German company Siemens has maintained and upgraded a number of production units for the Ministry of Electricity worth €350m. An official at the Ministry of Electricity said that it had signed a contract with Siemens to maintain and upgrade a number of electricity production units in Nubaria, Talkha, Kureimat, Ayoun Moussa, and Sidi Kreir, in addition to upgrading the third and fourth units of the Ataqa power plant. The dues, valued at €350m, will be repaid through monthly instalments. The power plants require periodical maintenance, which will add to the dues. The official clarified that the company has finished maintaining many production units. Maintenance works vary between small-scale, ordinary, and large-scale one, depending on the state of the turbines. The maintenance of the power plants was large-scale due to its operation time of 36,000 hours. Ordinary works are needed for power plants operating for 24,000 hours, and small-scale maintenance works are needed for plants operating up to 8,000 hours. He pointed out that undergoing maintenance works on the electricity production units increases the units' efficiency and technical condition. Siemens also renewed oils, grease, pipes, turbine cables, and generating units. He explained that the ministry has developed a plan to implement the replacement, renovation, and maintenance of the power plants to save fuel and enhance the operations' efficiency, instead of building costly new plants. The plants will run with the latest technology and convert to a combined-cycle system to reduce fuel consumption. In February, Siemens extended the maintenance contract to provide services, maintenance, and development to Nubaria, Talkha, and Kureimat in Egypt. According to the 10-year contract, Siemens will continue providing services and maintenance to eight gas turbines, in addition to providing maintenance works to Al-Borolos and Beni Suef plants and the New Administrative Capital. The services include enhancing the performance of eight gas turbines to improve the flexibility of the operating processes in the plants. Siemens will also develop the turbines' control systems, which will improve the speed and accuracy of their operators.
