www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 POLISH POWER PLANT OFFERS INNOVATION ON EMISSIONS Curbing SOx emissions from thermal plants remains a challenge but a flue gas desulphurisation refurbishment offers a way forward. IS THE UK SMART ENOUGH FOR GRID CHALLENGES? The UK has ambitious plans for energy reform that require an urgent overhaul of its creaking grid system. But it is ready for this huge project? GROWTH SOLAR GIVES GREECE HOPE FOR Click here to access Spring 2012 Energy Catalog
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www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012
POLISH POWER PLANT OFFERS
INNOVATION ON EMISSIONS
Curbing SOx emissions from thermal plants remains a
challenge but a flue gas desulphurisation refurbishment offers a way forward.
IS THE UK SMART ENOUGH FOR
GRID CHALLENGES?
The UK has ambitious plans for energy reform
that require an urgent overhaul of its creaking grid system. But it is ready for this huge project?
PennWell Global Energy Group, The Water Tower, Gunpowder Mill, Powdermill Lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1BN, United Kingdom. Phone: +44 1992 656 600 Fax: +44 1992 656 700 www.peimagazine.comChief Editor Heather Johnstone [email protected] Deputy Editor Kelvin Ross [email protected] Associate Editor Nigel Blackaby [email protected] Production Editor Piers EvansAdvertisement Sales Manager Anthony Orfeo [email protected] Advertisement Sales Manager Asif Yusuf [email protected] Studio Manager Karl Weber [email protected] Design Michael Wickers Production Daniel Greene Group Publisher Ralph Boon Corporate Headquarters PennWell Corporation, 1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa , OK 74112 USA Telephone: +1 918 835 3161 Fax: +1 918 831 9834 Sr. VP Audience Development and Book Publishing Gloria Adams Audience Development Manager Janet Orton Chairman Frank T. Lauinger President/CEO Robert F. BiolchiniCirculation and subscriber enquiries P.O. Box 3264, Northbrook, IL 60065-3264 USA Tel: +1 847 559 7501 Fax: +1 847 291 4816 E-mail: [email protected]
40 4632PennWell Global Energy Group, The Water Tower, Gunpowder Mill, Powdermill Lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1BN, United Kingdom. Phone: +44 1992 656 600 Fax: +44 1992 656 700 www.peimagazine.comChief Editor Heather Johnstone [email protected] Deputy Editor Kelvin Ross [email protected] Associate Editor Nigel Blackaby [email protected] Production Editor Piers Evans Design Claire Brocklesby Production Daniel Greene Advertisement Sales Manager Anthony Orfeo [email protected] Advertisement Sales Manager Asif Yusuf [email protected] Studio Manager Karl Weber [email protected] Group Publisher Ralph Boon Corporate Headquarters PennWell Corporation, 1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa , OK 74112 USA Telephone: +1 918 835 3161 Fax: +1 918 831 9834 Sr. VP Audience Development and Book Publishing Gloria Adams Audience Development Manager Linda Thomas Chairman Frank T. Lauinger President/CEO Robert F. BiolchiniCirculation and subscriber enquiries P.O. Box 3264, Northbrook, IL 60065-3264 USA Tel: +1 847 559 7501 Fax: +1 847 291 4816 E-mail: [email protected]
Power Report Greek crisis spurs power sector shake-up 14Whether Greece stays in the euro or leaves, its power sector has a key role to play in rebuilding the country’s shattered eceonomy and could even provide a crucial engine for regeneration.
FeaturesKnocking the SOx off emissions 20Curbing SOx emissions from thermal plants remains a challenge for operators but a project involving the refurbishment of the f ue gas desulphurisation installation at a Polish plant offers a way forward.
Is the UK smart enough for grid challenges? 26While technology companies have been talking up the Smart Grid for years, there is no blueprint for its development. Does the UK – which has ambitious energy plans that require a grid overhaul – understand the challenges, and is it acting on them?
Q&ABrazil’s clean power expansion 32José da Costa Carvalho Neto has been tapped by Brazil’s president Dilma Vana Rousseff to run Eletrobras, one of the ten biggest publicly traded electric companies in the world. His task is to make Eletrobras the largest clean energy company system in the world by 2020.
FeaturesOptimising I&C functions 36A new standardisation approach aims to cut the effort in creating instrumentation and control (I&C) functions and optimise their setup through a portfolio of proven best-practice multi-variant standards.
India’s hopes for solar power growth 40With more than 300 days of sunshine a year, India is a prime candidate for solar power success. Yet its power industry has some high hurdles to overcome to realise its solar ambitions.
Taking it to the max at Drax 46After f ve years and £100 million, the UK’s largest power station has completed a state-of-the-art modernisation of its six steam turbines, carried out via a close British–German collaboration.
RegularsUpfront 2World News 4
Solar gives Greece hope for power sector (p.14).
C O N T E N T SVolume 20 • Issue 6 • June 2012
Power Engineering International®
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UP FRONT
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In this day and age of political correctness and aversion to controversy it is rare for a business leader to publicly express their frustration at a political decision. So it was refreshing to hear Dr Bernhard Fischer,
head of Germany’s E.ON Generation GmbH, talk candidly about the impact the Merkel government’s radical change in energy policy post-Fukushima is having on his business.
Speaking last week at the POWER-GEN Europe Conference & Exhibition in Cologne, Dr Fischer described the policy change, known as the ‘Energiewende’, as a “political wish that is without a realistic view of what is achievable” by the power industry.
The Energiewende, which translates in its simplest form as ‘energy transition’ or ‘energy transformation’, will see nuclear power phased out in Germany by 2022 and compensated by a signif cant boost in renewable energy capacity – doubling its share in electricity consumption to 35 per cent in 2020.
Dr Fischer said conventional power generation resources are already being “stretched” to support the country’s existing renewable energy installed base. So with the expected surge in renewable capacity coming on line before 2021, he emphasised that these conventional plants would be facing an “even greater challenge” in the coming years to compensate for this intermittency.
Dr Fischer described Germany as a “pacemaker in the world” over the last ten years, yet after Fukushima “everything that had been achieved” regarding the life extensions of the country’s nuclear f eet had been “undone”. And he asked what had been the result of this decision? “No risk was reduced. No new strategy was implemented.” All that was achieved, he said, was that “politicians proved that they could make a decision... and the public appreciated this”.
Although Dr Fischer conceded that the German energy policy was not “technically impossible” to achieve, he emphasised that it was “necessary to do so in the right way”. This, as far as he was concerned, had not been achieved. In relation to the nuclear withdrawal decision, he said: “No expert was asked. No risk assessment was done.”
Also speaking at last week’s POWER-GEN Europe was Dr Werner Gotz, a member of the board and chief technology off cer of German utility EnBW Kraftwerke AG.
Although Dr Gotz accepted that the Enegiewende was needed not just in Europe but worldwide as part of the transition toward a low-carbon future, he criticised the speed of Germany’s energy transition, calling it “too quick”.
Two out of EnBW’s four nuclear power stations fell into the group forced to shut down immediately post-Fukushima, and this he said was “severely hitting his bottom line”.
However, unlike private energy utilities such as E.ON, which is seeking $10 billion in damages from the government for the accelerated nuclear phase-out, EnBW is publicly owned, leaving the utility to swallow the sizeable costs of holding stranded nuclear assets.
According to Dr Fischer, if Germany’s current energy policy is to achieve its aims it needs “co-ordination, co-ordination, co-ordination”, as well as time, money and acceptance, a sentiment echoed by Dr Gotz, who emphasised the need for “all interested parties to come together”.
Without this, though, Dr Fischer feared the policy would be “just a vision” and wondered if it was a vision that Germany’s power sector would be able to survive.
Germany’s energy competitiveness under threat
“If Germany’s current energy policy is to
achieve its aims it needs co-ordination.
Without this it is just a vision in which the
power sector may struggle to survive”
Kind regards,
Heather Johnstone, PhDChief Editor
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INTERNATIONAL••• WORLD NEWS •••
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The European Investment Bank
is to provide $30m towards
the upgrade of a 341 km
transmission line in Zambia.
The Kafue-Livingstone line
is the only major electricity
connection in southwestern
Zambia and it is hoped that its
upgrade will enable power to
be traded with nearby Namibia
via the Caprivi interconnector.
The upgrade, which is due for
completion in 2014, will boost
capacity from the current 120 MW
to 360 MW and will include the
construction of new substations
to replace some infrastructure
which is more than 50 years old.
The original line between the
Victoria Falls hydropower station
and Lusaka was built in the 1970s.
The total cost of the project
is around $100m, with other
support coming from the
World Bank and the Zambia
Electricity Supply Corporation.
“Upgrading the Kafue-
Livingstone transmission line will
assist the Zambian government’s
efforts to ensure that a reliable
supply of energy can keep pace with
economic growth in Zambia and
improve electricity distribution
across southern Africa,” said
European Investment Bank vice-
president Plutarchos Sakellaris.
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Water
and Electricity Authority has
appointed UK bank HSBC to advise
on the development of the Mirfa
independent water and power
project, which is expected to have a
capacity of 1500-1600 MW and
60 million gallons a day of water.
Botswana: Botswana is to issue a
tender for two 300 MW coal f red
plants to be built, construction
beginning this year. One of the
projects will be an expansion at
the existing Morupule complex,
where Botswana’s power utility BPC
operates a coal f red plant.
Egypt: Power generation engineering
f rm PGESCo is planning to build a
650 MW plant at Suez to replace a
smaller plant built in the 1950s and
decommissioned four years ago.
Israel: GE is to supply a dozen
of its aeroderivative gas turbine
generators to Dorad Energy power
plant in Israel. The order for the 12
LM6000-PC Sprint units is part of
a $200m deal for the plant that GE
has signed with Wood Group, which
is the engineering, procurement and
construction contractor for Dorad.
Kurdistan: Kurdistan is planning to
build f ve hydropower projects with
a combined capacity of 1305 MW.
There will be a 621 MW plant at
Mandaw, 350 MW at Taq Taq
and 261 MW at Rashawa, plus two
smaller run-of-river projects.
Mozambique: Aggreko and
Shanduka Group have won a
contract to supply 107 MW of gas
f red power to South Africa and
Mozambique.
Saudi Arabia: Ewaan Global
Residential Co has signed a
$16.7m contract with ABB for
the construction of a 110/13.8 kv
substation in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Electricity
Co has selected Arabian Bemco to
build a power plant near Riyadh
City. The project will have a capacity
of 2175 MW and the engineering,
procurement and construction
contract is worth $1.25bn.
South Africa: Wärtsilä has
signed three-year operations &
maintenance agreement with Sasol
New Energy Holdings, a global
energy and chemical company.
The deal covers the company’s
gas engine power plant project in
Sasolburg, South Africa.
Zambian $100m transmission upgrade will triple capacity
Middle Eastern demand for
natural gas is likely to rise faster
than supply over the next f ve
years, forcing one of the world’s
biggest gas reserve regions to
import more, according to the
International Energy Agency (IEA).
It expects Middle East gas
demand to rise by 79 billion m3,
or 20 per cent, from 2011 to 2017,
outstripping incremental supply in
the region by 7 billion m3 as low
gas prices encourage consumption
and discourage production.
Indian power company
Suzlon has been chosen as the
preferred bidder for a 138 MW
wind project in South Africa.
The AmakhalaEmoyeni Phase
1 development is being built by
Cennergi, a joint venture between
South Africa’s Exxaro Resources
and Tata Power Company, India’s
largest private power utility.
Suzlon will supply 66 of its
S97-2.1 MW turbines under a
full EPC deal, with construction
due to start early next year.
Between February and April
this year, Suzlon won contracts
worth $387m in Europe.
Rolls-Royce has won contracts
worth $136m to supply technology
and support services to Dolphin
Energy, which transports natural
gas from Qatar to the United
Arab Emirates and Oman via
a 364 km subsea pipeline.
Rolls-Royce will supply Dolphin
with three industrial Trent gas
turbine compression packages, each
rated at 52 MW, which will join
six similar units that went into
service at Dolphin’s gas processing
plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar, in 2006.
Suzlon wins South
African wind dealIran and Armenia have signed an
agreement to build the Meghri
hydroelectric power plant over
the Aras River, which runs
between the two countries.
Construction is scheduled to start
in August and the plant is expected
to produce 130 MW. Armenia
and Iran will simultaneously start
construction in Armenia’s Meghri
and Iran’s Qarachilar regions.
Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister,
Mohammad Behzad, said a third
high-voltage transmission line
being built between the two
countries as part of the project
will take Iran’s electricity to
Georgia, Russia and Europe.
Armenia and Iran in hydro plant deal
The Taji power plant has been
commissioned in Baghdad and
hailed by the Iraqi government
as the f rst step in securing
reliable energy for the country.
The plant runs on four GE
Frame 6B gas turbines and can
generate enough electricity to
support about 160 000 households.
GE is supplying similar kit for
another two new plants in Hilla
and Karbala, which are expected
to be operational later this year.
“The successful start-up of Taji
signals the f rst steps in fulf lling
our continuous commitment
to bring much needed, reliable
electricity to the people of
Iraq,” said Iraq’s Minister of
Electricity, Karim Aftan Aljumaily.
