MAN Diesel & Turbo has received an order to provide two 18V32/40 engines to drive a captive power plant at the Al-Watania Poultry chicken farm in Saudi Arabia. The engines will run on crude oil as main fuel and use diesel oil during startup. As well as the engines, MAN’s scope also includes all mechanical equipment for three gensets. The German company Alfred Kuhse GmbH, specialised in control technology solutions, is taking on the EPC-role for the project.
MAN Diesel & Turbo has received an order to provide two 18V32/40 engines to drive a captive power plant at the Al-Watania Poultry chicken farm in Saudi Arabia. The engines will run on crude oil as main fuel and use diesel oil during startup. As well as the engines, MAN’s scope also includes all mechanical equipment for three gensets. The German company Alfred Kuhse GmbH, specialised in control technology solutions, is taking on the EPC-role for the project.
Located in the north of Saudi Arabia, in the Qassim district, not far from the capital Riyadh, Al Watania Poultry is the biggest chicken farm in the MENA region. It also operates a mill and a fertiliser plant.
The facility has 14 power plants, with a combined installed capacity of 95.7 MW. The new MAN engines are part of the company’s plans to more than double the overall installed power generation capacity on site within the next five years.
The gigantic poultry farm employs 6500 people and is run and owned by the Al Rajhi family, among the leading entrepreneurs in the food sector in Saudi Arabia.
Another recent MAN D&T project in Saudi Arabia is providing power for cranes in King Abdullah Port, where three MAN 18V32/40 generator sets have recently been commissioned and handed over to the customer ESDM (Energy Solutions Developers and Managers). The three units run on marine diesel oil and provide 26 MW to the crane facility, which is designed to be able to load and unload the largest container ships in the world.
King Abdullah Port, said to be the fastest growing port in the world, is part of King Abdullah Economic City, a huge urban development project which was started in 2005 and constitutes the largest building project in the history of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Red Sea between the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, this new city is set to become the country’s second economic centre in future, with an anticipated population of up to 2 million. Apart from serving the internal supply of the kingdom, the new port will also act as a strategic hub on the major trade route between Asia and Europe.
High temperatures throughout the year and an arid desert climate place particularly high demands on the engines, but the MAN 32/40 machine is considered to have the required robustness, with very long maintenance intervals.
Other MAN Diesel & Turbo recip projects completed in recent years in Saudi include a 40 MW unit for the Arabian Cement Company, a 54 MW plant for the United Cement Industrial Company (UCIC) and a 60 MW unit for the Yanbu Cement Company.