As part of the further expansion of the power supply system in Qatar, Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD) has been awarded an order worth over 700 million euros by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa). The order comprises the delivery of 25 turnkey substations of the voltage levels 220 kV, 132 kV and 66 kV and 11 kV, including transformers as well as station control and protection systems. In addition, it includes the expansion of 14 existing substations and the modification of ten more stations. All in all Siemens is delivering gas-insulated switchgear systems (GIS) with 54 switchbays for 220 kV and 200 switchbays for 132 kV/66 kV from its production plants in Berlin and Grenoble. The project is scheduled for completion by February 2009.

“For Siemens PTD, this is not only the largest order in the Group’s history, but is also a highly challenging project in which nearly all of our products and systems will be employed. It also extremely demanding in terms of project management since several substations will have to be constructed in parallel within a very short time,” said Dr. Udo Niehage, President of the Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution Group.

Siemens is implementing the order as part of the “Qatar Power Transmission System Expansion – Phase VII” project currently running in Qatar. The substations are to be built in the cities of Doha, Ras Laffan, Maesaeed and spread all over the country. This is not the first major order that Siemens PTD has received from Qatar in the course of the country’s ambitious project to expand its power supply system. Since November 2005, the company received several orders to a value of about 600 million euros for the delivery of turnkey transformer substations.

Within a few decades, Qatar has developed into a modern state with a high standard of living matched by growing energy requirements. The peninsula on the lower Gulf, with its abundant petroleum and natural gas reserves, posts double-digit economic growth rates and invests continuously in the country’s infrastructure.