MAN to Power Gas-Engine Power Plant in Oman

MAN Energy Solutions has won the order from Oman Liquefied Natural Gas LLC (Oman LNG) to equip a new power plant with nine MAN 51/60 gas engines. The contract was signed by Wayne Jones, Chief Sales Officer of MAN Energy Solutions, and Harib Al Kitani, Chief Executive Officer of Oman LNG, on June 4th in the presence of H.E. Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamed Al Rumhy, Minister of Oil & Gas. The power plant will be located in Qalhat, southeast of Muscat on the Gulf of Oman, and will provide 120 MW of power to the existing LNG facility of Oman LNG. It will replace an existing gas-turbine plant.

“We are very proud to have been chosen for this exciting and technologically challenging project,” said Wayne Jones. “The new power plant needs to be capable of using a variety of differing gas compositions and methane numbers with limited gas conditioning or blending. To master this, we have developed control strategies to ensure that the engines adapt to the prevailing gas configuration in real time for optimum performance.”

As fuel, the new plant uses gases derived from the liquefaction process, which can contain high inert components in the fuel and, therefore, may have  much lower calorific values. Thanks to their customized design, the engines will nevertheless be able to provide the required power, even at ambient temperatures of up to 48°C.

Hajo Hoops, Senior Sales Manager at MAN Energy Solutions, said: “This market segment has been completely dominated by gas turbines in the past, so this is a pioneering installation. We are thankful to Oman LNG for giving us the opportunity to show our MAN 51/60 gas engine is the ideal fit for this application.”

Hoops continued: “Compared to the existing plant, our engines will significantly reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions of Oman LNG’s Power Plant , while our modular-design approach guarantees top-of-the-line overall availability. The robust design of our 20MW engine platform, the 51/60, is proven over millions of hours of operations all over the world and we are confident it will also perform well in Qalhat.” 

Increasing Domestic Content

Oman LNG undertakes various In-Country Value (ICV) initiatives and jointly contributes to the continuous development of Oman along with its partners. ICV is an ambitious plan embarked by the Government to boost the oil and gas industry's contribution in the Sultanate’s socio-economic development. ICV is defined as the total spend retained in country that benefits business development, contributes to human capability development and stimulates productivity in Oman's economy.

Wayne Jones: “We are committed to support Oman LNG with their innovative In Country Value program and will provide high level training initiatives that will develop the Engineers of the future in Oman.”

About Oman LNG

Oman LNG, is a joint venture established by a Royal Decree in 1994 and operates under the laws of the Sultanate of Oman. The company engages in the production and sale of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and its by-product, Natural Gas Liquids. The company operates three liquefaction trains at its site in Qalhat with a nameplate capacity of 10.4 million tons per annum.