GE is supplying Iraq with an
additional 56 gas turbines for
projects across the country which
are expected to add more than
7000 MW of electricity to
support the expansion of energy
infrastructure and help accelerate
future economic growth.
Joseph Anis, president of GE
Energy in the Middle East, said
the commissioning of Taji was
“a signif cant moment for GE in
Iraq and reinforces our growing
commitment to the country”.
Baghdad plant commissioned
Rolls-Royce in $136m UAE turbine deal
Middle East gasdemand to outpace supply, says IEA
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EUROPE••• WORLD NEWS •••
Poland is poised to lead a “shale gas
revolution” in Europe, according to
Marek Karabula, president of the
Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG).
He said the country had in place
the technology, the political will
and – perhaps most importantly
–the public acceptance to ensure
that Poland is able to unlock
the potential of its estimated
5.3trn m3 of shale reserves.
He claimed that by 2020
Poland will have 1000 wells
producing 11bn m3 of shale gas.
Germany’s post-Fukushima energy
policy has been slammed by the
chief executive of E.ON Generation.
Speaking at POWER-GEN
Europe in Cologne, Bernhard
Fischer said “no expert was asked
and no risk assessment was done”
prior to the government decision to
withdraw from nuclear power and
instead boost renewable capacity.
He said that in the last decade
Germany had tried to be a
“pacemaker in the world”, yet
after Fukushima, “everything that
had been achieved” regarding the
life extentions of the country’s
nuclear f eet had been “undone”.
And he asked what had been the
result of this decision? “No risk
was reduced. No new strategy was
implemented.” All that was achieved,
he said, was that “politicians proved
that they could make a decision...
and the public appreciated this.”
He said the surge of renewable
capacity coming on line before
2021 was “volatile” and added
that conventional plants had a
“huge challenge” to compensate
for the intermittency of this power.
He said the overhaul of the
grid was, for the f rst time,
being driven by “pure need and
restrictions” and not prof tability.
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German utility RWE has
permanently withdrawn from
building nuclear power plants
and has also put on hold any plans
for new fossil-fuelled projects.
The company’s chief executive
designate Peter Terium said
the company is pulling out of
nuclear because “the f nancial
risk is no longer acceptable and is
unreasonable for our shareholders”.
RWE, which operates nuclear
reactors in Germany and owns
a stake in the Netherlands’ only
atomic power plant, has already
withdrawn from the Horizon
project in the UK, a new nuclear
joint venture with E.ON.
The nuclear decision is not
altogether surprising, coming
in the wake of the Merkel
government’s policy to step away
from nuclear power, which hit
the pockets of Germany’s nuclear
operators, including RWE.
However, the plan to suspend
until further notice any fossil-fuelled
power plants is unexpected. Terium,
who will take over as chief executive
next month, said that decision
was taken because of uncertainty
over the German energy policy.
He said the freeze will stay in
place until there is some clarity
on the future of Germany’s
energy regulatory framework.
Bosnia: Power utility Elektroprivreda
is to invite bidders to participate in
the construction of two new coal
f red plant units, which will have a
combined capacity of 750 MW.
Finland: Finnish Welding automation
solutions company Pemamek has
signed a research deal with the British
Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing
Research Centre.
Germany: Germany’s move away
from nuclear in favour of renewable
energy has been described as a
“Herculean task... but achievable”
by the country’s new environment
minister Peter Altmaier.
Hungary: Russia’s state-owned
nuclear company Rosatom is eyeing
a $12.4bn upgrade and expansion
of the Paks nuclear power plant in
Hungary. The government is due to
f oat a tender for up to 3000 MW in
new capacity at the site.
Iceland: Geothermal power
from Icelandic volcanoes could
supply electricity to the UK. The
two countries pledged to explore
the possibility of developing an
electricity interconnection under
a memorandum of understanding
signed by energy ministers.
Ireland: A deal to export renewable
energy from Ireland to the UK could
be in place within six months as Irish
energy minister Pat Rabbitte and his
opposite number, Charles Hendry,
discussed the possibility of Ireland-
based wind farms hooking directly
into the British national grid.
Italy: The boss of Italian nuclear
engineering company Ansaldo
Nucleare, Roberto Adinolf , was shot
in the leg by a masked gunman as
he left his home. His right knee was
fractured but he was not in a serious
condition.
Norway: Norwegian renewable
energy company Langlee Wave Power
has launched a new version of its E1
Wave Energy Converter. The company
is also preparing for a full-scale
demonstration project in Norway next
year after securing €910,000 from
Innovation Norway.
UK: The UK government has been
accused of failing to provide
suff cient support for electricity
storage technologies by the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Head of energy Tom Fox said
incentives and policies to support
electricity storage were “scant and
ill-designed”.
RWE quits nuclear and puts all fossil fuel plants on hold
Germany’s energy policy – the
Energiewende – came under further
f re from power industry chiefs
at POWER-GEN Europe, with
one stating that it was destroying
the country’s economic value.
The decision was branded a
“sad and disappointing kneejerk
reaction” by David Powell of GE and
a “disaster” by Martin Giesen, chief
executive of Advanced Power, who
added: “We are destroying economic
value. This is shutting down growth
and in business, we live by growth.
“The Energiewende is an
expensive process. We are a very rich
country, but if we stay on this road
we will not stay rich for very long.”
Energiewende is ‘shutting growth’
German energy policy comes under f re from E.ON boss
The president of the body representing
Europe’s utility companies has
branded the sector as ‘uninvestable’.
Fulvio Conti, who is also
chief executive of Italian power
company Enel, told delegates at
Eurelectric’s annual conference in
Malta that access to capital was
being blocked by two things:
uncertainty and a lack of coherence.
Conti was speaking in the
presence of the director general
of the European Commission’s
Energy Directorate, Phillip Lowe.
The Commission came under
further f re from the vice president
of Eurelectric and chief executive
of E.ON, Johannes Teyssen,
who bemoaned that weight of
regulations the electricity industry
had to meet and the fact that
four EC Commissioners had
degrees of oversight of the sector.
He said that while Eurelectric
shared the goals of EC, it was far
from sure it was on the right path.
Lowe said that he understood
the concern about f nancing but
stressed that the f nancial crisis
was making investment very hard.
Uncertainty is making Europe ‘uninvestable’ says utility boss
Poland poised for shale ‘revolution’ says gas chief
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China’s f rst government-backed
offshore wind projects may need to
be entirely redesigned after being
held up for the last two years by ob-
jections from maritime authorities.
Four wind farms were tendered
in 2010 but none have begun
construction, after the State
Oceanic Administration and other
government departments disputed
the original locations of the
projects awarded by the National
Energy Administration (NEA).
Speaking at a conference in
Shanghai, developers criticised the
failure by government departments
to co-ordinate the offshore wind
farm approval process, and said
it was still unclear when, or if,
the projects would go ahead.
The location of Longyuan Power’s
200 MW project has been moved
several times from its original site.
The tenders, totalling 1 GW, were
announced in September 2010 and
under the rules, construction was
required to start within two years.
Now, the project details may
need to be entirely overhauled,
said Li Junfeng, president
of the Chinese Renewable
Energy Industries Association.
“The locations have changed
and, three years later, even the
turbines have changed. Almost
everything has changed.”
Banglasdesh: The Bangladeshi
parliament has passed the country’s
f rst nuclear energy bill, paving
the way for its f rst nuclear plant,
a 2000 MW facility set to be built
about 200 km north of Dhaka, with
construction due to start in 2013.
Bhutan: Alstom and Druk Green
Power Corporation have signed a
joint venture agreement to form a
company to provide repair services
for hydro runners and other
underwater parts of hydropower
plants in the South Asian state of
Bhutan. Alstom will hold a 49 per
cent stake in the company, with Druk
Green acquiring the remaining share.
China: The Jiangsu Rudong Offshore
Wind Power Plant has gone online in
the East China Sea. The 50 MW wind
farm is the f rst offshore wind power
order outside Europe for Siemens,
which installed 21 of its SWT-2.3-
101 turbines.
India: Spanish renewable energy
company Acciona Energy has
inaugurated the 56 MW Tuppadahalli
wind farm in Karnataka state.
India: Welspun Energy is to invest
$1bn to develop two wind power
projects in India. The projects are set
for the state of Karnataka by 2016
and will generate 100 MW and
750 MW of wind power, respectively.
India: Westinghouse Electric
Company has signed a memorandum
of understanding with the Nuclear
Power Company of India to construct
AP1000 nuclear power plants at the
Mithivirdi site in Gujarat.
Indonesia: Aggreko is providing
the power for the construction and
initial operations of the Martabe
mine in northern Sumatra in
Indonesia. Hong Kong-based mining
company G-Resources, which owns
the mine, intends to eventually link
it to the local power local grid.
Pakistan: The Pakistan Water and
Power Development Authority will
construct a second underground
power house which will add
375 MW to the existing 250 MW
Warsak hydropower station.
Thailand: Wood Group has won a
$15m contract from Sime Darby
Power Company for maintenance
services at two power stations in
Laem Chabang, Thailand. Under the
ten-year contract, Wood Group GTS
will supply new gas turbine parts,
component repairs and f eld services
for three GE Frame 6B units.
Bureaucracy stalls Chinese offshore wind initiatives
The construction of the EPR
nuclear reactor at Taishan in China
has passed a key stage with the
lowering of the vessel into the
Unit 1 reactor building and its
installation in the reactor pit.
The positioning of the steel
component – which weighs more
than 420 tonnes – marks the
culmination of work undertaken
since the metal dome was placed
on top of the reactor building
at the end of October 2011.
The work is being carried
out by French f rms EDF and
Areva and Chinese company
CGNPC, under the management
of Taishan Nuclear Power.
Milestone at EPR reactor in China
Japanese companies Toshiba
and Sojitz and South Korea’s
Daelim Industrial are to
build a coal plant in Vietnam.
The consortium has won an $830m
order for the Thai Binh 2 project on
the northeast coast of the country.
The plant will have a capacity
of 1200 MW and is owned by
Petrovietnam, a subsidiary of
the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.
Toshiba and Sojitz will be
responsible for the steam turbines
and generators, while Daelim will
handle the overall plant engineering
and construction schedule.
Japan-Korea consortium wins $830m deal for thermal plant
Indonesia’s f rst supercritical
pressure coal f red facility has
been inaugurated in East Java.
Paiton Thermal Power Station
is also the country’s largest and
most eff cient coal f red power
plant and is operated by Paiton
Energy. Its electricity will be sold
to PT PLN (Persero), Indonesia’s
state-owned utility, for a period
of 30 years under a long-term
power purchase agreement.
The new 815 MW plant
is an addition to the existing
1220 MW Paiton power station.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of
India Ltd (NPCIL) has earmarked
$41bn to deliver 10 080 MW
of nuclear power generation.
NPCIL’s investment will cover
eight 700 MW pressurised heavy
water reactors and eight light-water
reactors, with the light-water reactors
coming from foreign companies.
Russia will build two reactors
at Kudankulam, with the other six
being set up by GE, Westinghouse
Electric Corporation and Areva.
The 16 reactors are in addition to
the four 700 MW pressurised heavy
water reactors under construction by
NPCIL at Rajasthan nuclear power
station and at Kakrapara in Gujarat
through an investment of $4bn.
By 2017, India is planning to have
a total installed power generation
capacity of 300 000 MW. Currently,
the total has just passed 200 000 MW.
NPCIL said this month that
Kudankulam’s new nuclear reactors
will be able to withstand a crash of
a Cessna-type aircraft and tsunami
waves several times more intense than
the ones that struck the Fukishima
nuclear plant in Japan last year.
India plans $41bn fund to deliver nuclear power target
United Energy Group has
announced plans to invest $3bn in
a wind farm project in Pakistan.
The Chinese company said it
had already obtained approval
from the Pakistan government
to construct the project, which is
set to have a capacity of 500 MW.
Pakistan, which suffers chronic
shortages of electricity, is offering
clean energy producers higher rates
for renewable power as it seeks to
boost production, while diversifying
energy supply away from oil and gas.
Pakistan picks China f rm for wind farm
Indonesia gets f rst supercritical plant
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AMERICAS••• WORLD NEWS •••
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Konarka Technologies, a US thin-
f lm solar manufacturing company,
is to f le for bankruptcy protection.
Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the
company will cease to operate and
a trustee will begin the process of
liquidating its assets in order to
pay off creditors, who must submit
their claims to bankruptcy court.
Konarka is the 16th solar
company to have gone out of
business in the past year. Its
chairman, Howard Berke, said
the f ling was a “tragedy” for the
development of solar energy in
America as well as for the company’s
investors and employees – more
than 80 staff will lose their jobs.
Konarka received a $1.5m grant
from the state of Massachusetts in
2003, which was personally delivered
by then-governor Mitt Romney.
Romney is now under f re for the
speech he made when delivering
the grant in which he reportedly
called for more money to be poured
into the renewable energy sector.
Berke and Alan Heeger,
the winner of the Nobel Prize
for his work in conductive
polymers, founded Konarka in
2001. The company is known
for its photo-reactive polymer
material invented by Heeger.
Its assets include a manufacturing
plant in Massachusetts.
Brazil: The Export-Import Bank of
the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has
provided a $48.6m loan for the
export of equipment and services to
the Novo Gramacho biogas project
in Brazil. The plant is located at the
Jardim Gramacho landf ll – one of the
world’s largest solid-waste landf lls
- and will convert methane gas into
clean, usable biomethane.
