Peak practice with a 660 MWe

SC13E2 simple cycle power plant

Australias Delta Electricity has a generating portfolio that consists of coal fired, baseload, power plants. In a
move to complement this baseload generation while reducing emissions, the company is installing a large gas
fired peaking power plant known as Colongra. The new 660 MW power plant, being built under a turnkey
contract by Alstom, will be based on four modern, flexible and environmentally friendly GT13E2 gas turbines.
Under the contract, Alstom designed, supplied, installed and commissioned the entire power plant with the
turnkey delivery of turbine island, step-up transformers, Alspa distributed control system and balance-of-
plant. The project represents Alstoms fifth contract in Australia for the supply of GT13E2 based power plants.
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Colongra
Repinted by Modern Power Systems February 2009
GAS TURBINE TECHNOLOGY
D
elta Electricity is a state-owned
corporation producing electricity from
several facilities using diverse energy
sources, predominantly coal but also
water and biomass materials.
To enable the company to meet growth in the
electricity market a number of key objectives
needed to be met, that is to:
Provide electricity at relatively short notice
during periods of peak demand
Provide black-start capability to improve system
security, stabilisation and emergency
response
Meet future energy demands competitively,
using best available technology and
consistent with its current environmental
objectives
Reduce environmental impacts by lowering
greenhouse gas emissions
Accordingly, in March 2007 a turnkey EPC
(Engineering, Procurement and Construction)
contract was awarded to Alstom to build an open
cycle power plant that would enable Delta to meet
these key objectives. The new Colongra gas turbine
facility is now under construction near the existing
Munmorah Power Station on the Central Coast,
120 km north of Sydney
Under the contract, Alstom will design, supply,
install and commission the entire power plant with
the turnkey delivery of:
Turbine island
step-up transformers
Alspa distributed control system
balance-of-plant
The project represents Alstoms fifth contract in
Australia for the supply of GT13E2 based power
plants.
Market situation
The Australian power market comprises a number
of interconnected regional state markets.
Interconnectors between each state facilitate power
exchange. NSW contributes more than 40 per cent
of the installed generating capacity of the National
Electricity Market, which pools electricity market
production on Australias eastern seaboard to meet
the markets electricity demand.
At the same time with increasing peak demands
during summer and continuing growth of winter
demand, new capacity is required to maintain
reliability of supply and manage peak power prices
in a competitive electricity market. In 2004, the
NSW government released an Energy Directions
Green Paper, which described current and future
trends in energy demand in NSW. The Green Paper
stated that the peak energy demand in NSW was
growing at a faster rate than average demand. This
diverging trend between base load and peak load
demand profiles can generally be attributed to the
sustained period of strong economic growth that
has been occurring in Australia over the last 10-15
years.
This trend has resulted in an increasing demand
for electrical services across all sectors of the
economy but in particular the residential sector,
where increased prosperity is expected to continue
Peak practice with a 660 MWe
SC13E2 simple cycle power plant
Australias Delta Electricity has a generating portfolio that consists predominantly of coal fired, baseload,
power plants. In a move to complement this baseload generation while also reducing greenhouse emissions,
the company is installing a large gas fired peaking power plant known as Colongra Gas Turbines. The new
660 MWSC13E2 power plant, being built under a turnkey contract by Alstom, will be based on four modern,
flexible and environmentally friendly GT13E2 gas turbines.
Mark Chilcote and Beat Sigrist, Alstom, Sydney, Australia
0
Repinted by Modern Power Systems February 2009
GAS TURBINE TECHNOLOGY
to drive demand for electrical goods such as air
conditioning units, which are considered to be one
of the major contributors to the increasing peak
demand load in summer.
Transgrid, the NSW transmission authority,
have assessed the potential system reliability issues
during a severe system failure or blackout in the
NSW transmission grid. The assessment
determined that there was an opportunity for
network re-start or blackstart resources in the
northern part of NSW to cater for such an event
and concluded that the provision of a quick-start
facility with blackstart capability at Colongra
would provide a number of significant system
security benefits in the event of a state-wide system
shutdown.
