Umm Qasr 29 MW Power Plant

Project Details

Name	Year	Location	Client	Type	Description	Scope
Umm Qasr 29 MW Power Plant	2019	Umm Qasr, Iraq	Butec	Power Plant	Greenfield natural gas power plant based on Wartsila reciprocating engines in port areas	Full detailed engineering of the plant and a 33KV substation (mechanical, electrical, I&C)

Project Background & Objectives

The Umm Qasr 29 MW Power Plant project was initiated to build a high-capacity, heavy-duty captive generation solution to support expanding maritime and industrial logistics at Iraq’s premier deep-water shipping hub in Umm Qasr, Iraq. Commissioned by Butec, this critical utility infrastructure asset focused on the development of a greenfield natural gas power plant based on Wartsila reciprocating engines in port areas. Within this high-demand coastal operational framework, PDP Energy was selected to command the complete multidisciplinary engineering phase. The primary company-specific objectives centered on executing the full detailed engineering of the plant and a 33KV substation (mechanical, electrical, I&C), establishing an optimized, utility-grade blueprint to insulate the strategic port district from localized grid deficits.

Project Challenges

Designing a centralized 29 MW greenfield gas power facility and an integrated distribution substation within a highly active, harsh marine port environment introduces extreme civil, thermodynamic, and automation complexities. Reciprocating Wartsila gas engines demand highly meticulous mechanical engineering to optimize high-pressure fuel gas supply loops, exhaust systems, and high-volume cooling infrastructure under tight spatial constraints and corrosive coastal air conditions. On the electrical and automation side, PDP Energy had to resolve intense hurdles regarding synchronized load-sharing across multiple engine units, transient grid stability, and harmonic distortions. Furthermore, engineering the unified 33KV substation and the overarching instrumentation and control (I&C) systems demanded crafting complex, redundant automation loops capable of monitoring thousands of real-time variables to guarantee immediate fault isolation and prevent catastrophic blackouts across vital port operations.

Project Outcomes

Operating as the primary detailed engineering partner, PDP Energy successfully formulated and delivered the complete mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control, and substation engineering packages for the power generation facility. The project effectively established an unshakeable, utility-grade energy foundation tailored for mission-critical marine energy and logistics hubs. By providing highly synchronized civil-mechanical layouts, precise process schematics, and robust electrical network blueprints, PDP Energy cleared the path for Butec to securely deploy the 29 MW natural gas asset and 33KV substation, ensuring an uninterrupted, highly stable, and energy-efficient electricity supply to sustain heavy container terminals, port cargo machinery, and regional infrastructure.

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