Brazil: State Grid Corp of China
is focusing on Brazil’s electricity
business, as it seeks to buy the
Brazilian transmission assets of
Spain’s Actividades de Construcción
y Servicios for $531m plus debt
of $411m.
Canada: Boralex subsidiary Boralex
Europe is to acquire a 32 MW wind
project in France. The Canadian
company will oversee the project,
which will comprise 16 Gamesa G90
turbines with a capacity of
2 MW each, for a total investment of
CA$55m ($54m).
Canada: Q-Cells North America
has completed the construction of
a 69 MW solar photovoltaic plant
in Ontario. The project is owned by
Starwood Energy Global Group and
consists of three plants and more
than 300 000 of Q-Cells’ Q.BASE
modules.
Colombia: Babcock & Wilcox Power
Generation Group has won a contract
to design a 180 MW coal f red boiler
in Colombia. Hyundai Engineering
awarded the engineering contract to
US-based Babcock.
Nicaragua: Danish wind power f rm
Vestas has signed an order for a total
capacity of 39.6 MW consisting of 22
units of the V100-1.8 MW turbine for
the Alba Rivas wind power plant in
Nicaragua.
US: US transmission company Clean
Line Energy has received regulatory
approval to start signing customer
deals for a 800 km overhead line
that will connect wind farms in
Iowa with Illinois.
US: Southern California Edison has
started the roll-out of smart meters
in western Los Angeles County and
eastern Ventura County as part
of a $1.6bn Edison SmartConnect
programme.
US: FirstEnergy Corp is to invest
between $700m and $900m over the
next f ve years on a series of electric
transmission projects to enhance
service reliability across its f ve-state
service area in the US.
Konarka becomes 16th solar f rm to go bust in past year
JPMorgan Chase is leading a group
of investors, including GE Capital,
Enel Green Power and Wells Fargo,
in providing $220 million to the
planned 235 MW Chisholm View
wind power project in Oklahoma.
As part of the deal, Enel Green
Power will hold a 49 per cent stake
in the project, and GE Energy
Financial Services purchased the
remaining 51 per cent in April.
The wind farm is expected to
enter operations by the end of 2012
and will use 140 GE wind turbines.
A marine energy centre is to be based
off the US Pacif c Northwest coast.
The project is being set up
by Oregon Wave Energy Trust
and Northwest National Marine
Renewable Energy Centre.
The new centre is targeted at
harnessing the signif cant wave
energy resources along the west
coast. The centre will remove a
major barrier to developing the
marine energy technology industry
in the US, by providing the
region’s f rst standardised testing
facilities in real-world conditions,
said its owners. Experts from the
European Marine Energy Centre
will help establish the project.
Wave energy centre planned for Pacif c
Siemens Infrastructure &
Cities has bought Brazilian
smart meter company Senergy
Sistemas de Medição, which
is located in Belo Horizonte
and has about 100 engineers.
New regulations and utilities’
need to prevent and combat non-
technical losses are expected to
drive a boom in the Brazilian
smart meter market. Jan Mrosik
of Siemens Infrastructure & Cities
said the acquisition would enable
Siemens to support the Brazilian
Electricity Regulatory Agency “in
their efforts to signif cantly reduce
the annual economic damage caused
by power losses over the long term”.
Siemens buys Brazil smart meter f rm
The US military is becoming
a major player in the biofuel
and renewable energy markets.
Already, the US military spends
more than $1bn a year on renewable
power and utilises solar power.
But the army is planning a
roll-out of initiatives that cover
all forms of renewable energy.
Richard Kidd, the US Army’s
deputy assistant secretary for
energy, said: “We are specif cally
looking at wind, solar, geothermal
for electric power and biomass.”
The army currently has 165
operational renewable energy
projects, which are almost all under 1
MW. Yet its ambitions are on a much
bigger scale, including a 500 MW,
$2bn solar farm in the Mojave Desert.
He said the army was attractive
to investors because it “can
offer a very long-term power
purchase agreement, up to 30
years, so we can provide a reliable
and secure income stream.”
Kidd also told Platts Energy week
that in Afghanistan the army was
removing generators and bringing
in solar panels and batteries.
US Army renewable energy spree puts focus on solar
Chile’s biggest hydroelectric dam
project has received a blow after
one of its investors puts its plans on
hold over environmental concerns.
The project has also received
negative publicity after protests
over plans to f ood 57000
ha of Patagonia wilderness.
Santiago-based power company
Colbun, which holds 49 per cent
of the 2750 MW HidroAysen, said
it will suspend plans while it seeks
environmental permission to build
transmission lines to the capital.
Investor stalls Chile’s biggest dam
JPMorgan leads investors in $220m US wind farm
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COMPANIES••• WORLD NEWS •••
12 Visit www.powerengineeringint.com for more news June 2012 - PEi
RWE npower’s massive offshore
wind farm project in the UK
is to be signif cantly scaled
back following a critical public
reaction and an unfavourable
court ruling against the industry.
The Atlantic Array project,
located in the Bristol Channel
between South Wales and North
Devon, is to be reduced by a third.
The news follows a High Court
ruling regarding another wind
farm, which ruled in favour of
preserving the landscape of the
Norfolk Broads on the UK east
coast and against allowing four
giant turbines to be built on the site.
The £3bn ($4.7bn) Atlantic
Array scheme is expected to provide
energy for up to a million homes
when it becomes fully operational
within the next ten years.
RWE’s decision comes amid a
background of dissent against the
schemes, with legal experts calling
the ruling a signif cant test case for
planning rules introduced in March.
Robert Thornhill, development
manager for Atlantic Array, said:
“We have reduced the maximum
number of turbines for which we
will apply for planning consent,
from 417 to 278, following
responses to our public consultation
and our environmental and
engineering studies to date.”
Alstom: Alstom has won a deal
to supply Harbin Turbine in China
with a gas turbine to be used at a
combined-cycle plant owned by
Shenzhen Nantian Electric Power
Company.
Boralex: Canadian company Boralex
has signed a $43m deal for its
subsidiary Boralex Europe to acquire
a 32 MW wind farm in France. The
project will comprise 16 Gamesa G90
turbines. EDF will buy energy from the
site, which is due to be commissioned
in 2013.
CEZ: Czech energy company CEZ is
considering selling its Pocerady and
Chvaletice coal f red power stations,
mainly due to uncertainty over coal
supplies after 2013 that has been
raised by currently inconclusive
negotiations with the fuel supplier,
Czech Coal.
Conductix-Wampf er UK: Mobile
energy f rm Conductix-Wampf er
UK is to export to South America for
the f rst time after striking a deal to
supply a metro system in Argentina.
The f rm makes energy and data
transmission systems for mobile
machinery and the contract is with
Subterraneos de Buenos Aires for a
depot on the Buenos Aires Metro.
LM Wind Power: Danish renewables
company LM Wind Power has hired
former Siemens boss Leo Schot as
its new chief executive. Schot was
global supply chain chief executive
at Siemens Wind Power and
previously worked for Enron Wind
and GE Wind Energy. He replaces
Roland Sundén, who has left after
six years as chief executive.
RWE Innogy: RWE Innogy has
started building the Jüchen wind
farm in Germany. In the next six
months, two wind turbines each with
an installed capacity of 3.4 MW are
to be installed on the recultivated
site of RWE Power’s Garzweiler
opencast mine.
RWE: RWE supplied power from
Polish wind farms to the German
Football Federation’s media centre
during this month’s Euro 2012
tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
Moventas: Finnish gear
manufacturer Moventas has signed
a $99m deal to supply German
renewable energy company Areva
Wind. The contract covers 5 MW
gear unit deliveries for the coming
years following successful deals
completed this month for two
offshore wind gears.
RWE downsizes massive wind project after public backlash
Metso is to buy the 40 per cent
share held by Wärtsilä in their
joint venture, MW Power.
The deal is subject to approval
from EU competition authorities
and is expected to complete by
the end of July. The value of the
agreement has not been disclosed.
Founded in 2009, MW Power
supplies small- and medium-
sized heat and power plants for
the European market, and focuses
on renewable fuel solutions. Its
main customers are municipalities,
process industries and utilities.
The company has a total of 250
employees in Finland, Scandinavia,
the Baltic area and Russia.
Metso aims to own all of MW Power
GE is celebrating a decade in the
wind power business with the
prediction that its global installed
turbine base will top 20 000 this year.
The company entered the sector
in 2002 through the acquisition
of Enron Wind and has since
installed 18 000 turbines and
grown the business from 500 MW
to 28 GW of installed capacity.
Vic Abate, vice president
of renewable energy for GE,
pointed to Brazil, Canada, China,
Europe and India as the top
growth markets for GE’s wind
business in the immediate future.
GE targets Brazil and China as it marks tenth anniversary in wind power market
Lloyd’s Register has appointed
atomic safety expert Professor
Mamdouh El-Shanawany as its
business leader for new nuclear.
El-Shanawany will help to lead
the organisation’s technical support
programme for countries looking to
expand their nuclear programmes
and those who want to develop civil
nuclear energy for the f rst time.
He joins Lloyd’s Register from
the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), where he most
recently was its head of safety
assessment for the Division of
Nuclear Installations Safety. He
was responsible for strengthening
the ability of IAEA member states
to assess the safety of their nuclear
installations. The team was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2005.
Prof El-Shanawany said: “Demand
for safe and sustainable energy supply
and the introduction of new nuclear
reactor designs and plant technology
is driving change. Owners,
operators, builders and regulators
require assurance and verif cation
during the design, development
and construction phases.”
Lloyd’s Register hires IAEA’s El-Shanawany as nuclear chief
Alstom is threatening to pull out
of a controversial $1.6bn coal
power project in Slovenia unless
the state gives f nancing guarantees.
The French utility is ready to
quit if the Slovenian parliament
fails to back its f nancing by
16 June, said television reports.
The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development in
2010 approved a loan to modernise
the 600 MW Termoelektrana Sostanj
coal plant, which accounts for a
third of Slovenia’s electric output.
Alstom may pull out of $1.6bn project
Goldman Sachs to invest $40bn in clean energy
Goldman Sachs plans to invest
$40bn in solar, wind, hydro, and
biofuels and other clean energy
sources over the next decade.
The bank’s executives believe
that demand for alternative energy
sources will grow with global energy
demand, and as big manufacturing
countries, such as the BRIC nations,
set more aggressive targets for
reducing emissions, reports Reuters.
Goldman has also pledged
to reduce its own net carbon
emissions to zero by 2020.
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14 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
power
reportGREECE
Whether Greece stays in the euro or leaves, its power sector has a key role to play in rebuilding the
country’s shattered economy and could even provide a crucial engine for regeneration.
Greek crisis spurs power sector shake up
As Greece’s economy continues to plunge to uncharted depths, its power sector is reeling from a mountain of
unpaid bills and a lack of investment. A euro exit would send fuel, capital and
equipment costs skyward, causing extensive power cuts, bankruptcies and unpaid debts. However, the power sector could also act as a crucial engine of regeneration, and pressure is growing to sell off state assets and encourage overseas and European Union (EU) investment in green energy for export – both of which could make a major contribution to recovery.
So far, Greece has lagged in efforts to introduce competition and private investment into its power sector. The 50 per cent state-
owned Public Power Company (PPC) remains dominant, with a limited number of relatively small-scale overseas investors also present, including Enel, Gamesa and EDF.
Its renewable sector is in its infancy, although development has accelerated recently, with a trebling of solar capacity in 2010, followed by the addition of another 200 MW (and 300 MW of wind) in 2011.
However, like the slow move towards greater competition, this is more a product of reluctant and late adherence to EU policy directives than any peculiarly Greek initiative.
A collapse in bill payment linked to a new tax property collection role imposed by the state on PPC almost caused the whole system
to grind to a halt earlier this year, requiring an urgent €250 million ($315 million) bail-out to fend off catastrophe, using part of the fateful tax receipts it collected. PPC is by far the biggest client for independent power producers, which represent about 23 per cent of production. Shrinking demand and high fuel costs are making PPC’s record losses worse.
Against this background, former energy minister George Papaconstantinou had begun talking about the country’s ability to start exporting solar energy into the European market by 2015. The sudden optimism came after a meeting between former Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos and European Commission (EC) president José Manuel
Keeping the lights on: if Greece leaves the euro, power cuts could be widespread with many Aegean islands particularly vulnerable because of their heavy dependence on local oil f red plants
PEi - June 2012 www.powerengineeringint.com 15
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power
report
Barroso introduced the prospect
of up to €12 billion in unspent EU
structural funds.
Former prime minister
Papademos had been very keen
on green energy investment
for economic growth, claiming
Greece was aiming to become
the EU’s largest exporter of green
energy, which he added will
help other EU countries meet their
renewable targets in the process.
But EC energy spokeswoman
Nicole Bockstaller told PEi that at
this stage: “No decision has been
taken regarding the possible
utilisation of f nancing from EU
Structural Funds” for the Greek
renewable sector. Nevertheless,
the f nancial services f rm
Guggenheim Partners has been
attracted by the prospect, and if
the money is forthcoming, Greece
could begin in earnest projects
like the giant Helios solar farm.
