Enter Engineering has prepared a schedule for hiring new workers from Uzbekistan’s provinces for the Uzbekistan GTL plant project in Guzar district of the Kashkadarya province. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the site was practically empty in summer, and many foreign specialists were forced to leave home. Timur Abdullayev, Administrative Director of Enter Engineering, told Kun.uz how the company intends to cope with the pandemic.
The implementation of the $ 3.7 billion project has now entered its final phase. It is planned to complete the construction of the plant before 2021, while pre-commissioning work is already underway at some of the auxiliary and process units. The main process equipment has been delivered to the site, the installation of which is now being completed. However, the facility was at risk in terms of commissioning due to the outbreak of coronavirus at the construction site.
The pandemic affected the pace of construction, due to the imposed travel restrictions, the mobilization of foreign specialists was suspended. Now almost all consultations with foreign partners are held online, in compliance with lockdown restrictions.
“Before the pandemic, we had a plan to commission the facility by the year end, and this has not changed. People started to panic amid the news of the pandemic. Many had left. Then lockdown was announced, all transport services were suspended - the construction site became virtually empty. At the end of June, we reached the point that about 400-800 people remained. 600 foreign experts left the job. Out of 14 thousand people there were about 2 thousand expat, ”Abdullayev said.
“Of course, we have taken active measures to ensure health. We bought reanimobiles and laboratories, we are constantly testing people. We have gathered a pool of doctors; four clinics are working on the site. We assigned the site the "green" area. Everyone who is there is healthy. This is how we are battling the panic, ”the source said.
“The second step that we have taken is that we began to actively hire people. We managed to hire more than 1,000 people in a short period of time, which is a fairly good result. They began to mix up foreign specialists with local personnel. We have created lockdown zones for 3 thousand places. All new people undergo two stages of testing - before entering the lockdown zone and afterwards, ”Abdullaev said.
He emphasized that Uzbekistan GTL is a project of state importance and “we have to commission despite all odds”.
In the first half of 2021 the plant is scheduled to start producing synthetic liquid fuel, with a phased reaching full design capacity. After reaching its design capacity, it will process 3.6 BCM natural gas (methane) per year and produce 1.5 million tons of high-quality, environmentally friendly synthetic liquid fuel, including more than 307 thousand tons of aviation kerosene, 724 thousand tons of diesel fuel, 437 thousand tons of naphtha and 53 thousand tons of liquefied gas.
At the same time, the naphtha produced by GTL will be further sent to the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex to increase the production of polymers, thereby creating a single oil and gas chemical cluster. The project will provide import substitution of oil products worth about US$ 1 billion annually.
