Bouygues Gibraltar power station deal

A deal has been signed by Bouygues subsidiary, Bouygues Energies and Services, to design and construct a new power station in Gibraltar.

The €100 million contract with the Gibraltar Electricity Authority (GEA) is forecast to generate 80MW of power, and includes an initial one-year maintenance agreement.

Bouygues will carry out environmental studies for the project, which will involve commissioning six 14-cylinder gas and oil-powered generator turbine units weighing 300 tonnes each.

The contract also includes civil engineering, procurement of electrical and mechanical components, building a heat recovery system for exhaust gases and commissioning of the power plant. It is due to be fully operational by 2017.

Work on the facility is scheduled to begin in August this year. It will replace three existing oil-fired power stations in Gibraltar, which the company said were now more than 30 years old and no longer met European environmental pollution and noise restrictions.

The project follows Bouygues’ power station work on the complex confinement structure for Chernobyl sarcophagus in Ukraine, which is due for completion in 2017.

Jean-Philippe Trin, chairman of Bouygues Energies & Services, said, “This dual-fuel plant will be capable of using gas or light fuel oil and will operate in cogeneration mode in order to be as efficient as possible. It will guarantee energy self-sufficiency for Gibraltar’s 30,000 inhabitants for the next 30 years.”