Second Wave of Saudi Orders to the Rescue

The first wave of orders for Saudi projects resulted in some 17 W501D (95.5MW) EconoPac units being installed at four sites over the period from 1976 to 1981, and Westinghouse established itself as a major player in the Saudi market.

Meanwhile, the American market continued to be depressed—in fact, at near-zero levels. The only domestic orders of any significance in the period of 1980 to 1981 were for the first three W501D5 units—the prototype for Gulf States Utilities and two units for Dow Chemical Company's facility in Plaquemine, Louisiana. Westinghouse also booked an order with Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) for four gas turbines (two W501D4s and two W501D5s) to be supplied on an emergency basis for the Tula project in Hidalgo, Mexico.

The division was under heavy pressure to book enough business to support continued factory operations, and once again attention turned to opportunities in Saudi Arabia to absorb the inventory. However, these opportunities were for extended scope projects that came with significant complications and risks that proved to be very challenging for Westinghouse.

Bids were submitted and two major orders were obtained from SCECO-Central: one for the Hail plant (five W501D5s) and one for the Qaseem plant (nine W501Ds). Both plants were to be built on a turnkey contract basis, and, to add to the challenge, they were both to be fueled with treated Saudi crude oil.

The use of Saudi crude as a fuel for gas turbines operating at turbine inlet temperature in excess of 2000F posed a significant engineering and operational challenge that was not fully understood when the contracts were signed. Rumor has it that the fuel contaminant levels, specifically sodium and vanadium, were underestimated and the fuel treatment systems were undersized. All of the earlier Saudi units used natural gas or distillate fuel oil, so there we no such operational issues involved with those.

Also, the broad-scope turnkey nature of both projects required Westinghouse to subcontract with many international companies for the engineering and construction aspects of the work, and for supplying plant equipment and material, exposing the company to even more risk. Combine this with the complexity of long-distance communications between the construction sites and project engineers in Concordville, Pennyslvania, and you had a recipe for all sorts of technical and logistical problems. It is said that the telex room at Concordville was typically full of teletype tape every morning for years, with messages from site engineers.

On top of those problems, the contract terms accepted to close the Hail and Qaseem orders were apparently very onerous, including long-term parts warranties that covered damage to hot-path components exposed to corrosive contaminants found in the Saudi crude oil.

Suffice to say that the Hail and Qaseem projects turned into major financial setbacks. One result was that there were three changes in general management at Concordville over the next three or four years. First, Jack Barrett was given the job in 1982 to replace Joe Stadelman. Then, in 1984, Earle DeBoise was sent from the Nuclear Center to oversee the Saudi projects, and to contain the losses. The last Concordville General Manager, Don White, was sent in 1986 to either shut down the operation or move it to Orlando, but that's another story.

Although Hail and Qaseem bring back some difficult memories for those who still remember, it is said that time passes and heals all wounds—or that people tend to forget lessons learned. Interestingly, the records show that Westinghouse decided to take two more orders for crude-oil fueled plants in Asir and Jizan in the mid-1990s. Presumably, enough was learned about fuel pre-treatment, as well as negotiating contract terms, over the 10 or more years since the signing of the Hail and Qaseem contracts. It is believed that all of the crude-burning plants have since been converted to natural gas fuel, and some to combined cycle operation.

In mentioning Westinghouse business in Saudi, it is import to include the name ISCOSA (Industrial Services Company Saudi Arabia). That was and still is the joint venture company formed in 1973 with a local business group to establish an in-country presence to service the growing fleet of Westinghouse gas turbines in Saudi Arabia. With the mention of ISCOSA, it is important also to mention the name of Tex Knight, who served as the General Manager of the operation from 1977 to 1987.