UGL Limited announced that in a 50-50 joint venture with CH2M Hill, it has been awarded a $550 million contract by JKC Australia LNG Pty Ltd for the construction of a combined-cycle power plant for the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia.

As part of the agreement, GE (NYSE: GE) will engineer and supply gas turbines, steam turbines and heat recovery steam generators for the $34 billion Ichthys project. The CH2M Hill-UGL joint venture will design and supply the balance of plant based around the GE equipment as well as undertake the complete construction of the project.

GE will supply five Frame 6B gas turbines and three SC4 single-flow steam turbines that will provide 500 MW of installed power capacity for the facility. Design, procurement and fabrication for the combined cycle power plant works are expected to begin immediately, with an on-site commencement in mid-2013 and completion expected by the end of 2016.

GE's gas and steam turbine technology will generate electricity for the onshore facility, enabling it to produce more than 8 million tons of LNG each year. The onshore facility will be linked to the offshore drilling and processing facilities in the Browse Basin off western Australia by an 885 km undersea pipeline.

The steam turbines will be manufactured in the U.S. before being shipped to Italy for testing in 2013 and then to Australia for installation. The gas turbines are manufactured in France.

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