Giant remote oil field depends on Perkins powered generator sets

Kazakstan’s Tengiz oil field is the world’s sixth largest with estimated reserves of up to 11 billion barrels and a 30 year production life expectancy. It’s also large, covering 2,500 km² and in a very remote area more than 1,600 km from the capital in Astana and far from any adequate grid power.

But, keeping the oil flowing requires reliable power for pumps, control rooms, wellhead safety systems and the housing and feeding of thousands of workers. Supplying that power for Tengiz’ ambitious Future Growth Project that will increase output to more than 1 million barrels per day required installation of 48 new generator sets across the field.

The challenge was accepted by Teksan, a Turkish energy specialist with the capacity to supply more than 150,000 generator sets annually and a customer base covering more than 130 countries. The extreme conditions at Tengiz with temperatures ranging from -40° C in the winter to nearly 40° C in the summer plus the remote location and some unusual packaging requirements called for a unique solution.

Teksan responded with generator sets powered by Perkins^® 4000 Series engines in configurations ranging from 6 to 16 cylinders to cover both prime and standby applications. These compact, power dense engines were ideal for use in easily transported container canopied generator sets. In only six months, Teksan supplied 33 sets of 1400 kVA; three sets of 560 kVA; four sets of 167 kVA; one set of 114 kVA; and seven sets of 67 kVA to Tengiz.

“Ease of transportation is certainly a consideration,” said Deniz Ar, Teksan’s deputy general manager, “but the attributes of quality and fuel eﬃciency still matter. The Perkins 4000 Series satisfies both and, coupled with the available engineering support from the Perkins application team, it’s an easy choice.”

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