Delta Electricity decided that a gas turbine
peaking power plant of about 600 MW near the
existing Munmorah power station site would be the
best way of addressing the peak demand and
system security issues. Munmorah is a coal fired
power plant with four units two of which have
been decommissioned and two which unless
refurbished with the latest emission technology,
are likely to be decommissioned in the not too
distant future.
At 660 MW, the new Colongra gas fired power
station is large contribution to gas fired peaking
capacity in New South Wales.
Efficient and reliable
For an open cycle peaking power plant, selecting
the right gas turbine is critical due to the stresses
experienced by the machine as a result of the
intermittent operation of the power plant and high
number of stop-start operations compared to a
baseload plant.
The Colongra power plant uses four highly
efficient GT13E2 dual fuel gas turbines in open
cycle configuration.
The natural gas to fuel the turbines will be
supplied via a new underground pipeline
connecting the facility to the existing Sydney-
Newcastle pipeline located about 8 km west of the
power plant.
Natural gas will be the primary fuel, with
distillate used primarily for backup in case of gas
interruption. According to the approvals, the
turbines cannot use distillate for more than a total
of 75 hours in any 12-month period except to meet
emergency market needs. Switchover between
fuels will be automatic, which is particularly
important during system emergency market
conditions where the ability to deliver power to the
grid is critical.
Each turbine has maximum power output of 167
MW when operating at nominal ambient
conditions (35C, power factor 0.85).
To improve the performance of the gas turbines
during hot summer conditions, there is an
evaporative cooler upstream of the GT compressor.
This uses demineralised water to cool the air stream
before it enters the gas turbine. This inlet air-
cooling delivers an additional 6.7 MW per GT at
design ambient conditions.
The GT13E2 has a rotor, which is welded from
forged discs that ensure high rotor stiffness with
two-bearing support. The welded rotor design
eliminates maintenance work such as restacking
and disk replacement or factory rotor overhaul and
thus eliminates the need for a major overhaul of
the engine.
The turbine features advanced aerodynamics and
multi-convective cooling schemes, which
contribute significantly to the engines efficiency.
The GT13E2 has a 5-stage turbine section. The
design of the first turbine stage, combined with the
Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) and conservative
turbine inlet temperatures of 1100C, allows
extended inspection intervals of up to 36 000 EOH
(Equivalent Operating Hours). The use of Inconel
738 conventional cast turbine airfoils and heat
shields ensure long parts life and allow for full cost-
effective refurbishment.
The 21-stage subsonic compressor is equipped
with a set of variable inlet guide vanes. The
combustion airflow rate can be adjusted by
changing the angular position of the vanes. Load
control is managed by varying the amount of
natural gas and combustion airflow. The result is
increased part load efficiency and starting
reliability.
The annular combustor contains 72 EV burners
arranged in pairs. The burners operate on the
principle of the lean pre-mix vortex breakdown to
achieve low NOx values with dry combustion gas
during gas operation.
The annular combustion chamber distributes the
circumferential temperature evenly while avoiding
problem zones such as cross-firing tubes or
transition pieces. Unlike can-annular systems, the
annular combustor does not need a combustion
inspection, which means reduced maintenance and
higher availability.
The gas turbine lubrication system also provides
lubrication for the generators. Two 100% lube oil
pumps on each GT (plus one DC emergency pump)
supply oil through the lube oil cooler to the bearings
of the power train. When the GT is on turning gear,
the GT/generator shafts are lifted by hydraulic
jacking oil pumps.
Each gas turbine drives its own generator from
the compressor end. The axial exhaust provides for
easy adaptation of a possible future Heat Recovery
Steam Generator (HRSG).
The generators are the high efficiency TOPAIR
turbogenerators equipped with static excitation.
The generators are air-cooled via four 25%
air/water coolers by water from the CCW system.
Each generator is started by a synchronous motor
with a variable frequency drive known as a static
starting device (SSD). There is one SSD per GT.
The GT is accelerated with the starting device until
the turbine is ignited and self-sustaining speed is
reached. The turbine start-up controller will take
over and accelerate the GT set to synchronous
speed. The generator is synchronised to the grid
either through the generator circuit breaker or
through the switchyard circuit breaker.
