United Group Limited (UGL) today announced that it has signed a contract with Perth based Verve Energy to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for Verve Energy’s High Efficiency Gas Turbine (HEGT) project at Kwinana, Western Australia. The total value of the project is $260 million with UGL’s share being $190 million. Work on the project has already commenced and is expected to be completed within two years.
Verve Energy is the biggest power generation company in Western Australia. Verve Energy competes against privately owned energy companies to provide a reliable electricity supply to WA business and residential customers through electricity retailers such as Synergy.
Owned by the State Government, Verve Energy has its own board which reports to the Minister for Energy. The Kwinana HEGT project follows on from UGL winning the Stratford Peaker project for Contact Energy in 2008 and is the second project in the Australia/New Zealand region utilising the state of the art GE LMS100 Gas Turbine Generator. This project consolidates UGL as a major EPC contractor for open cycle gas turbines.
UGL’s Managing Director and CEO Richard Leupen said, “This is a significant win for UGL and a strong vote of confidence in our Power Generation business. We look forward to partnering with Verve Energy on this important project and helping them to strengthen their market position.
“Securing this project is also a reflection of the strength of UGL’s long term relationship with GE. As well as this very important project, we are working with GE on other opportunities in the power sector, both in Australia and overseas. Building and maintaining new gas turbine power generation facilities will be a growth market, and UGL is a market leader in Australia and New Zealand. “UGL’s Infrastructure business continues to trade well with a significant pipeline of tendering opportunities in the power, water, and transport sectors,” Mr. Leupen said.
