The Jijel power project, also called the Bellara power project, is a 1,398MW gas-fired combined-cycle power plant under construction in the Jijel province of Algeria.

Societe Algerienne de Production d'Electricite (SPE), a subsidiary of Algeria's state-owned electricity and gas utility Sonelgaz, is developing the project with an estimated investment of £621m ($800m).

Jijel is one of the six new combined-cycle power plants being built as part of Sonelgaz’s 8GW emergency power generation construction programme launched in 2013 to meet Algeria’s growing electricity demand. The total investment in the programme is estimated to be £2.4bn ($4bn).

Construction works on the Jijel power project started in 2013 and the plant successfully completed 60 days of semi-industrial simple-cycle operation in May 2021. The full-fledged combined-cycle operation is expected to commence by the end of 2022.

Project Gallery

Location and site details

The Jijel gas-fired combined-cycle power plant is being built on a 2.5ha-site in the Bellara industrial area near El Milia, Jijel, in north-eastern Algeria. The project site lies 285km east of the capital city Algiers.

Jijel combined-cycle power plant make-up

The Jijel gas-fired power plant will comprise two 699MW combined-cycle blocks, each of which will be equipped with two General Electric (GE) 9F 3-series gas turbines, one steam turbine, and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) along with other associated facilities.

GE’s 9F 3-series gas turbines come with dry low NOx (DLN) dual-fuel combustion technology to reduce emissions.

The plant will run on natural gas sourced from the local Algerian gas fields.

Construction equipment for the Jijel power project

Construction equipment used at the project site included a Scheuerle-Kamag K25 modular trailer, a Terex-Demag 600 tonne (t) CC2800-1 crawler crane, a 400t CC2400-1 crawler crane, and a mobile crane.

Power evacuation

The electricity generated by the Jijel power plant will be evacuated into the national grid through a 400kV power transmission line.

Contractors involved

A consortium of Hyundai Engineering Company, Hyundai Engineering and Construction (Hyundai E&C) and Daewoo International was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Jijel combined-cycle power project in December 2013.

GE was awarded a lump sum contract to supply gas and steam turbines along with generators for six combined-cycle power plants including Jijel in September 2013.

Etterkib, a subsidiary of Sonelgaz, was responsible for equipment assembly and installation works.

Subcontractors and suppliers involved in the Jijel power project

Sarens, a crane rental and heavy-lift specialist based in Belgium, was subcontracted by Hyundai Engineering for equipment lifting operations at the project site.

Siveco China was subcontracted by Hyundai E&C to provide a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) for the project in July 2015.

Artelia Group, an engineering and project management company based in France, was engaged to conduct the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and safety study of the project.

JS Technos, a Korean-based noise and vibration control expert, supplied acoustic enclosures for the project in 2016. Woori System provided the steam and water analysis system (SWAS) for the plant.

Daekyung Machinery and Engineering supplied four auxiliary boilers of 15.5 tonnes per hour (tph) capacity each in 2017, while Hosan Corporation provided the lube oil system for the project.

Terrasol was subcontracted by Hyundai E&C to conduct a geotechnical study for the predesign of the plant foundations.

Macoga was contracted to design and manufacture the tied universal and hinged expansion joints, while Boguk Electric supplied cable tray for the project in 2016.

Ankug Engineering provided the fire protection system and Keysung Metal supplied the valves equipment for the project.

Sena P&P was subcontracted to supply the laboratory and electrical workshop equipment for the project in 2015.