France’s Alstom announced on 5 November the signing of two orders for power generation equipment worth a combined €75mn with Greece’s Metka, which is building a power plant for Jordan’s Samra Electric Power Generating Company (SEPGCO). The contracts are both for gas-fired equipment, although Jordan has of late been pursuing alternative generation technologies in a bid to allow greater energy independence and flexibility, given the growing cost of fuel imports and the increasing unreliability of contracted gas supplies from Egypt since the overthrow of the Husni Mubarak regime in January 2011.

Alstom said the first contract involves the delivery of a GT13E2 gas turbine and associated spares for a new fast-track simple-cycle gas-fired plant being built by Metka at Zarqa, near ‘Amman. Commercial operation is scheduled to begin in June 2013. The plant will add 146mw to the Jordanian grid, bringing “much needed” generation capacity ahead of the summer months. (CONTINUED - 562 WORDS)