FAITH IN HELIOS
In the 1930s the US clawed its
way out of depression with the
help of massive renewable power
projects such as the Tennessee
Valley Authority (TVA) hydro
developments and the Hoover
Dam. Could solar do the same
for Greece and the EU?
Helios will have an initial
capacity of 2 GW, rising to 10
GW by 2020 – making it the
largest solar photovoltaic park
in the world, ideally located
where solar radiation is high.
Bockstaller says the EC sees
Helios as a “f agship project to
advance European co-operation,
develop the EU’s renewable
energy potential and to make
greater use of the co-operation
mechanisms of the Renewable
Energy Directive”.
Greek and German ministers
were both involved in the
€20 billion project’s conception
and early planning, with
Germany expected to be its
main buyer of power. Chancellor
Merkel’s policy of closing her
country’s nuclear reactors by
2022 has led to consideration
of various options to make up
the difference – which represents
almost a quarter of Germany’s
power production.
But recent massive domestic
solar development means solar
imports from Greece would add
to a heavy and growing German
midday output, and Germany
now appears to be cooling on
the idea, despite the EC’s and
Greece’s continued enthusiasm.
“Imports of electricity from solar
collectors in Greece will only
add to the German programme,”
German environment minister
Peter Becker recently told the
German press. Rapid domestic
If Greece is to revive its economy following its euro disaster, solar power could play a key role, with much depending on the multi-billion Helios project and the already operational Volos solar park (pictured) Source: Conergy
power
reportGREECE
16 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
growth has already prompted
Germany to cut its own solar
feed-in-tariffs, and German
ministers also point to the
need for improved north–south
transmission links throughout
Europe to handle additional f ows
before renewable energy projects
such as Helios go ahead.
The 200 km2 of land necessary
to complete the mammoth Helios
project centres on old lignite strip-
mined areas in the mountainous
terrain of the northern Greek
region of Kozani. The project
makes the most of a cheap
brownf eld site in a region of high
sunshine and unemployment, and
could bring many thousands of
desperately needed jobs.
Bockstaller said the Helios
project could contribute to Greek
economic recovery, if part of a
“broader strategy to develop a
renewable sector across the value
chain of electricity generation”.
Along with solar and wind,
Greece has considerable
geothermal potential, and has
earmarked projects worth about
€350 million for private investors.
Its suitability for green power
has already meant two small
islands in the Aegean, Agios
Efstratios and Lipsi, have been
able to switch entirely to become
“green islands”, and many similar
plans had been on the table for
upcoming years.
With International Energy
Agency (IEA) encouragement,
Greece is also managing a
nationwide project to install
60 000 smart meters for large-
consumption users and 160 000
meters for low-volume ones, under
a joint programme with the EU.
This opens a new market for the
industries that will supply these
systems, which are spreading at
a rapid rate across Europe.
The IEA believes the Greek
economy would be boosted
by increasing competition and
reducing the role of the state
in Greece’s energy sector.
“Reforming Greece’s electricity
and gas markets is a policy
imperative that should add
eff ciency and dynamism to
the Greek economy. This, in
turn, should help generate self-
sustained employment and
prosperity for the country,” IEA
executive director Maria van der
Hoeven said recently.
PPC still dominates both the
wholesale and retail markets,
along with owning all transmission
and distribution assets and has a
huge stake in the operator for the
transmission market.
The plan is to privatise such
assets, but the timetable has come
under pressure because of concerns
over poor market conditions and
lack of preparation. The EU and
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
have also been pressuring Athens
to introduce more retail competition
by deregulating electricity prices
and abolishing PPC’s monopoly
over cheap and plentiful domestic
coal reserves.
In addition to the power and
coal assets being lined up for sale,
a new agency has been set up to
issue research and exploration
licences for oil in Greece, which
has crude reserves estimated at
about 500 million barrels. The
Greek government also wants
to sell off 35–40 per cent of its
65 per cent share in national gas
company, DEPA, which is owned
Van der Hoeven: Electricity reform is ‘policy imperative’
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report
PEi - June 2012 www.powerengineeringint.com 17
power
with semi-state oil company ELPE (Hellenic
Petroleum). Both ELPE and the Public Gas
Corporation are also due to be sold off.
Greece is also beginning to make the most
of its geographical position as an entry point
to Europe for Middle Eastern energy supply,
which should improve availability of gas for
power generation in particular. Project deals
include lines from Azerbaijan and major links
with all its neighbours, as well as moves to
create a trading hub around a gas depot in
the region near Kavala in northern Greece.
Gas will also become available from Russia
via the 30 billion m3 per year South Stream
pipeline, where the main driving forces are
Gazprom along with buyers in Italy, France
and Germany.
In 2010, the Turkish power system was
synchronised with the interconnected power
systems of Continental Europe and commercial
energy exchange between Turkey and Greece
and Bulgaria started in 2011.
But the system has already come under
pressure. Last winter cold weather caused
Bulgaria to stop exporting electricity, which
had quickly risen to about 4 per cent of
Greece’s needs, almost plunging the country
into darkness. A shortfall in gas shipped
through Turkey made the situation worse,
highlighting growing Greek dependence on
costly energy imports.
ACTION NOT WORDS
Asked whether the EC was satisf ed with the
speed of Greek energy sector deregulation
and privatisation, Bockstaller notes Greece
had adopted a new energy law opening up
production, transmission and distribution to
private investment last August, which was “an
important step towards further liberalisation”.
On paper, it brings Greece into line with
other EU member states, under the third
Internal Energy Market Directive. But on the
ground, she says the new rules “were not
translating into action” and more effort was
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Former energy minister Papaconstantinou (left) and former prime minister Papademos (right) had struggled to contain an escalating crisis
power
reportGREECE
18 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
required on “practical implementation”. The
IEA’s Van der Hoeven said the legislation
was “fundamentally sound and can help the
economy grow”. “The government’s key focus
should now be on implementing this law in
full without delay,” she states, adding that
a “strong and independent regulator” was
needed to be given the necessary power and
independence to reduce the market power
of PPC, and remove its monopoly positions,
which has not yet been achieved.
Meanwhile, Bockstaller says the EC was
specif cally calling on Greece to “certify
transmission system operators (TSOs) [under
EU unbundling rules], adapt tariff structures,
implement a more market-based congestion
management on the gas interconnectors,
and implement a co-ordinated congestion
management method on all EU-borders”.
Structural measures are important to ensure
the Greek market’s eff cient functioning based
on economic principles, she says.
PPC’S FINANCIAL WOES
Following the bail-out, the temporary aid
is shoring up PPC, allowing it to maintain
operations and reimburse other suppliers of
electricity and natural gas, removing the risk
of a f nancial chain reaction which, according
to regulators, was threatening to bring down
Greece’s entire electricity system.
Although PPC has refused further
involvement in the property tax (with
government acquiescence), it is unlikely that
everyone who stopped paying will quickly
start again. Unpaid bills in the f rst quarter
of the year are believed to total around
€1 billion, although off cials claim PPC’s cash
situation will improve later this year as people
begin settling their debts.
Financial support from Greece’s IMF and
EU partners should give the government time
to implement further reforms, but the strong
support for anti-bail-out parties as Greece
heads for new elections in mid-June threatens
to scupper the plan – along with other credit-
dependent areas of the Greek economy.
Brokstaller says the €250 million bail-out
simply addressed “the immediate f nancial
stress on PPC” as well as market operator
LAGIE and transmission system operator
ADMIE. But because the problem is linked
to underlying structural problems, as well
as to temporary unpaid bills, it will not be
enough to “represent a permanent solution”.
Additional money will have to come from the
international bail-out package, she adds.
But creditors are not happy with recently
increased renewable feed-in tariffs, which
along with shortened and simplif ed licensing
procedures and stronger incentives for local
acceptance, had been designed to encourage
renewable energy projects and help generate
the economic growth needed to reduce
debt. The changes had been welcomed
by the IEA, which emphasised the need for
them to remain stable to attract investment –
something even Germany has found diff cult to
achieve recently.
An earlier request from Greece for a
€350 million loan for PPC was blocked
by the creditors, who demanded Greece
f rst reverse the feed-in tariff hikes and raise
retail prices from July 2012 – which left the
Greek government with little choice but to use
€250 million of the property tax PPC collected
to bridge the gap; after all, possession is nine
tenths of the law.
Given such pressures, the Greek
government’s efforts to introduce a 20 to
25-year f xed renewable tariff to help attract
investors look futile right now.
EURO EXIT?
If Greece does have to leave the euro, its
whole energy sector is likely to be badly hit.
The country is dependent on oil for 55 per
cent of its domestic energy needs, and almost
all its oil and gas are imported, leaving it very
exposed to the downside of devaluation.
Greece currently pays around 5 per cent
of its GDP for oil – a level that would have to
rise for an economy denominated in devalued
Drachma. Casualties would also include
overseas investors and lenders. Natural gas
use in power generation had been expected
to surge as the country switches from cheap
domestic coal to cleaner imported gas over
the next few years. But this is likely to be
delayed if Greece were to leave the euro
because the gas would need to be imported.
If it exits from the euro, Greece may or
may not choose to remain in the EU, creating
uncertainty over the country’s climate-change
and competition obligations, undermining
investment prospects further.
Power cuts could be widespread, and
many Aegean islands would be particularly
vulnerable because of their heavy
dependence on local oil f red plants. Greece
wants to upgrade the networks connecting the
mainland with these islands but it will take at
least until 2020. Although funding from the EU
is likely to materialise, sourcing the remainder
from state subsidies and private investments
currently looks problematic.
Nevertheless, for overseas investment
targeting electricity exports, a Greek euro exit
could open opportunities by reducing costs, as
well as leaving Greek authorities little choice
but to properly open up their country’s power
sector to competition and private investors, if
it can f nd them. And, no doubt, once the dust
settles, interest will recover.
On the other hand, if Greece decides to
stay in the euro, there is likely to be more of the
same for some time. Certainty over Greece’s
place in the monetary union will be slow to
come. This uncertainty is perhaps the worst of
all situations, with investors hamstrung by risk.
The sooner the situation plays itself out, the
better for Greece, its economy and its power
sector – and if there were ever a good time
for spending EU structural funds, it is probably
now in Greece.
If Greece leaves the euro, it may also exit from the EU, which adds to uncertainty over the country’s climate-change and competition obligations
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20 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
Knocking the SOx off emissions Curbing SOx emissions from thermal power plants remains a challenge for operators but a project
involving the refurbishment of the f ue gas desulphurisation installation at a Polish power plant
offers a way forward, write Adam Klepacki and Trey Walters.
Power plants built in Poland from the 1960s to the 1980s were
not equipped with f ue gas after-treatment systems (except for
dedusting installations) as the contemporary environmental
regulations did not require them. Over the years, however, the situation
has changed and power plants were obliged to carry out environmental
projects that reduce emissions such as SOx and NOx.
In the case of NOx, the situation was not complicated, since the
implementation of air staging systems and low-emission burners were
suff cient to meet the required standards. It was more diff cult in the case
of SOx because it was necessary to build f ue gas desulphurisation (FGD)
which was substantially more expensive. Moreover, the spatial layout of
the power plant often prevented the convenient location of the FGD plant
so in many cases the complexity of the f ue gas system increased.
Flue gas systems are one of the basic elements of a typical coal f red
power plant. The system primarily consists of ID fans – forcing the f ue
gas f ow; f ue gas ducts with the necessary equipment such as shutoff
dampers, expansion joints, measurement systems and others – directing
the f ue gas; and the stack – releasing f ue gas to the atmosphere.
In recent years, f ue gas ducts have become signif cantly more
complicated, with many additional components such as bends, dampers
and expansion joints. This change has created a need to def ne how
the f ue gas system will operate under the new conditions. What will
be the pressure drop of the f ue gas f ow? What will be the pressure
in each key part of the system? Will new f ue gas fans be necessary?
What are the reserves on the existing fans? These questions can only
be answered by a multivariate analysis of the complete f ue gas system.
FLUE GAS SYSTEM
The f ue gas system discussed here is in Poland in the Połaniec power
plant, belonging to GDF Suez, on the banks of the Vistula River in the
southeast of the country.
The power plant has eight power units, each rated at 225 MW.
In 1998 the FGD plant was commissioned, and connected to power
units 5–8. Additional booster fans were installed to overcome f ow
resistance from the FGD plant. The f rst stage was already associated
with the construction of new f ue gas ducts with a set of accompanying
equipment. But the project’s subsequent second stage was more
complex – connecting power units 1–4 to the FGD installation.
Hydraulic analyses were performed to see if the system would operate
properly and what modif cations might be required.
The general objective of the second stage was to enable the
operation of all power units through the FGD. The FGD plant was
designed only for four power units, but a few capacity tests conf rmed
that it could accommodate f ue gas from almost six power units, which
gave the green light for the project.
Although the yearly average load of the power plant was equal to
six power units in operation, it was necessary to build a relief duct in
the installation to dump the f ue gas stream directly to the new stack
in case of an excessive pressure rise in the ducts. This duct acts as a
pressure stabiliser if more than six power units are in operation. This
was also foreseen in the calculation model.
The ducts in the scope of the project started almost from the exit of the
ID fans of each power unit and ended at the connection to the existing
ducts directing f ue gas to the FGD. In addition, at this stage the new
three-way stack was built, extending the scope to include fragments of
ducts from the booster fans to the new stack. The size of the new ducts
– which reached a maximum diameter of 13 metres – was crucial,
especially in terms of hydraulic calculations.
