Amec Foster Wheeler, a leading engineering and project management company, has secured a new contract from China's Guangdong Power Engineering Company (GPEC), to design and supply two circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) steam generator boilers for a power plant project in Amman, Jordan.

A leading player in the designing, delivery and maintenance of strategic and complex assets, Amec Foster Wheeler said it will also be offering technical advisory services for the project besides delivering the two 235 MWe (net) CFB boilers, that are designed to burn 100 per cent of Jordanian oil shale.

The project, located at Attarat Um Ghudran, 100km southeast of Amman, marks the company's involvement in Jordan’s first oil shale fired power plant, said the statement from Amec Foster Wheeler.

This project will help Jordan utilise its substantial oil shale reserves, estimated to be 30 billion tonnes, thereby reducing its reliance on imported oil and gas. It is expected to meet 10-15 per cent of the country’s annual power demand, it added.

The project with GPEC, which was selected in 2014 to perform the EPC of the $2.1 billion 554-megawatt oil shale fired power plant, is a significant one for Amec Foster Wheeler, said a top official.

"As leading energy markets around the world aim to introduce energy-efficient and eco-friendly solutions with challenging fuels, this project is further testament to Amec Foster Wheeler's leadership and track record in CFBs, which is central to this effort," remarked Tomas Harju-Jeanty, the president of Amec Foster Wheeler Energia Group, Global Power Group.

"We will use our CFB technology that is successfully operating in four European plants to burn oil shale," he added.

According to him, this project is the first utilising Jordan’s abundant oil shale reserves.

GPEC vice president Bai said the successful co-operation with Amec Foster Wheeler is a giant achievement in oil shale-fired power plants.

"We believe that future growth of our market will generate more opportunities to achieve win-win situations," he added.-TradeArabia News Service