Power generated is distributed to the plant
ancillaries and to the grid through step-up
transformers, which were also under Alstoms
scope of supply. Four step-up transformers connect
the four gas turbine-generators to the 330 kV
switchyard. Each SC13E2 power train includes
one 11/1.8/0.43 kV unit auxiliary transformer and
Aerial view
of the site
Cutaway of one of the four
SC13E2 power trains
(see also wallchart in
this issue of MPS)
Repinted by Modern Power Systems February 2009
GAS TURBINE TECHNOLOGY
one 15/0.42 kV excitation transformer.
The GT unit auxiliary transformer feeds the SSD
and GT auxiliaries. This transformer is a three
winding type, oil isolating and air-cooled with fans.
Station transformers of 15/11 kV feed the plant
ancillaries.
Power from the plant will be fed to the grid via
a new dedicated bay being built next to the existing
switchyard located northwest of the new plant. The
existing overhead transmission lines will be used
to export power from the power station.
Clean solutions
The use of gas at Colongra is a move away from
the Australian power industrys reliance on power
generation solutions with higher emission levels.
The plant easily meets the World Bank limits.
When running on natural gas, at each turbine stack
discharge point NOx limits must not exceed
50mg/m3 (15% O2). On distillate, emissions
should not exceed 90 mg/m3.
The plant is designed to emit greenhouse gases
at an average rate of 0.58 t of CO2 per MWh, which
is significantly less than the NSW pool co-efficient
of 0.928 t/MWh in 2006 when the project was first
proposed. This is of state-wide importance as it will
help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit
of output in NSW and achieve the ultimate goal of
7.27 t of CO2 per capita by the year 2012 set by
the NSW Greenhouse Gas Benchmark Scheme.
Increased efficiency and the corresponding
reduction in CO2 emissions will see increased
pressure to convert the power plant to combined
cycle power plant.
The decision was taken not to opt for a baseload
combined cycle power plant from the outset
because of insufficient gas supplies at this site. The
Colongra plant will take a gas feed off a distribution
line between Sydney and Newcastle.. A 9 km-long,
1,050 mm diameter lateral has been built for use
as a storage pipeline off this supply. A compressor
will compress and store up to 5 hours of gas in this
storage pipeline for use during times of peak
electricity demand. Recovery of this gas reserve
is achieved within 24 hours.
Initiatives are underway to bring more gas to
Sydney from Queensland. Should more gas be
secured, the next step will be to consider the timing
for conversion of the power plant to combined
cycle operation.
At this stage, there may also be the addition of
further plant cleanup equipment. Delta is currently
engaged in a pilot carbon capture research project
with CSIRO at the nearby coal fired Munmorah
power station. This is an area in which Alstom is
also a market leader and is therefore well-
positioned to work with Delta if it decides to pursue
carbon capture at this and other Delta sites.
Agreat deal of effort has been made in terms of
environmental protection. Alstom has developed
plant construction environmental management
plans to cover all areas such as dust management,
soil erosion protection, waste management and
wastewater management.
For example, prior to the commencement of site
preparation works, Alstom was required to
undertake acid sulphate soil testing for areas of the
site to be disturbed during site preparation and
construction. The potential impacts of any acid
sulphate soils disturbed during site preparation or
project construction were effectively addressed in
accordance with Alstom Acid Sulphate Soil
Management Plan.
Prior to the commencement of construction,
Alstom was required to prepare and submit a Water
Cycle Management Report detailing water
conservation and re-use strategies. The report
included a review of best practice water
conservation and re-use initiatives and strategies
with consideration given to their suitability for
application on site.
Alstom was also required to maximise the
treatment, re-use and/or recycling on the site of any
waste oil, excavated soil, slurries, dust and sludge
associated with the project, to minimize the need
for treatment or disposal of those materials outside
the power station.
All dangerous goods have to be handled and
stored in accordance with the Australian
Dangerous Goods Code. Various studies related to
potential hazards pre-construction and pre-
commissioning also had to be submitted.
In terms of environmental and safety
performance, this is very much a showcase site.
All of the procedures and measures that have
been put in place are being audited every two
weeks. Further, twelve months after the start of
operation of the project, and every three years
thereafter, an independent body will undertake a
Hazard Audit of the project. An Environmental
Audit Report is also required at the same time.