The installation has now been operating for more than two years
in accordance with all design goals, allowing desulphurisation of
f ue gas generated in each power unit and fulf lling all environmental
requirements. So far, no signif cant operational problems have occurred.
FGD refurbishment
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Flue gas desulphurisation
22 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
All design work for constructing the new f ue gas ducts was
performed by Energoprojekt Katowice SA, which performed all basic
engineering, civil engineering – including the creation of a 3D model
(see Figure 1) – and detailed engineering of the installation, as well as
the hydraulic analysis. Supervision of the execution was then carried
out until all work was completed.
FLOW OF FLUIDS
The analysed f uid in the 3D model was f ue gas – f uid which by
default is treated as compressible. The chosen computational tool had
to be able to handle the three-dimensional propagation of f ue gas
inside the ducts because only such a tool could accurately determine
the f ow phenomena within very large f ue gas ducts.
The only question is whether such an approach is always justif ed
and whether this is the only way to obtain reliable and accurate results.
When doing research, it is often necessary to test new technology and
perform a very detailed analysis. But in typical engineering calculations
this may be impractical primarily because it is too time consuming.
Furthermore, it should be noted that in the low-velocity range (up
to Mach 0.3) the f uid is commonly considered in calculations as an
incompressible f uid because of f uid interactions at such speeds. In
many cases, the change in density is very low. Flowing f uid lacks
enough energy to overcome the forces associated with the expansion of
the gas. In other words, the gas pressure does not allow for signif cant
changes in the density of the f uid making it incompressible.
Alternatively, the hydraulic calculations can always be done using
hand calculations because a careful engineer must f rst have a feel for
these issues and, second, know the theoretical foundations of hydraulic
calculations to accurately interpret the results.
However, in the era of computers, one can use a specially
designated software less complex than three-dimensional programmes.
Commercially available programmes for conducting this type of
calculation in a more straightforward way include AFT Arrow,
developed by American company Applied Flow Technology. The main
goal of this paper is to present results of numerical simulations of f ue
gas system in the GDF Suez Połaniec power plant carried out in AFT
Arrow and to compare them with measurements collected during actual
plant operation.
AFT Arrow solves f ve simultaneous equations for each pipe using
a marching method: Mass; Momentum; Energy; State; and Mach
number (see Figure 2).
Each pipe is broken into sections and the governing equations are
solved over each section. This allows for much more accurate solutions
that lumped methods often found in handbooks.
CALCULATION MODEL
The computational model for analysis was created in Arrow on the basis
of the 3D model of the f ue gas system. Several scenarios were calculated
to best verify the operation of the system in the expected conf guration.
The calculation model takes into account the f ow of f ue gas from
the boiler roof of each power unit to the new stack through new and
existing f ue gas ducts, the FGD, bypasses and relief duct. The model
ref ects all the components in the f ue gas system including bends,
compensators, shutoff dampers and other equipment forming the f ow
resistance. The model was created to best ref ect the actual orientation
of the layout and location of each element.
Local resistance coeff cients of individual components of the f ue
gas ducts (e.g. bends, tees, dampers and other equipment) were
determined by AFT Arrow on the basis of universal literature data. The
duct roughness coeff cient was adopted in accordance with good
engineering practice. However, the pressure drop in straight f ue gas
ducts is not signif cant.
The pressure drop in the boiler, LUVO, and electrostatic precipitator
was modelled by one element. The resistance curve of that element
is based on measured data provided by the power plant. The FGD
was modelled by two elements. The f rst of these elements represents
the pressure drop of the installation while the second one simulates
the increase in f ue gas f ow by picking up water droplets. Both the
f ow resistance and the stream of water captured in the FGD were
established on the basis of measured data from the power plant.
The basic element which drives the f ow in the system is the ID fan
built on each power unit (two fans per unit) that controls the vacuum in
the combustion chamber. The steering element (usually the inlet vanes)
maintains the desired vacuum.
=
MASS:
MOMENTUM:
ENERGY:
STATE:
MACH NUMBER:
Figure 2: The f ve simultaneous equations solved by AFT Arrow
Figure 1: 3D model of the f ue gas system with new ducts in red
Flue gas desulphurisation
PEi - June 2012 www.powerengineeringint.com 23
The f ue gas system is also equipped with booster fans (built in the
f rst stage), which are responsible for overcoming the f ow resistance
of the FGD and FGD neighboring ducts (see Figure 3). The ID fan is
responsible for overcoming the f ow resistance in the green section
while the booster fan overcomes resistance in the blue section. The
p_1 pressure measurement is located at the f ue gas ducts before
the FGD and p_2 at the f ue gas ducts behind the booster fan. The
same nature of the fan operations were ref ected in the model. The
main objective of the analysis was to determine the motors’ reserve
capacity for the booster fans to def ne the f ue gas f ow that can be
sent through the FGD.
ACTUAL MEASUREMENT
To compare the results of the hydraulic calculations performed using
the computational model with measurements, the following parameters
were chosen:
a) f ue gas pressure before shutoff dampers of each power unit,
b) f ue gas pressure in FGD collector,
c) f ue gas f ow through FGD – both units (C and D),
d) f ue gas f ow through relief duct – if any,
e) rating of the booster fans motors.
The selected measurements enable a comparison between reality
and model calculations. Typical operational measurements were
compared with the model.
RESULTS COMPARISON
Before comparing results, it is important the model be created in the
same operational situation as in reality. This relates to determining the
f ue gas stream from each operating power unit and to introducing
relevant ambient parameters that inf uence the stack natural draft. The
lack of direct measurement of f ue gas f ow from each power unit made
it necessary to estimate the f ow from the electrical power generated by
each power unit and information on total f ue gas f ow from all units.
For the purposes of comparison the following operational situations
were selected:
• All power units in operation – Case I (electrical output: 1758 MWe;
total f ue gas f ow: 7 389 920 Nm3/h)
Booster Fan
Atmospheric
pressureID Fan
Pressure
in furnace
chamber
D
FGD
p_1 p_2
p
Figure 3: Conf guration of the fans in the FGD system
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24 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
• Seven power units in operation – Case II (electrical output: 1430
MWe; total f ue gas f ow: 6 066 970 Nm3/h; Unit 5 off line)
• First six power units in operation – Case III (electrical output: 1187
MWe; total f ue gas f ow: 5 215 490 Nm3/h, Units 7 & 8 off line)
As already mentioned, the most diff cult conditions occur at the
largest f ue gas f ow, which occurs at the highest load of the power
plant. To stabilise pressure in the FGD collector and avoid damage to
the booster fan motors, the relief duct must be adequately sized and
direct the f ue gas into the stack. This situation will most often occur
when all eight power units are operating but can also occur with seven
power units if the load is very high (close to the nominal). The above
situation is very well illustrated by the f rst two operational cases.
To compare the measurements with calculations, the closed (or
almost closed) relief duct serves as the third operational case.
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Smart Grid technology
26 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
Is the UK smart enough for grid challenges? While technology companies have been talking up the Smart Grid for years, there is no blueprint for
its development. A new report looks at the UK – a country with such ambitious energy plans that a
grid overhaul is essential – to see if the challenges are understood and being acted upon.
Smart Grid. Two words which to some mean big business and
big f nancial rewards. Yet to many others in the power industry
the concept of the Smart Grid is abstract: something going on
elsewhere being carried out by other people.
The smart revolution is underway – the trouble is the bandwagon
risks leaving with many key energy players not on board.
Yet the pace of change of electricity policy and regulation, coupled
with the growing demand for more power and different types of power
generation, mean that the potential the Smart Grid offers is needed
sooner rather than later across the world.
Nowhere is this more true than in the UK. The government – via its
Energy Bill and Electricity Market Reform – is instigating the biggest
overhaul of the British electricity market in years. This is intended to
deliver a surge in renewable energy from biomass, solar and, primarily
wind, into the UK’s grid, and in turn meet demand and secure supply.
The UK government has also committed to cutting its carbon
consumption by 80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050. The
Department of Energy and Climate Change acknowledges that to
do all of this requires “transforming our electricity system”. “Integral
to this transformation will be an electricity grid that is f tted with more
information and communications technology progressively over time,”
states the department. “We will need a modernised electricity grid with
larger capacity and the ability to manage greater f uctuations in supply
and demand, while maintaining security of supply.”
No pressure then – the grid is carrying the survival hopes of the
UK energy market. So is this great transformation underway? Not that
Kelvin Ross, Deputy Editor
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Smart Grid technology
28 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
you would notice, and the longer there is a delay in a coordinated approach, the more likely it is that government targets – be they renewable or climate change – will fail.
But there is a lack of clarity in the UK about how to set in motion this shift to the Smart Grid and how long it will take. Already the government has put in place a smart meter roll-out and the Low Carbon Networks Fund, a mechanism set up by regulator Ofgem that allows up to £500 million ($780 million) support to projects sponsored by distribution network operators (DNOs) to try out new technology, operating and commercial arrangements. The initiative is aimed at helping all DNOs understand what they need to do to provide security of supply at value for money as Britain moves to a low-carbon economy.
Smart Grid GB – an organisation of 23 companies involved in the drive to advance electricity transmission and distribution in the UK – has commissioned a report by Ernst & Young (E&Y) to assess the benef ts of a Smart Grid transition and how to unlock them. It concludes that while Britain is making signif cant strides towards the Smart Grid, “there is a long way to go to make the Smart Grid a reality across the country”.
The report adds that without further policy certainty, appropriate regulatory incentives and more investment, “Britain could quickly fall behind in what will be a new global growth market and a source of prosperity and jobs for years to come”.
DOING THE MATH
The report f nds that an incremental £23 billion will need to be spent between now and 2050 to upgrade the UK’s distribution network to make it ‘smart’. But the report adds that this f gure is signif cantly less than the cost of Britain “pursuing a conventional investment strategy”. In fact, a Smart Grid investment strategy could result in savings of £19 billion, and £10 billion even if only low levels of low-carbon generation are brought into play, according to the report.
A huge growth industry is also waiting to be tapped into, f nds E&Y. The report predicts a jobs boost of 8000 for the UK during the 2020s, rising by 1000 in the following decade, and it prices exports from the Smart Grid between now and 2050 at £5 billion.
But the report stresses that delivering smart initiatives is a race against the clock: “If a Smart Grid is not deployed in a timely manner, industries along the Smart Grid supply chain may not be able to benef t from these emerging industry opportunities and any ‘f rst mover’ potential
that British industries may have could be lost”. The UK’s ambitions for clean-tech industries – needed to meet climate change targets – will also be hampered if a Smart Grid is not in operation. “If a conventional grid hinders the development of these industries, Britain could end up spending large amounts of money buying carbon credits to reach its targets: at an extreme level, the cost of this could reach £126 billion between now and 2050.”
Smart Grid GB highlights four major benef ts for the UK if a Smart Grid is deployed swiftly:
• Expertise can be gained – companies can research, develop and commercialise their products and export them, resulting in the creation of a manufacturing base;
• Skills can be developed – the Smart Grid needs a range of technological and engineering skills to f ourish, and there is no doubt that these skills exist within the UK;
• A global reputation can be built – other countries will look to the UK for best-practice;
• Secondary industries will be enabled – these will help build Britain’s advantage in the sector.
In the UK, a disaggregated market structure and resulting policy approach have led to a dislocate between the Smart Grid and smart meters, which provide a critical source of grid management data – in particular, detailed consumption f ow and outage detection. A Smart Grid can offer more advanced dynamic and time-of-use tariff models, but these can only be realised if effective smart metering relays the data. “If you can’t measure the actual response then you can’t effectively monetise and incentivise it,” notes Smart Grid GB.
The f ip side of the coin is that much of the benef t of smart meters cannot be realised without developing a grid ‘smart’ enough to handle the data from the meter in the most effective way.
Yet smart meters have had a troubled history, not just in the UK but in other parts of Europe and North America. Many problems stem from data security concerns that have yet to be allayed. Smart Grid GB warns: “If consumers form a negative view of smart meters, this will likely translate into a negative view towards Smart Grids, either through direct association or simply because their view of the entire energy industry worsens.”
Lighting the way: While efforts are being made to drive forward the development of the Smart Grid in the UK, E&Y f nd “there is still a long way to go to make the Smart Grid a reality across the country” Source: Alstom
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• Changes to current standards and rules are an important avenue
to explore, and one that need not incur major costs. Indeed some
interviewees felt these could deliver major f nancial benef ts. Smart
Grid GB says these ideas may need to be progressed in tandem with
other initiatives such as demand-side response.
• Changes to the industry model need to be contemplated. For example,
complex questions arise around how demand-side response can be
made to work for energy and network purposes at the same time,
and how this is shared between suppliers and DNOs.
• Changes to the mindset in the regulatory process also need to be
considered. There is concern the mindset will remain one of seeking
the optimal solution and investing only once need has been proven.
• Some interviewees noted that risks are asymmetric, with the
consequences of doing too little potentially much larger than investing
somewhat early. Interviewees therefore suggested that there needs to
be additional focus on protecting customers by ensuring that there is
suff cient investment in Smart Grid.
• Interviewees highlighted the importance of developing Smart Grid
skills, both within DNOs and more widely along the supply chain.
