My Project Showcase

Maintenance has been the backbone of my career, and most of it has been spent on combined cycle plants and the machines at their heart — gas turbines, steam turbines and heat-recovery steam generators. As Manager Maintenance at K-Electric (2019–2023), my largest responsibility was the 248 MW Korangi Power Complex, a combined cycle station built around four GE LM6000 gas turbines, two steam turbines and two waste-heat-recovery boilers.

Gas turbines & steam turbines (Korangi Power Complex):

• Level-3 maintenance of the LM6000 gas turbines — major module replacements, hot-section exchanges and HPC blade replacements, through to alignment and reliable start-up
• Level B and Level C major overhauls of the steam turbines and associated electrical systems, planned and executed end to end
• Annual HRSG inspections carried out to API 510, keeping the plant compliant and dependable
• Maintenance, inspection and troubleshooting of auxiliaries — rotating equipment, electrical drives and control systems

Running the department:

• Spares inventory of over PKR 500 million, and the plants' annual OPEX and CAPEX budgets
• Procurement, vendor and OEM management across mechanical, electrical and instrumentation
• Drove the implementation of the DuPont Process Safety Management system across plant systems

The groundwork was laid earlier (2010–2017), again at K-Electric: hands-on maintenance and 30,000-hour minor overhauls on the Jenbacher fleets at SGTPS & KGTPS, and leading the plant team that implemented SAP PM — the system discipline I have relied on ever since.

From 2017 to 2019 I was Sr. Manager Engineering & Operations for Omni Group's Power Division, responsible for four reciprocating gas-engine plants across Sindh. Together they ran 22 GE Jenbacher J620 engines — 78.1 MW in all, including waste-heat recovery at Thatta — and my mandate was simple to state and hard to do: keep every station available, reliable and efficient.

The fleet:

• Omni Power (OPPL) — 4 engines · 13.2 MW
• Dadu Energy (DEPL) — 6 engines · 19.8 MW
• Shikarpur Power (SPPL) — 5 engines · 16.5 MW
• Thatta Power — 7 engines · 23.1 MW, plus 5.5 MW waste-heat recovery = 28.6 MW

• Day-to-day operations and maintenance leadership across the four stations
• Improvement programmes that cut parasitic losses and lifted thermal efficiency
• Led development of the waste-heat-recovery steam generation project at Thatta
• Beyond the fleet, the role stretched into project development: techno-commercial feasibility of a 50 MW bagasse cogeneration plant at Matli, evaluation of run-of-river hydro (2×10 MW) and solar (2×20 MW) proposals, and the agreements and regulatory work behind them (NEPRA, AEDB, EPA, SSGC, DISCOs, NTDC)

Served as team lead overseeing the thermal performance testing of the 1263 MW RLNG Combined Cycle Power Plant for Punjab Thermal Power Ltd (www.punjabthermal.com) on RLNG and HSDO fuels. The project involved the development and review of client and OEM-submitted test procedures for compliance with ASME PTC codes, reviewing correction curves, verifying the isolation list and SLD, verifying the calibration of test instruments, calculating final test results, and submitting the final report to CPPA-G.

Led the thermal performance testing of the 900 MW BQPS-III Combined Cycle Power Station for K-Electric Ltd (www.ke.com.pk) on RLNG and HSDO fuels. The project involved reviewing the plant's P&ID, SLD, and HMBD to ensure accurate system representation. Test procedures were developed in accordance with ASME PTC 46 and PTC 22 standards. The performance test was executed in the presence of NEPRA, followed by the evaluation and reporting of results to NEPRA.

As the lead mechanical engineer representing the owner, I oversaw the S&K Phase-II project, a $55 million USD EPC initiative to convert two 90 MW open cycle power plants into combined cycle power plants. The primary goal was to enhance efficiency and energy recovery by incorporating waste heat recovery steam generators (WHRSGs) and steam turbines into the existing infrastructure.

Project Scope and Deliverables:

Project scope comprises design, installation, and commissioning of:

• 1 x 10 MW Steam Turbine by NG Allen, Brazil, at each station (KGTPS and SGTPS), to utilize the recovered heat for additional power generation.
• 32 WHRSGs of 1.625 tph each at each station (52 tph steam per station) — one on every engine exhaust — to convert waste heat into steam for power generation, reducing energy wastage.

Key Responsibilities:

• Techno-Commercial Feasibility: Conducted feasibility studies, contract drafting, and performance benchmarking to ensure both technical and commercial success.
• Detailed Design Work: Led the development of mechanical and process designs, including Heat and Mass Balance Diagrams (HMBD), P&IDs, plant layouts, and isometrics. This involved piping plans, equipment datasheets, and technical specifications.
• Equipment Coordination: Selected and coordinated with OEMs, integrating designs from multiple vendors to ensure cohesive project execution.
• Quality Control and Commissioning: Oversaw the erection and commissioning of steam turbines, condensers, WHRSGs, and Balance of Plant (BOP) systems, ensuring compliance with contractual performance standards.
• Documentation and Communication: Maintained document control and provided progress updates to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and informed decision-making.
• Project Scheduling: Utilized Primavera-6 for timeline analysis, highlighting potential lags, and proposing time recovery measures to keep the project on track.

Served as the technical lead from OMS for filing the K-Electric Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) petition to NEPRA for all six generating stations, covering the remaining life of the plants. The structure aligned with IPPs, allowing expenditures through fixed and variable O&M, including the evaluation of O&M costs and tariff rationalization. OMS acted as the lead technical consultant, while EY served as the independent financial consultant. The MYT petition was filed in December 2022, and the public hearing took place on May 2, 2023. See relevant update from K-Electric.

Served as Site Manager and engineering consultant for the disposal project of 2x220 MW Units 03 and 04 at BQPS-I Thermal Power Station for K-Electric www.ke.com.pk. This PKR 4.8 billion project involved the dismantling of a complete 50-meter boiler and structure, ANSALDO 210 MW steam turbine, generator, and transformer, with a total disposal weight of more than 15,000 tons.

Served as an Independent Consultant for conducting the pre-qualification and technical, commercial, and financial evaluation of bids related to the Operations and Maintenance of the Coal Jetty for the 2x660MW Power Plant of China Power Hub Generation Company (CPHGC) (www.hubpower.com/cphgc). The scope of work included reviewing the pre-qualification document prepared by CPHGC in accordance with NEPRA guidelines, evaluating the pre-qualification submissions of prospective O&M contractors, and conducting technical and commercial evaluations of bids, with scoring and selection of the contractor based on predefined criteria.

Acted as an independent consultant for the technical and commercial evaluation of bids concerning the transportation, disposal, and management of ash from the unloading facility of the 660 MW (2 x 330 MW) Thar coal-based power plant for Engro Powergen Thar (Pvt) Limited (www.engroenergy.com/engro-powergen-thar-limited).