Plant operation and control
Delta Electricity requires that the plant be very
flexible with reliable starting. During peak
demand, power traders at Delta will need to be able
to react immediately and have the plant up and
running according to the size of the peak.
The plant is fully automated and remotely
controlled. Traders are therefore able to start,
dispatch and shutdown the plant remotely via a
secure internet connection. This means the plant
can respond very quickly to price developments in
the market.
The plant is equipped with an overall plant
process control system based on Alstoms Alspa
distributed control system. This system enables
safe and reliable operation, control and supervision
of the process with a high degree of automation.
The DCS provides functions such as:
Signal conditioning, annunciation, recording
Operation, monitoring and supervision
Open and closed loop control, sequence logic,
protection
Data communication, plant management
application.
The plant is basically unmanned, with just two
or three operations staff on hand to ensure that the
startup and operation runs smoothly when the plant
is started remotely. This is a fairly unique setup for
such a large gas turbine based power plant.
Gas turbine operation is a fully automated
process with the various auxiliaries of the GT being
switched on or off in a sequential manner. Operator
intervention is only required for:
Pre-selection of gas turbine load target;
Command for start-up and shutdown of the gas
turbine;
Command to establish pre-start conditioning for
a later accelerated start-up procedure.
Each gas turbine is provided with its own
protection system and governor. Information that
is necessary for remote operation, control and
monitoring are transferred to the overall plant
control system.
Balance Of Plant (BOP) systems control is
dependant on the function being performed. Any
system directly related to the operation of the GTs
such as fuel systems are controlled directly by the
DCS. Some BOP systems will require local
operator attendance such as fuel unloading and
service water and will therefore be controlled from
local control panels only.
The plant can be started by the operator giving
a start instruction to each turbine in turn or by
activating the plant master sequence start. The
concept chosen for the plant allows normal startup
times, with a load-up time from start command to
GT baseload of 30 minutes. The operator can also
choose a fast start-up option, which reduces
loading time to 13 minutes.
The plant master sequencer is used to start the
complete plant. Here, the operator will be required
to select the required plant load, the number of
turbines to be started, the start-up type (standard or
fast) and the fuel type for each GT before the plant
start. The plant master sequencer will start each GT
in turn and load the started units to the required level.
Unit 1 (left) and unit 2 (right)
under construction
0
Repinted by Modern Power Systems February 2009
GAS TURBINE TECHNOLOGY
Individual turbines can
be shutdown at any time.
The start up procedure and unmanned concept will
be proved during commissioning.
The plant operating regime will typically see one
or possibly two starts per day during the peak
summer period. At other times of the year, the plant
will be on standby. The number of expected starts
will largely depend on the electricity price
developments in the market.
Although the facility could operate 24 hours per
day, all year round (the environmental impact
assessment has been based on continuous
operation), the plant is likely to operate for about
500 hours per year. This is based on an approximate
estimate of the projected annual cumulative peak
power demand period. The power plant will also
be required to respond to electrical system
emergency and security situations, which would
be in addition to the estimated annual cumulative
peak power demand period.
The regular start-up regime is not expected to
have any impact on the maintenance schedule of
the plant.
Project development
Regarding the time schedule, Alstom took the
opportunity to divide the project into specific
stages. Alstom ensured that the civil work was
finished before the mechanical and electrical
(M&E) work started.
All deliveries have been frontloaded to provide
a margin of a couple of months between arrival of
the equipment on site and when it was actually
needed. This has allowed the erection contractors
to plan their work around the most efficient
installation method from a labour standpoint as
opposed to planning work around deliveries. This
means the work programme is dictated by
efficiency instead of by deliveries.
While Alstoms main focus has been on
delivering quality and cost optimisation during
project execution, safety has also been a primary
objective for Alstom, Delta Electricity and the
relevant industrial Unions.
Plant Integrator
TM
benefits
Power companies take a holistic, bigger picture,
approach to their investment i.e. they look at the
whole plant and its functional requirements over
its entire lifecycle. Alstom has redefined the way
it approaches power plant design, construction and
maintenance in order to be aligned with power
companies functional requirements. Through
Plant Integrator
TM
expertise, with all key power
plant component technologies in house, Alstom
aims to deliver optimized solutions that are
specifically designed to create added value for the
customer.