• Interviewees suggested that it was important for there to be a step
change in the scale of projects, with major pilot programmes using a
number of approaches together, at a higher level of penetration and
over a wider area.
The report concludes that “there is a need for some fresh thinking by
government, the regulator and industry” and suggests how this could
be achieved. It states that policymakers need to provide the maximum
degree of guidance possible and adds that creating some additional
f exibility in current standards will also be important. It may also be
possible to say more about what is not needed yet, and a holistic
energy roadmap could be usefully constructed.
It calls for a greater focus in the regulatory process on protecting
customers by ensuring enough network investment to cushion them from
risks. This could come from both the regulator and companies being
expected to publish a risk review, and also a requirement to identify and
evaluate what might be termed “no or at least low regrets” investments.
The risk/reward balance faced by DNOs for innovating should
include incentives to actually apply the learnings to their networks or
seek to move faster than others in delivering Smart Grids.
There needs to be greater focus on consumer engagement both
to ensure that consumers understand the positive attributes of Smart
Grid, and also how a smart meter will contribute to this. It will also be
important to explore how best different types of customers are engaged
on a day-to-day basis and whether a degree of automation is required.
It is important that future projects do not take the current industry
model as a given. There are some complex challenges to work through
and so alternative models will need to be actively explored.
32 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
Q&A
PennWell publishers Marla Barnes and Michael Grossman
recently sat down with José da Costa Carvalho Neto, president
of Eletrobras, in his off ce in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to learn more
about this company and its ambitions for the future.
PennWell: Please describe your company and its role in the Brazilian
electrical energy sector.
José da Costa Carvalho Neto: Eletrobras is a state-owned company
– 67 per cent of the company is owned by the Brazilian government or
by BNDES (the national bank of Brazil), while another 33 per cent is
publicly traded on the stock market. The company owns and operates
a large portfolio of generation, transmission and distribution assets
– 41 600 MW of electrical capacity, 53 923 km of transmission
lines, and 3.4 million customers to whom we distribute electricity. In
Brazil, this represents a market share of approximately 36.8 per cent
in generation and 53 per cent in transmission (see Table 1).
Eletrobras is among the top
ten biggest publicly traded
electric companies in the
world. In addition, Eletrobras
is an expert in clean energy
(i.e. hydropower, biomass,
and nuclear).
All in all, we have a very
important presence in the
country of Brazil.
PennWell: The electrical energy
sector in Brazil is growing at an
amazing pace. What amount
of investment in this sector does
Eletrobras have planned for the
future?
José da Costa Carvalho Neto has been tapped by Brazil’s president Dilma Vana Rousseff to run
Eletrobras, one of the ten biggest publicly traded electric companies in the world. His task is to make
Eletrobras the largest clean energy company system in the world by 2020.
Brazil’s clean power expansion
José da Costa Carvalho Neto, Eletrobras’ president
Eletrobras provides more than a third of all the electrical power generation in the country of Brazil, with most of it coming from hydroelectric power sources Source: Eletrobras
PEi - June 2012 www.powerengineeringint.com 33
Q&A
José da Costa Carvalho Neto: Over the next ten years, Brazil needs approximately 65 000 MW of new electrical capacity. That’s an average, per year, of 6500 MW. To meet this estimated growth, the country – over the next ten years – will invest a total of 310 billion reais ($174.25 billion) in the electrical energy sector: 190 billion reais ($106.8 billion) in generation; 40 billion reais ($22.5 billion) in transmission; and 80 billion reais ($45 billion) in distribution.
In 2011, Eletrobras’s total investment in the electrical energy sector was 10 billion reais ($5 billion). In 2012, it will be 13 billion reais ($6.6 billion).
To f nd the capital for this kind of investment, Eletrobras is studying several possibilities. We will likely need new investments and a new type of IPO (initial public offering). One concern is the possibility that the Brazilian regulatory agency responsible for setting the rates for concessions paid to private developers of new generation will choose to renew existing concessions, but for a lower rate. For Eletrobras, this could mean decreasing revenues.
PennWell: In the next ten to 20 years, what do you expect your generation portfolio to look like?
José da Costa Carvalho Neto: In Brazil, we have an estimated 260 000 MW of power capacity potential. From this total, we have 80 000 MW already in operation. So the remaining is 180 000 MW. Some part of this potential will not be feasible for development because of environmental challenges and economic constraints. So, we estimate the actual feasible amount of potential capacity available for development at 120 000 MW.
As mentioned earlier, from an electrical demand standpoint, the country needs more or less 60 000–65 000 MW every ten years.
Our f rst priority to meet this demand is to complete the development of the hydroelectric power potential of the country, which is planned to be accomplished over the next 20 years mostly from new developments in the Amazon region.
After that, for the next 20 years, I think it will be a competition between nuclear and natural gas with the use of wind, biomass and solar as a complement to these two (no more than 25 per cent of the total).
PennWell: One of the big challenges Eletrobras is facing is the effective operation of the six distribution companies it owns. This is an interesting moment for these companies because of the opportunity to implement Smart Grid technologies. How is Eletrobras thinking about these companies and what will happen with them?
José da Costa Carvalho Neto: That is really a good question. As you know, our DNA is generation and transmission. But we now have these six distribution companies. They didn’t perform well, so the Brazilian government has given them to Eletrobras to operate them. These companies have big problems. First, their losses of energy are almost 35 per cent. What does this mean? If we generate 100 000 MW, we just sell 65 000 MW. We lose 35 000 MW. Most
of this loss is non-technical. In Portuguese, we say ‘commercial’ loss. Losses include theft of electricity by bypassing the grid, customers not paying their electricity bills, electricity tariffs (rates) that are set too low to cover cost of operations, and penalties incurred by the distribution companies because of reliability problems.
These losses add up to f nancial losses for Eletrobras. In 2010, we had a loss of 1.5 billion reais ($763 million). Overall, the company had a prof t of 2.5 billion reais ($1.27 billion). If we didn’t have the distribution companies, our prof t would have been 4 billion reais ($2 billion).
Obviously, improvement is necessary. To accomplish this, we are undertaking several initiatives. For example, we have a loan from the World Bank of $500 million, and we will add another $200 million. With this $700 million, we will install electronic metering systems in the homes of customers connected to a central metering operation in the capital city of Brasilia. When loss occurs, this system will be able to detect exactly where the loss is coming from.
We also will make improvements to our distribution network. For example, nowadays, we have a lot of bare conductors, making theft quite easy. We have plans to insulate these wires. And, we will make use of detection technology to better pinpoint and eliminate these non-technical losses.
PennWell: How does the fact that Brazil is hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 affect the operations of Eletrobras?
José da Costa Carvalho Neto: In terms of power demand, we do not anticipate a problem. After all, the country stops when Brazil is playing soccer. The only electricity being used during a match is that to power everybody’s TVs!
Really, we don’t expect the World Cup or the Olympics to signi! cantly increase power demand or consumption. Consumption may increase, but we will have no trouble meeting this demand.
The country’s biggest task is to reliably transmit and distribute electricity to the cities where the World Cup and Olympics events will be held. The Ministry of Mines and Energy is co-ordinating a team, with participation by all of the electrical sector companies, to plan and implement a redundancy system.
PennWell: Let’s focus for a moment on Eletrobras’s presence outside Brazil. Tell us about your current and planned presence in other counties?
TOTAL IN
BRAZIL
ELETROBRAS’
TOTAL
ELETROBRAS’
MARKET
SHARE
Generation 116.8 GW 41.6 GW 36%
Transmission 101 426 km 53 923 km 53%
Distribution 68 million customers
3.4 million customers
5%
Table 1: Eletrobras enjoys a signif cant market share in Brazil’s electrical energy sector
34 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
Q&A
José da Costa Carvalho Neto: Eletrobras believes it is very important
to participate in the electrical energy sector in other countries. We
are really interested in working abroad – in both owning/operating
generation, transmission and distribution assets, but also in offering
our company’s knowledge, experience and expertise in the form of
consulting services.
We have a portfolio of projects in South America, Central America
and Africa. We are looking for opportunities in North America, Asia
and Europe. Eletrobras recently was one of the top two contenders in a
bid to purchase a 21.35 per cent share of Portuguese utility Energias
de Portugal SA (EDP).
While the shares were eventually sold to China Three Gorges (CTG)
– the corporation responsible for China’s 22 400 MW Three Gorges
hydroelectric project – Eletrobras was highly competitive in the bid. In
the end, the government of Brazil could not reach agreement with EDP
on how many shares of the utility could be purchased at a later date.
But, this performance shows Eletrobras can compete on the world stage.
I recently participated in a meeting at the United Nations (UN) with
other heads of electrical sector companies from throughout the world.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the following:
• A programme to provide access to electricity to the 1.5 billion people
who currently do not have access;
• Increase the amount of renewable energy that is contributing to the
total amount of energy used (to 30 per cent);
• Decrease, by 30 per cent, the amount of energy needed to maintain
each dollar of a country’s gross national product.
In all three of these areas, Brazil performs well. With regard to
electricity access for all people, Brazil’s ‘Energy for All’ programme
started in the early 2000s with a goal of providing access to the
electrical grid system to all people in Brazil. When the programme
started, 50 million customers were not connected to the grid. Today,
it’s more like 3 million – 98.5 per cent of homes are now connected.
So the UN Secretary-General wants to take the Brazilian Energy for All
programme and implement it worldwide.
In Brazil, 50 per cent of the energy comes from renewables. For
electrical energy, it’s more than 90 per cent (because of hydro generation).
So we already meet and exceed the UN’s 30 per cent goal.
With regard to energy eff ciency, Brazil’s Procel – National
Electrical Energy Conservation Programme – has a goal to promote
electricity rationalisation to f ght waste and reduce costs and sector
investments, increasing electricity eff ciency. In 2011, the programme
contributed toward the saving of approximately 6.696 billion kWh of
electricity. Through this programme, Eletrobras offers to manufacturers
of domestic products that use electricity (for example, refrigerators
and air conditioners) an off cial seal of quality and energy eff ciency.
Consumers use the seal to compare the energy eff ciency of different
brands of products. This programme is forcing manufacturers to build
and consumers to buy and use energy eff cient products.
We believe we are very well positioned to lead the way in the
world in accomplishing these three objectives. Our goal is to become
the largest clean energy company system in the world by 2020, with
prof tability comparable to the best companies in the electric sector.
With 20 units totalling 14 000 MW, located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, Itaipu is the world’s largest hydroelectric plant in terms of electrical production, supplying 17 per cent of energy consumed in Brazil and 73 per cent of Paraguayan demand Source: Eletrobras
UPCOMING BRAZILIAN EVENTS
PennWell is organising two events in Brazil in September 2012:
HydroVision Brasil and DistribuTECH Brasil. Together, these two
events – co-located in Rio de Janeiro on 25–27 September 2012
– provide a unique and unprecedented platform for covering
a broad range of power generation and supply topics and
technologies impacting the Latin American region.
LIGHT, the utility company serving the electricity needs of Rio
and the surrounding vicinity, has conf rmed its support as a Host
Utility of the event.
As part of the two events, more than 215 speakers from 22
countries will share knowledge, expertise and experiences with
conference delegates. More than 80 companies from a dozen
countries throughout the world have already committed to be part
of the exhibition.
To f nd out more information on the two upcoming events please
visit:
www.hydrovisionbrazil.com
www.distributechbrasil.com
SERVING THE MARKET’S ESSENTIAL POWER NEEDS
Conference and Exhibition
4 – 6 February 2013
Qatar National Convention CentreDoha | Qatar
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE
POWER-GEN Middle East returns to Qatar National Convention Centre, Doha, Qatar from 4-6 February 2013 with a
comprehensive conference and exhibition that provides a unique opportunity to share information, ideas and products
about the latest technologies and developments in response to the surging growth and vitality in the MENA region.
To meet the estimated 6 to 10 per cent annual surge in demand for power, which is around 8 GW of additional capacity,
GCC countries are projected to invest more than $300 billion in some 20 energy projects by 2020. Qatar, which is set to
spend $125 billion in new energy projects, will be one of the main drivers of this ambitious power generation drive in
the GCC.
Attracting delegates, exhibitors and visitors from over 60 countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region and around the world, this high-quality event is the industry’s leading platform to meet and network with senior
executive and industry leaders with a dedicated and diverse exhibition foor and multi-track conference.
Speaker and exhibitor opportunities provide the chance to:
� Share your knowledge and expertise amongst a captive audience
� Be part of this top quality event that draws interest from high-level decision makers and infuencers
� Network with peers and professionals and develop new business contacts
� Showcase the latest equipment and technological solutions that promote power sustainability and reuse to
help cope with increasing demand
Join us in Doha, Qatar in February 2013 and celebrate the 11th annual POWER-GEN Middle East conference and
exhibition as the region’s leading annual gathering of power industry professionals.
If you are involved in power sector in the Middle East, don’t miss this prime opportunity to
be part of the rapid investment in the MENA region.
These are only the major variants of a feedwater system – many
more alternatives can be def ned by considering further details and
measurement locations.
Variants of the different systems as listed above can also occur more
or less independently of each other, which means the overall feedwater
system can have a huge number of different conf gurations. And each
conf guration sets different requirements in engineering documents
(function diagrams, plant displays and text descriptions).
