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), and provided technical advice.

Engineers from Tractebel subsidiary Lahmeyer who assisted with its start-up said May 9 that the CCGT achieved a world record for electrical efficiency of 62.4% when it started operating April 30.

NPPM was mandated by the Pakistan government to set up both the Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah power plants, fuelled by regasified LNG, to meet the energy demand in Pakistan. Reports say the similar-sized Balloki CCGT will be completed next year.