COMPANY PROFILE
2015
Uruk Engineering & Contracting Services
www.urukgroup.com | +971 4 448 3331
Rebuilding a nation Editorial: Ajuanne Payne
Working in some of the most difficult conditions on projects essential for the development of Iraqi infrastructure, Uruk Engineering & Contracting Services is an Iraqi-owned Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor with expertise in the energy and power generation industries. Total World Energy speaks to Business Development Manager, Mr Ammar Al-Kital to find out more…
Uruk is an Iraqi EPC contractor specialising in all things relating to power generation. More importantly for them, their business of building and refurbishing power facilities in Iraq is contributing significantly to the rebuilding of the energy infrastructure there – a mission which the company is completely dedicated to. Made up of the foremost in local Iraqi talent, the employees of Uruk have been leading the nation’s energy sector, creating a nationwide industrial network and establishing power grids, for over a decade. Speaking with Mr. Al-Kital,
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he explains further the beginnings of the company and what drives them. “Our CEO decided to leave Iraq and establish the company in the UAE in 2003 and it was more or less a development company – that was the first part of Uruk Engineering. He was always following up with the Iraqi counterparts on what is happening there – which projects are being done.” Headquartered in the UAE, but with offices in Baghdad and Dubai, Uruk’s management is made up of prominent Iraqi engineers
and scientists with collective experience in the oil and gas, nuclear, electricity, water and waste management sectors. Mr Al-Kital explains that “more or less 90% of our people here and 100% of our management are Iraqi’s who worked in Iraq for a much longer time - they know the area and they know the needs of Iraq.”
A GOOD START Following the founding of the company and the creation of a base in the UAE, Uruk got its first major project a few years later working on the 250MW
Uruk Engineering & Contracting Services refurbishment of a power facility in Kirkuk. Mr Al-Kital states that “in 2006 the Uruk Engineering & Contracting company was really established and on that date we started to look after serious EPC contracts in Iraq. “Our very first project was in Kirkuk - about 150 km north of Baghdad. This project was for 250 MW. It was two GE frame 9E turbines and it took about two years to be completed.” The Al Qudus Expansion project in Kirkuk was completed in May 2009 for client, the Ministry of Electricity and cost a total of US$170 million. Uruk was tasked with the turnkey design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of all equipment and have contributed to this region being one of the few in Iraq to have a reliable power supply. “Then we jump to the next
project which is Taji, 20 km Northeast from Baghdad,” continues Mr Al-Kital, “that was 168MW – again GE Turbines, they call it a frame 6B.” The Ministry of Electricity in Iraq had launched a fast track initiative for its power generation projects in 2010, and the Taji Gas Power Plant Project is the first of these to have been completed. It is another turnkey EPC contract for Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity. Completed in just two years and finished in 2012, this project is valued at US$85 million. Uruk’s commitment to quality ensured it fulfilled its requirements, completing all work less than two years after being awarded the contract. It is also the first Iraqiowned company to complete this type of project since the initiative was put in place – a success that can be firmly attributed to the expertise of its employees.
DIFFICULT CONDITIONS Considering the unrest and the difficult times the country has faced over the past decade, the skills of the employees of Uruk have ensured that the public of Iraq received electricity. This is despite the years of import restrictions, logistical challenges, legislative hurdles and security risks. As of 2014, Iraq’s electricity production capacity was estimated at 1200MW, with demand being estimated at a much higher 1600MW. Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity has a General Plan that has identified 24GW of generation, transmission and distribution projects over the next decade to bridge the supply and demand deficit. Uruk’s next turnkey project was for a huge 724MW at the Mansuriya Power Plant in the Diyala Provence, Iraq. Mr Al-Kital divulges that this “was a joint-venture with
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Alstom, who provided the turbines themselves. We were doing the auxiliaries of the whole plant - we were the contractor and they were the technology holder of the turbines and were also responsible for the commissioning. “It is a nice project in Mansuriya, which is about 120 km Northwest of Baghdad, but this area is very hot right now; it is a very difficult area. We had to more or less evacuate the power station last July, 2014, so we are still waiting for the clearance from the Ministry of Electricity so we can move back there. “Also, this project was completed in December 2013, but for some reason the gas was not supplied so we couldn’t do the hot commissioning. There is the cold and the hot commissioning. Hot commissioning, you really run the whole plant for 72 hours and then if everything goes correctly you can hand it over to the client.
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“We couldn’t do this because the gas was not supplied. It is completed but we just have to run it. Once finished, we will feel proud to be producing 750 MW for the Iraqi people.