Such high variability prevents def ning a separate standard for each
variant of the process. Each system would otherwise have too many
standards to maintain and it would be impossible to ensure the most
modern control concepts are implemented.
Each process system therefore needs a standard that covers
all possible variants of the process technology. The user can then
select the variant of the standard that suits the specif c project’s
process conf guration.
This selection would be enabled by an easy-to-maintain software
tool with only one standard per process system, dispensing
with manual adjustments of the standard to suit the actual
process conf guration.
STANDARDISATION AND EFFICIENCY
As shown above, engineering high-level automation functions for
power plants offers considerable opportunity for spending lots of time
in determining automation structure for each customer’s individual
requirements. And each plant’s designated process technology can vary
Dr K. Wendelberger, Siemens, Germany
Figure 1: Diagram of a steam power plant feedwater supply system
Better performance, less downtime, better proftability – everyone approves of that.
Call 1-866-335-3369 or visit sentron.ca to begin your trial.
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Instrumentation and control optimisation
38 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
greatly – from the manufacturers to the working points and operating
conditions. As a result, either def ned automation standards must be
adjusted during execution to meet a project’s specif c requirements,
or alternative standards must be designed to ensure project-specif c
requirements are met.
Manually adapting a standard to the project specif cations is very time
consuming and can only be performed accurately by an experienced
engineer with a deep understanding of the control concept. On the
other hand, pre-def ned, proven, standardised elements provide
substantial opportunities to save time and reduce potential sources of
failure, especially in I&C functions such as:
• the function diagrams for open- and closed-loop control, in which
it is def ned how measurement signals are used and processed to
determine actuator commands for optimal plant performance,
• the plant displays, which deliver information about the current
performance of the plant to the operator, and which allow the
operator to apply commands manually;
• the text descriptions of the control loops.
High variability of individual plant process technologies means
maximum benef ts are provided by a modular standardisation concept
with each module covering a single system within the complete process.
Thus the need of manual adaption is minimised and the user can simply
def ne and select the corresponding variant for their specif c project.
MODULAR STANDARDISATION
To def ne and implement standards that f t the different conf gurations
of the plant processes, Siemens Energy developed a module-based
standardisation system, the ART-E software solution. Each ART-E module
refers to a system such as the feedwater system. The module includes:
function diagrams for open-loop control, function diagrams for closed-
loop control, plant displays and a text description of the automation
concept. The ART-E software modules are designed to cover all required
features as specif ed above:
Consistency and matching of the standard documents within and
between the modules
All function diagrams are based on a common list of measurement
and drives, and the interfaces between the function diagrams are well
def ned. Signal connections between the function diagrams are closed.
The open-loop control concept suits the closed-loop control concept. All
function diagrams suit the standards for the plant displays. For instance,
the indicators on the screens use the signals as def ned in the function
diagrams and the plant displays are mapped to the function diagrams.
Availability of each module in different variants
For example, the feedwater module is available for: two or three
feedwater pumps, turbine-driven or motor-driven pumps, once-through
or drum boilers. ART-E allows the selection of each combination of
variants. For instance, the feedwater module can be selected for a
supercritical once-through boiler, with one motor-driven and two turbine-
driven feedwater pumps, with a start-up continuous control valve and a
shut-off valve in parallel. ART-E places no restrictions on the combination
of such variants. More than 100 million different project-specif c
combinations can be selected for the feedwater system.
In this context, it has to be considered that the selection of a certain
variant of one module can also inf uence another module. For example,
the feedwater control system and the control of the boiler circulation
system cannot be designed independently of each other. ART-E also
assures the consistency of the engineering documents across modules.
Choice of the optimal automation concept for the specif c plant
For the various plant conf gurations the required modules in their
required variants can be chosen. ART-E ensures that the automation
structures that are selected provide an optimal performance of the
power plant with the given conf guration of the process.
Consistency and matching of the selected documents
ART-E also ensures that the selected engineering documents have the
same consistency as discussed above for the documents in the module
itself. The function diagrams, plant displays and description suit each
other, and the interfaces are well def ned, whether the documents stem
from the same module or from different modules.
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Expression of interest (EOI)
www.eskom.co.za
Expression of Interest No.
Issue Date Closing Date Contact Person
PS (PDP) 2012/ww/01
May 28, 2012
June 29, 2012 at16:00
Mr. W. White Telephone: +27 11 800 5979Fax: 086 245 7776E-mail: [email protected]
For live connection work on the Eskom
Transmission lines
Eskom Holdings SOC Limited wishes to invite companies to submit an expression of interest (EOI) for live connection work on existing Eskom Transmission lines, through an EOI process.
The reference dates for this Expression of interest are:
Eskom’s Procurement and Supply Chain Management procedure ����������������������������� ������������������ ���� ��������purposes only, to provide Eskom with an indication of the interest of the supplier market in this work. It is not an Invitation to tender and will not be used as a basis for placing a contract or order.
Should you wish to participate in the Expression of interest process, please visit the website of Eskom Holdings SOC Limited by going on the following link: http://mp2mas17.eskom.co.za/tenderbulletin/search.asp
Eskom Holdings SOC Limited Reg No 2002/015527/06
Instrumentation and control optimisation
PEi - June 2012 www.powerengineeringint.com 39
No additional system resources for the running I&C system
After the ART-E selection, the required function diagrams, plant displays
and text descriptions are available to suit the specif c requirements of
the power plant in an optimal way. These engineering documents are
normal elements of the I&C system. There is physically no difference
between an engineering document selected by ART-E and an
engineering document created another way (e.g. manual engineering
or copy from another project plus manual adaptation). ART-E does not
require any additional resources of the running I&C system.
Modif ability of resulting engineering documents
After the ART-E selection, ‘normal’ function diagrams, plant displays
and text descriptions are available. It is still possible to modify these
documents manually. This might be necessary in the case of special
conf gurations not covered by the standard, such as systems equipped
with fewer measurement devices.
However, since the ART-E standard covers the basic structure of the
system, such modif cations would only be of subordinate signif cance
and would not affect the basic control structure. Minor modif cations
are allowed and are not in contradiction to the benef ts of ART-E. Figure
2 highlights ART-E’s basic structure.
The Siemens ART-E standards were originally created by selecting
the best-in-practice concepts from the large number of power plants that
have been automated worldwide. Most importantly they are continuously
improved by an expert team, based on the analysis of performance of the
various concepts in the actual power plants, as well as through simulation
studies. Finally, they have proven successful in many power plants.
SUMMARY
Siemens ART-E comprises a consistent system of modules that allows the
selection of variants of a certain standard that suit the conf guration of
the specif c plant. Therefore the engineering documents will accurately
suit the considered process technologies and manual adaptations
are kept to a minimum. By this means the Siemens Energy modular
standardisation approach delivers several benef ts:
• Optimal plant performance due to best-in-practice automation concepts.
• Optimised engineering due to reduced effort for creating the various
I&C documents.
• Reduced commissioning time due to the high quality of the engineering
documents and repeated use of the proven and well-known concepts.
• Easy-to-use because of a consistent control philosophy, standardised
layout of function diagrams, uniform concepts for alarming and
messaging across the whole plant.
As proven in many power plants worldwide, optimal plant performance
based on optimal automation concepts directly raises the prof tability
of the plant. By means of advanced control concepts the eff ciency,
f exibility and stability of power plant units can be improved. And as the
ART-E software modules consist of best-in-practice solutions, the Siemens
standardisation approach not only has a (direct) positive impact on the
project handling and the quality of the results, but also has a (indirect)
positive effect on the prof tability of the plant.
Figure 2: Basic architecture of the newly developed ART-E software solution
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Solar power in India
40 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
Great Expectations: India’s hopes for solar power growth With more than 300 days of sunshine a year, India is a prime candidate for solar power success. Yet
its power industry has some mighty hurdles to overcome to realise its solar ambitions.
India is looking to solar power as part of its plans to mend its
chronically dysfunctional power sector. Solar power is seen by
both the federal government in Delhi and state governments as an
essential contributor to help meet increasing demands for power.
About 288 million people in India — a quarter of the population
— have no permanent access to electricity. According to the United
Nations, India is a country where, at peak times, electricity demand
exceeds supply by 14 per cent. This, combined with a rapidly growing
population and average yearly economic growth rates of between
5 and 8 per cent, place India’s per capita electric consumption of
639 kWh among one of the world’s lowest. At the same time, with
75 per cent of Indian electricity produced by burning coal and natural
gas, it is among the world’s highest carbon emitters.
To meet both growing population and industrial demands, India
needs to expand its generating capacity by at least 8 per cent a year
or by some 400 per cent between 2011 and 2030, observes Vikram
Mehta, former chairman of Shell India. The International Energy Agency
(IEA) estimates that India needs to add at least 600 GW of additional
new power generation capacity by 2050. Such an increase in new
capacity would be roughly equivalent to the 740 GW of total power
generation capacity of the European Union in 2005.
More immediately, India’s National Solar Mission plan, published
in January 2010, contains the ambitious target of expanding installed
solar power from about 190 MW to 20 000 MW by 2022. According
to the IEA, solar power contributed in terms of capacity just under
1000 MW in March 2012 out of a total installed national generating
capacity for its electricity sector of 20 GW — the equivalent of 18
nuclear reactors. Of this, India’s western state of Gujarat already has
an installed solar capacity of 655 MW. Ambitious plans for Rajasthan’s
Nagaur plant, as well as federal government ambitions to install 20
million solar lights and 20 million m2 of solar thermal panels, give
considerable impetus to solar energy development.
Nicholas Newman
The 600 MW Gujurat Solar Park was completed in just two years and covers 1200 hectares of desert. The western state of Gujurat now has an installed solar capacity of 655 MW, with more due to come on line
Conference & Exhibition
6 - 8 November 2012Sandton Convention Centre
Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
www.powergenafrica.com
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY FORLOCAL SOLUTIONS
Owned and Produced by: Presented by:
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.POWERGENAFRICA.COM
POWER-GEN Africa is a unique forum for the industry, combining both a world class conference with an exhibition showcasing the
latest technological developments. This premier event will attract senior decision makers, enabling you to make crucial contacts
within the sub-Saharan energy industry.
The inaugural POWER-GEN Africa will provide comprehensive coverage of the power needs, resources, and issues facing the
electricity generation industries across Sub-Saharan Africa. Global attention is being paid to Africa’s power requirements as the
continent continues to experience rapid growth and development, driving the need for more widespread and reliable electricity.
With POWER-GEN Africa’s conference and exhibition focusing on all aspects of the power industry and bringing together the
world’s leading power equipment suppliers with those developing power infrastructure in this dynamic region of the world, this is
one event you cannot afford to miss.
Co-located with:
INVITATION TO ATTEND
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Solar power in India
42 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
It is therefore not surprising that analyst Sunil Gupta of Standard Chartered has forecast that India’s share of global solar installations will increase from just 1 per cent in 2012 to 5 per cent by 2015.
In comparison, in the next f ve years, India’s power ministry plans to add 76 000 MW of electricity capacity in its 12th Energy Plan (2012–17), of which wind power will contribute 15 000 MW, solar 10 000 MW, biomass and biofuel 2700 MW, and small rural hydro schemes 2100 MW. The rest will come mainly from new coal plants.
THE CASE FOR SOLAR
It is not surprising that solar power is an attractive option for India given that it enjoys between 300 to 330 sunny days a year, or more than 5000 trillion kWh, which is far greater than its total annual energy consumption, reports Indian Solar Market Outlook 2012. It is estimated that to meet the target of 20 000 MW by 2022, investors will need to f nd just $30–40 billion, said Sunil Gupta. That is a fraction of the cost of building similar capacity using conventional coal f red power generation technology.
Likewise, solar power is relatively quick to build. In April 2012, the world’s largest solar park was completed in less than two years in the western state of Gujarat. This 600 MW plant uses the latest in thin-f lm photovoltaic (PV) technology and covers an area of 1200 hectares.
Lastly, a government subsidy for wind and solar power plants at the rate of 12 rupees (30 US cents) per kWh is predicted to generate 10 billion rupees in private investment by 2018.
Moreover, the price of solar panels has dropped by 48 per cent in the past year owing to oversupply by Chinese manufacturers and dwindling demand in Europe. Chinese manufacturers of solar power units have increased manufacturing capacity to some 50 GW against a global demand of 20 GW, reports Maulik Pathak, industry analyst at LiveMint.com. Already the price of solar power has dropped 28 per cent since 2010, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
In addition, power prices from solar power of just 8.78 rupees/kWh substantially undercut heavily subsidised, diesel-powered standby gensets at 17 rupees/kWh – due to the dramatic plunge in the cost of technology on world markets, rather than improvements in the ability of such panels to convert just 15 per cent of the energy they receive into power.
Chase Manhattan forecasts that the cost of buying solar capacity will become cheaper than diesel in the next seven years. In addition, due to increasing reliance on more expensive coal imports, power supplied from conventional coal plant will increase from 3 rupees/kWh to 6 rupees/kWh in the next few years. It is not surprising, therefore, that Mittal and Coca-Cola are switching from standby diesel power to solar to bridge gaps in power supplies in the national grid.