Although Delta has contracted Alstom to build
a peaking plant, there is a possibility that the plant
will be converted to a combined cycle plant at a
later date. As a Plant Integrator, Alstom was able
to design the civil works to make provisions for the
future addition of an Alstom Heat Recovery Steam
Generator (HRSG) as part of the project.
Sufficient space has been allowed to
accommodate the HRSG and an air-cooled
condenser at a later stage. As part of the
arrangement, care has also been taken when
providing the underground services to areas that
are currently not occupied but might be needed by
the steam turbine or other equipment needed in the
combined cycle plant. No other, provisions such
as placing a diverter damper in the stack, have been
made at this stage.
What differentiates Alstom from its competitors
is that it is able to design and manufacture all power
plant key components and integrate them together
to provide a customised solution that best suits the
customers functional requirements.
When power companies look at the overall plant
over its entire lifecycle, there are a number of
lifetime benefits that can actually be measured as
added value. If power companies are prepared to
go through this process with Alstom, they can
benefit in a number of ways from Alstoms unique
blend of core competencies. Looking at the bigger
picture with Alstom will allow, for example, faster
completion of the project; improved performance;
reduced risks and lower costs.
Alstom agrees with many customers that the net
present value (NPV) of the plant over its lifetime
is the best way to measure value. It also integrates
qualitative factors like flexibility of operation,
flexibility in fuel selection and better compliance
with regulations.
There are six key areas or levers to increase the
NPV: investment; lead-time; performance;
availability & operational flexibility; retrofit and
life extension. There are other areas that are
sometimes more qualitative e.g. the compliance
with or anticipation of environmental regulations;
or the ability to accept fuel flexibility. Nevertheless
these conditions can always be translated into
investment cost, time, performance, availability,
retrofit and life extension.
At Colongra, Alstom was able to add value in
the area of lead-time. Having in-house EPC ability
as well as being a designer, manufacturer and
supplier of all the major plant components can
reduce project construction times. Alstom can shift
manufacturing slots during the production of
machines to accelerate or delay the production of
certain pieces of equipment in order to streamline
the whole process.
Because Alstom designs each plant to the
specific needs of its customers, Alstom knows, in
advance what equipment will be installed. This
allows the optimization to be carried out before the
project is launched at Notice To Proceed (NTP).
Because the bulk of the design is done before the
contract is signed, lead-time is reduced. Architect
engineers (A/Es) have to rely on external suppliers
and therefore have to wait until the supplier is
selected before they can engineer at the required
level of detail.
Being an OEM with EPC and turnkey capability
was a real benefit to the customer. Delta is
executing the gas line project in parallel to the
power project and not having to handle work
related to the power plant was of great value. All
the design and optimization issues could be left
under the responsibility of Alstom.
Alstom supplied the turbomachinery equipment
and generators as a standard package out of
Switzerland. The BOP components, engineering
and arrangements for the later conversion into
combined cycle, were handled out of Alstoms
Malaysia office. The Malaysia office interfaced
with the customers engineers. Since Alstoms
scope of supply included the switchyard it will
therefore also handle the interfaces with the grid
company, Transgrid.
All the interfaces between Alstom Malaysia, the
client, Transgrid and other external parties have
gone smoothly. Alstom has also been responsible
for site management and closely managed all
labour and industrial relations.
Being a Plant Integrator
TM
specialist, was of
particular value during project execution. If a
separate EPC contractor was used, activities such
as civil erection would have been much more
complicated since information exchange and
drawing exchange is more difficult if third parties
were involved. With everything being under
Alstom control i.e. manufacture, delivery and
project engineering the result is that the project
is essentially ahead of schedule.
Having the project completely under Alstom
control means that Alstom can prioritize, drive its
own schedule and information exchange, while
gaining relevant approvals from the government
and external parties. All the approvals have already
been gained for first fire.
Currently the project is estimated to be ahead of
schedule and this can be attributed to Alstoms
Plant Integrator
TM
capability. MPS
Unit 1 air
intake
Unit 1 CCW
system
www.power.alstom.com
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