“We know how it works; we know how to build these, so it’s just about increasing the size of these projects” “After that, the Ministry actually started to talk to us about how to develop this power station into a combined cycle. So, we gave them our studies, cost estimation and feasibility studies. It was more or less accepted but due to the situation it was a bit delayed.” One of the pressing concerns still
restricting electricity supply in Iraq is the lack of reliable fuel supply to power facilities. The issue of fuel supply is a logistical one – due to the political situation and issues with the nation’s infrastructure. The country has its own substantial supplies of oil and gas, particularly in the South, but needs to rebuild the systems essential for a reliable supply. The Ministry of Electricity is addressing this problem and has identified a number of fuel-related projects that need executing, such as the construction of treatment, methane gas gathering and delivery facilities, to give the power sector a boost over coming years. Just to name a few of the country’s investments into rebuilding and improving its power network, two major contracts were awarded in 2009 to GE and Siemens for a total of 10,840MW in generation equipment – worth an estimated US$5billion. Uruk is one of the companies entrusted with the installation of this new equipment and since inception has worked with major global players such as GE, Siemens, Bechtel International and ABB.
TRIUMPH THROUGH ADVERSITY Despite these difficulties, Uruk has succeeded in completing essential work to world class standards of excellence. Mr Al-Kital goes further, explaining that if you “take in to consideration the situation in Iraq, there were not many major big EPC contractors who are or were willing to go to Iraq - only the experienced Iraqi’s with the good knowledge who could work in such circumstances. “Accordingly our achievement was pretty good. Those first two projects we didn’t have any delay,
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everything was per the schedule. There were no accidents – everything went smoothly. Besides our management and certainly Dr. Jafar who is our CEO, founder of the company, he has a long history in electricity. He took over the application of the Iraqi electricity after 1991, So he knows by heart every single power station in Iraq – where are the opportunities, the defects, he knows it all really by heart.” Dr. Jafar D. Jafar, CEO and co-founder of Uruk chaired Iraq’s National Committee for Technology Transfer previously and much of the success and exponential growth of the company can be attributed to the vision and expertise of its leadership.
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BEATING THE COMPETITION Looking forward to 2015, Uruk has a few exciting prospects in the pipeline and is continuing in its mission to successfully win and complete projects vital for Iraqi energy infrastructure. Mr Al-Kital goes in to detail about one “new project which is in Baghdad – the Dora power station. “This project is about to be awarded to us very soon. We have competed with some Italian companies but we definitely have the advantage on the security. A European company who will come to work in Iraq will plan out a big margin for security, for the risk. We can reduce those factors due to our circumstances, because our managers are Iraqi and so on. We are more cost efficient than the others. “I’m expecting that we will
expand as well in to thermal power plants, because almost 60-70% of our power plants in Iraq are thermal and all of them are in need of rehabilitation new boilers, rehabilitation of the turbines. So, I hope that after the award of this project and the completion we will again have a new place where we can implement our work as well.”
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Looking forward to the next few years, Mr Al-Kital describes how the company is aiming to expand on its capabilities, for example in the area of gas compression stations. “We just started when I came in to the company, to look to the gas and oil industry,” explains Mr Al-Kital. “If you take a gas
Uruk Engineering & Contracting Services compression station - normally you have it in a power station, at a smaller capacity, but for the gas and oil industry you need it on a bigger scale. We know how it works; we know how to build these, so it’s just about increasing the size of these projects. “We participated in two tenders recently with the Ministry of Oil and we’re still competing actually on those two projects. The gas compression stations out of Iraq compress the gas and transport it to another point - so it is the way we transport the gas from a point to another. “This is our new start. Not only power generation plants, but also things related to the gas, gas compression and gas treatment plants. All those parts are on a smaller scale within our current work - but we can make a bigger
plant as well out of that. This can also involve other consultants which can support us in this process.”
“More or less 90% of our people here and 100% of our management are Iraqi’s who worked in Iraq for a much longer time - they know the area and they know the needs of Iraq” Since inception, Uruk engineering and Contracting Services have shown their ability to not only deliver quality work
on time, but to do it to a high standard while under very difficult conditions. You cannot put a value on local knowledge and in the case of Uruk; this has been a major contributing factor to their ability to get the job done. In no small measure, Uruk’s success can also be attributed to the passion its leadership and employees have for their work. The culture of the business is one of real dedication to the rebuilding of essential infrastructure in their home country – and a real determination to succeed. “We really want to finish what we started in Iraq, before we think about moving outside. The rehabilitation or the rebuilding of Iraq will take a bit of time and we are trying to concentrate on this as much as possible,” Mr Al-Kital concludes
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