Resolving energy shortages in Venezuela

El Furrial Power Plant - PDVSA Project

Prior to our work for ProEnergy, the vast majority of Venezuela’s power came from a few hydroelectric power stations that often suffered from inadequate rainfall. Inconsistent rains would lead to unreplenished reservoirs and consequently, surprise power shortages. Adding to this was Venezuela’s rapidly growing demand for electric power, which meant that switching to a dependable electric power source was just a matter of time.

Our solution to this complex, multi-pronged dilemma? Erecting a brand new gas power plant to fire up a key refinery that would ultimately fill in these pesky energy gaps. Our experienced staff devised the detailed engineering and design for this new plant, which would service a major refinery in El Furrial. Owned by Venezuela’s state owned oil and natural gas company, PDVSA, the El Furrial refinery was able to multiply its power output many times over with the boost from our new plant.

Designed on a very tight schedule, the resulting 200MW simple cycle power plant now incorporates four powerful combustion turbine generators. Our team orchestrated the installation of these generators and the balancing of plant equipment, including some specialized evaporative cooling of the generators. We also completed the engineering and design of a new 115 kV substation that was part of the system.

In spite of the hurdles of geography—with our design teams working out of the US and the client’s construction teams working in Venezuela—the project was completed successfully and the plant is at last the reliable source of power for the region that ProEnergy had dreamt it to be.