PROJECTS UNDERWAY
In India, solar technology is being used to power mobile phone networks, pumping systems, lighting, cooking, air conditioning and even heating. Solar power has also been used to provide industrial steam for processing oil recovery and is being considered for the solar boosting of conventional fossil fuels thermal power stations.
In Rajasthan, there are plans to build 200 MW of solar capacity
for connection to the regional grid. In addition, a 35 000 km2 space in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert has been allocated for solar power schemes, suff cient to produce 700 GW to 2100 GW. At least 50 per cent of India’s installed solar capacity by 2022 might come from this desert state, declares Satya Kumar, managing director of Shri Shakti Alternative Energy. Bids for this project came from Welspun Group, India’s largest solar PV developer, backed by Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black and Mumbai-based Visual Percept Solar Projects, owned by the Enam Group. Also, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in April announced plans to lend India’s Reliance Power $103 million to help f nance a 100 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) being constructing next to the 40 MW Dahanu solar PV farm in Rajasthan. Reliance’s Rajasthan CSP project is ADB’s f rst CSP f nancing, as well as one of India’s largest solar power projects.
Siemens has announced orders to supply 17 000 UVAC 2010 solar receivers to two plants: a 50 MW facility owned by Abhijeeta and a 50 MW plant in Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, Areva Solar has been awarded a contract by Reliance Power to build a 250 MW CSP installation in Gujarat, which, the company claims, will become “the largest in all of Asia”. Areva Solar will also be supplying two 125 MW compact linear Fresnel ref ector (CLFR) power plants in the desert state of Rajasthan.
By contrast, in the power-hungry state of Bihar, where 82 per cent of its 100 million population have no access to electricity, investors and non-governmental organisations like Greenpeace India are working together with German owned MNC Bosch India on a pilot scheme involving distributed microgrid-connected 10 kW solar power plants.
But commentators have questioned whether India can achieve its solar power target. Rohit Bhatia, chief executive at Wade Maritime Consultants, claims that Indian government’s solar ambitions are unlikely to be achieved by 2020. First, Indian manufacturers like Tata BP, Indosolar and Moser Baer India received almost no orders for the 700 MW-plus of capacity under local construction last year and have idled their factories, he says. Second, there is a problem of access to the grid and delivery of power to the customer. Already, India’s
Greenpeace India’s solar project in Bihar. Some 82 per cent of the state’s population have no access to electricity.
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Solar power in India
44 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
national transmission grid network is under pressure to cope with
existing market demands. There are also doubts over the calibre of the
leadership and its ability to oversee the implementation of planned grid
upgrades and capacity enhancements fast enough to keep pace with
market developments.
Mannish Rammedia, solar power expert at Greenpeace India,
observes: “In the current scenario, the Indian grid network would not be
able to handle a huge inf ux of renewable energy, as they are f uctuating
in nature. There has to be equal emphasis on grid reformation and
development, as the country’s transmission and distribution losses are
amongst the highest in the world, at around 30 per cent.”
He adds: “The grid needs to become more f exible — the grid
has to be redesigned for a larger uptake of renewable energy. Grid
integration tech for small-scale and decentralised plants has to be
explored, with smart metering and grid optimisation.”
This seems to indicate considerable barriers to meeting solar targets.
It is, therefore, unsurprising that some investors are having doubts about
India’s solar power programme. Industry observers suggest that half the
plants in operation today will be closed within ten years. Naturally,
money lies at the heart of incentives to produce solar power and in
India there is a dual pricing system. For example, in Gujarat, the state
government has promised to pay a generous 15 rupees/kWh for the
next 12 years, which is to fall to an uneconomic 5 rupees a unit for the
subsequent 13 years. At federal government level, price is decided by
a Dutch auction. Last December, at the second national solar auction
for 350 MW, the winning f rms committed themselves to selling power
at the uneconomic price of just 7.5 rupees, or 25 per cent below the
10 rupees/kWh it costs to build and operate the plant.
Cresil Research has suggested that developers who have bid below
9 rupees a unit relied on availability of low-cost debt and expectations
of continuing price falls in solar technology. In contrast, Cresil
expects production prices to stagnate in 2012, due to the signif cant
reductions in the margins of module suppliers in 2011 and increasing
consolidation by manufacturers globally. Also several global producers
have announced production cuts, while major players including Sondra
(USA), Q Cells (Germany) and Solar Millennium (Germany) have f led
for bankruptcy.
Some industry observers suggest it is likely to take at least seven years
for a solar power project in Gujarat to achieve break-even. Perhaps it
is not prof t but tax advantages that motivate solar power developers,
suggests LiveMint.com’s Pathak. Moreover, to add to the disincentives,
solar power operators have other considerations to be concerned with,
including access to the national grid and a shortage of water to keep
the panels clean. It is also likely that, as in Europe, India is going
to experience funding problems not only from the current worldwide
f nancial crisis but from established energy interests facing a potential
shake-up in public subsidy. It does not help that many state-owned
distribution companies can be best described as f scal zombies. Lastly,
it is becoming clear that government efforts to encourage a domestic
industry of solar power technology are not working, since prices for
thin-f lm technology are cheaper abroad than they are in India.
However, what is really holding back the success of solar power in
India is the lack of political leadership to fully reform India’s whole
energy sector, suggests Greenpeace India’s Rammedia.
NEED FOR SUPER ENERGY MINISTRY
Unfortunately for India’s long-suffering consumers, the government’s
track record for tackling the country’s power problems can be best
described as dismal. There are doubts around the current coalition
government’s ability to provide the leadership and scale of f nancial aid
promised in the National Solar Mission. Nine separate ministries share
responsibility for energy policy at federal government level. Moreover,
co-operation between central and state level is not always as it should
be – indeed relationships between leaders in respective power centres
is often discordant, according to Mehta.
Prospective investors must also confront India’s failure, like many
developing countries, to sort out land rights. Projects can be delayed
for years by disputes over who owns a particular parcel of land. It is not
surprising that Mehta wants an energy super ministry to provide strong
leadership and holistic energy policy-making framework to tackle
India’s problems so that India’s great expectations for solar energy can
be reached.
It is interesting that both Rammedia at Greenpeace and Mehta agree
that further market reforms are required, though prescribing different
solutions. Rammedia suggests the energy sector needs to be made
into “a level playing f eld”. “Now there are subsidies and perks to
conventional forms of energy, these need to be discouraged or phased
out. Provide incentives to solar generation, make it a priority lending
sector, make easily available loans for buying solar.”
Mehta calls for “a holistic approach to energy policy”. In his view,
the country must face “f ve hard truths about the Indian energy sector:
demand is surging, supplies are struggling to keep pace, technology is
under- utilised, the institutional structure does not support an integrated
energy policy, and the environment is suffering”.
CAN THE EXPECTATION BE REALISED?
Is India’s solar power sector a cause for great expectations? Despite
the many and varied obstacles faced by power sector innovators,
investors and operators in this complex business culture, much has been
achieved, notably a f ve-fold increase in installed capacity.
However, despite government local content provisions, it is
signif cant that domestic solar manufacturing has failed to benef t. Until
the government of India and its partners at state level can learn to
co-operate, India is unlikely to reach, let alone surpass, its modest goals
for its solar power sector. In India, investors require greater certainty and
clarity before they will invest in this promising sector.
“India must face f ve hard truths: demand is surging, supplies are struggling to keep pace,
technology is under-utilised, the institutional structure does not support an integrated energy
policy, and the environment is suffering”
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Steam turbine upgrade success
46 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
Taking it to the max at DraxAfter f ve years and £100 million, the UK’s largest power station has completed a state-of-the-art
modernisation of its six steam turbines, carried out via a close British–German collaboration.
PEi visited Drax to f nd out more.
Drax power station is poised to complete what it claims is the largest steam turbine modernisation programme in UK history. The UK’s largest power plant – which produces 7 per cent of
the Britain’s power and has a capacity of 4000 MW – is putting the f nishing touches to replacing all six units at its site in Yorkshire, in the north of England.
The f ve-year project cost £100 million ($156 million) and will see Drax cut its carbon emissions by 1 million tonnes a year. Drax burns 10 million tonnes a year of solid fuel, of which 1.3 million was biomass last year, making Drax the UK’s largest single renewable generator..
Siemens was awarded the contract to replace the low-pressure (LP) and high-pressure (HP) turbines, and made the parts at its manufacturing centres in Newcastle, UK and Muelheim an der Ruhr in Germany.
The turbines consist of 28 separate turbine rotors, which together weigh more than 2800 tonnes. Each has 80 000 individual turbine blades, which, laid end-to-end, would stretch 42 km.
Drax production director Peter Emery says the company takes “our responsibility to cut carbon emissions seriously and this project marks a signif cant milestone in our efforts to do that”.
He explains that the decision to go ahead with the modernisation was taken because “it became clear to us that climate was becoming business critical. When we f oated the company investors were not too interested in carbon emissions. That has changed.”
He adds that Drax’s high visibility in Yorkshire – where it covers 750 hectares – increas-es the plant’s environmental obligations to its region. “We can be seen for miles around so it’s important that we are viewed as an asset to the neighbourhood”.
Emery, who joined Drax in 2004, claims that the £100 million investment “demonstrates our continued commitment to delivering
PEi Report
Siemens and Drax have worked together in a f ve-year modernisation programme now being completed at the UK’s largest power plant
Peter Emery: this turbine project marks a ‘signif cant milestone’
Steam turbine upgrade success
PEi - June 2012 www.powerengineeringint.com 47
leading operational performance. The completion of this project makes
our turbines amongst some of the most eff cient in the world.” He
also praises the “excellent collaborative relationship with Siemens in
Newcastle and Germany”.
Steve Austin, lead turbine engineer at Drax, said Siemens was chosen
because “we wanted someone with a credible record, someone who
shared our vision and somebody who knew our turbines”. But he admits
the choice presented challenges. “It was a little bit tense at f rst until we
started to trust each other.”
Darren Davidson, head of projects at Siemens Newcastle, agrees:
“I wasn’t 100 per cent convinced it would work but I thought it was
worth a try.”
As time went by, though, Davidson was won over. “Over the past
f ve years, each unit has been delivered successfully and on schedule.
We have worked with Drax from the start of the tendering phase,
helping to bring to light issues relating to the sustainability of the plant,
and together during the project execution work to deliver improvements
in design through to installation to achieve project objectives.”
Throughout the process, “the whole team has demonstrated
excellence”, he adds. Conf icts of opinion have also been resolved in
unconventional ways. The best example offered by Austin and Davidson
came from Siemens’ desire to use Chinese blades for the turbines.
At f rst, Drax said no: it was specif ed in the contract that the supplier
should be European. But Drax agreed to travel to China with Siemens
and the two companies then spent six months validating the Chinese
manufacturer. Austin now concedes that Siemens’ faith in the Asian
supplier was justif ed: “By the time we’d f nished, the quality was better
than some of our other manufacturers.”
Source: SiemensTURBINE SPECIFICATIONS
HP turbine: The upgraded turbine units supplied were of full arc
throttle control design as a retrof t inner module designed to f t into
the existing HP outer cylinder. The modules include:
• New inner cylinder giving superior creep strength to original
cylinder and designed to interface with existing outer casing;
• Single un-bored monobloc rotor with enhanced material
properties;
• Modern 3DS reaction blading;
• Upgraded sealing technology to help longer term performance;
• Re-designed steam inlet sealing arrangement;
• Re-use of existing outer casing, shaft gland housings and journal
bearings.
LP turbine: The LP turbine upgrades are of a double f ow design
having an exhaust area of 8 m2 and were developed to maximise
performance at minimum capital cost. The existing exhaust casing
was retained to reduce site installation time and costs. The original
impulse design was replaced with reaction blading. Features
consisted of:
• Fully bladed monobloc rotors with enhanced material properties;
• Modern 3DS reaction blading in f rst four stages;
• L-0 blades of free standing side entry root design;
• Retention of original low pressure casing;
• New stationary blade carriers located in existing diaphragm
grooves;
• Optimised inlet and exhaust f ow areas;
• Redesigned radial clearances and sealing;
• Re-use of existing LP shaft seal housings and journal bearings.
Advertisers index
48 www.powerengineeringint.com June 2012 - PEi
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www.peimagazine.com
January 2012
Buyers Guide 2012
The most comprehensive directory of companies
serving the global power industry
Available as a Magazine and Online all year round
ADVERTISEMENT INDEX
AKSA POWER GENERATION (CHINA) CO. LTD. C4
AVEVA SOLUTIONS LTD 21
BRADEN MANUFACTURING 16
CATERPILLAR INC. 29
DOW ELECTRICAL & TELECOMMUNICATIONS 27
DRESSER-RAND 25
DURO FELGUERA SA 19
ERC EMISSIONS-REDUZIERUNGS-CONCEPTE GMBH 30
ESKOM 38
FACO SPA 23
FULMER COMPANY 39
HARCO 31
HILLIARD GMBH 9
HYDROVISION INTERNATIONAL 2012 45
HYTORC 5
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PEI BUYER’S GUIDE 48
PETRO CANADA 37
POWERGEN MIDDLE EAST 2013 35
POWERGEN AFRICA 2012 41
POWERGEN INTERNATIONAL 2012 43
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD C&E N.A. 2012 C3
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STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY ASSOCIATES 12
SWAN ANALYTISCHE INSTRUMENTE AG 11
TOPOMASTER 17
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