Industry News: March/April 2014

New chief for Ansaldo

Umberto della Sala[/caption]

Umberto della Sala has been named Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ansaldo Energia.

A chemical engineer, della Sala has held previous executive positions at Foster Wheeler, most recently as its chairman.

NAES expansion

NAES has expanded its maintenance and construction business to serve the Gulf Coast, Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin regions. As a complement to its presence in Sulphur, Louisiana, NAES has entered the downstream market providing capital construction and turnaround management and execution services to process plants in the Texas Gulf Coast. To support its efforts in shale gas plays, NAES has opened a field operations facility in Asherton, Texas.

NAES is also acquiring E3 Consulting, an independent technical and strategic business advisor to the energy industry. E3 has headquarters in Denver, and offices in the New York City metro area and Houston, Texas.

It provides reviews of energy, industrial, and public infrastructure projects for capital providers, project developers and owners, and utilities. NAES believes this company is a natural fit as it is growing its portfolio in the engineering consulting space as part of its strategic plan. At the same time, NAES will enable E3 to expand its reach into new markets. E3 will continue to function as a standalone business.

Reducing vibration damage

Dresser-Rand recently performed a noise test for the largest pipe resonator array ever produced. The test, performed on a 30-inch pipe, was intended to validate and confirm the estimated noise attenuation (reduction) on a compressor operated by Norwegian-based Statoil. The project involved two complete compression trains with Datum D18 centrifugal compressors operating on a platform in the North Sea. Dresser-Rand installed a diffuser resonator array at the first and last stages of the compressor and a pipe resonator array on the inlet and discharge piping.

Turbo compressors typically produce 90 dB or more noise, originating from the impeller aerodynamic interaction with stationary components. The preferred technique to reduce this noise and vibration damage is to attenuate the sound at its source.

The actual test was performed at the Dresser-Rand facility in Le Havre, France.

Results showed that the pipe array could achieve more than 10 dB attenuation for the frequency range corresponding to the speed range of the compressor. Because the sound level is measured logarithmically, a 10 dB reduction corresponds to a 90% reduction in sound power.

Mitsubishi-Hitachi union

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has commenced business operations. The joint venture combines the global fossil business of both companies, with MHI holding a 65% equity interest.

Their collective presence and product lines in the Americas will be expanded, and the new company will be named Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas (MHPSA). The MHPSA family will include the operations formerly known as Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas in Lake Mary, FL, Hitachi Power Systems America in Basking Ridge, NJ, Mechanical Dynamics & Analysis based in Latham, NY, and Hitachi Power Systems Canada, renamed as Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Canada.

Meanwhile, the company has been selected to supply a natural gas powered M501J gas turbine, SRT-50 steam turbine and associated electric generators for installation at the proposed new Unit #3 of the Grand River Dam Authority’s (GRDA) power generation facility in Chouteau, Oklahoma. The Unit #3 power train will be a combined cycle generation unit with the capability to produce 495 MW of electricity. Construction will begin in 2015 and it is expected to become operational in 2017.

Controls upgrade

Wood Group GTS has been awarded a $1.4 million contract by the City of Austin in Texas to replace four GE Millennium turbine control panels at the Sand Hill Energy Center. The panels will be replaced with Wood Group GTS’ icon control systems. The control panels will be replaced with a Rockwell ControlLogix platform.

HRSG orders

NEM Energy has been awarded the contract for the supply of a three pressure Benson heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) with reheat for the San Gabriel combined cycle power plant (CCPP). San Gabriel is located in Batangas City in the Philippines, approximately one hundred kilometers south of the capital of Manila. NEM’s customer is Siemens Energy. The owner is First NatGas Power Corp., a 100% owned company of the Philippine independent power producer First Gen Corporation.

NEM’s scope includes the engineering, manufacturing and delivery of the Benson HRSG, which will operate behind an SGT6-8000H gas turbine. This is the first NEM HRSG operating behind the Siemens H-class turbine. The San Gabriel CCPP will have a capacity of 414 MW. Commissioning is scheduled for March 2016.

Additionally, NEM has begun fabrication of the first major components for the Shell Carmon Creek Project in Peace River, Alberta, Canada. NEM’s scope includes the engineering, fabrication and supply (Delivery At Place) of three once through HRSGs with diverter system and bypass stacks and vertical duct burner system for supplementary firing.

Carmon Creek includes a novel welldelivery system and the use of cogeneration units using Siemens SGT6-5000F turbines that will feed power into the Alberta grid. The cogeneration units will produce 630 MW of electricity, of which about 500 MW is expected to be sold to the northwest Alberta power grid. Once the project is up and running the aim is to virtually eliminate the need for freshwater for steam generation through recycling of water produced with the oil. Shell Canada produces bitumen through both thermal and cold production wells in the Peace River oil sands.

Chromalloy-Solar deal

Chromalloy renewed a 10-year agreement with Solar Turbines to provide component repairs and new production support for the manufacturer’s power systems. Under the agreement, Chromalloy will be the preferred supplier for a number of component repairs including turbine blades, nozzles and cases. This marks the continuance of a 20-year relationship between Chromalloy and Solar. Work will be performed at Chromalloy locations around the world.

Siemens contracts

Siemens and Open Joint Stock Company Fortum have signed a long-term service contract for the Nyaganskaya GRES combined cycle power plant in Nyagan, Russia. Nyaganskaya GRES is the world’s largest thermal power plant operating above the latitude of 62 degrees North and is the largest thermal power plant, green-field construction project in Northern Russia. It consists of three combined cycle power units totaling 1,254 MW. The first unit, with a capacity of 420.9 MW, began commercial operation in April 2013. The commercial operation of the second unit began at the end of 2013, and the third unit is currently under construction.

Under the long-term agreement, Siemens will provide service and maintenance for the gas turbines, steam turbines and generators of all three combinedcycle plants for a period of six years. Siemens has supplied its SCC5-4000F power train solution consisting of an SGT5-4000F gas turbine, SST5-3000 steam turbine, SGen5-2000H generator and SPPA-T3000 automation system for each of the three units of Nyaganskaya GRES. Earlier this year after the successful Kirishi repowering project, Siemens also signed a long-term service agreement for the Kirishskaya GRES power plant in the Leningrad area.

The Siemens SGT5-4000F gas turbine, recently ordered for projects in Russia and Algeria[/caption]

Siemens Energy will also supply two gas turbines and two generators to Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corporation from South Korea for the new power plant in Biskra, Algeria. In addition, the company will provide spare parts for the components through a longterm, parts-supply agreement. The plant will be operated by Société Algérienne de Production de l'Electricité (SPE) — a company of the state-owned utility Socièté Nationale de l'Electricité et du Gaz (Sonelgaz). Commissioning is scheduled for August 2014.

The simple cycle power plant will have an installed capacity of approximately 460 megawatts. Siemens’ scope of supply includes two Model SGT5- 4000F gas turbines, two SGen5-1000A generators as well as technical field assistance during the erection and commissioning phase. A 10-year, spareparts supply agreement has also been concluded. This is the third order placed with Siemens Energy within the last year for power plant components in Algeria, following the Ras Djinet and Ain Arnat projects.

New GE venture

GE’s new Distributed Power business combines three product lines — aeroderivative gas turbines, Jenbacher gas engines and Waukesha gas engines. The aim is to better serve the distributed power space. GE announced an investment in this business of $1.4 billion over four years. The company cites the growing popularity of distributed power, which is expected to grow 40% faster than global electricity demand between now and 2020.

“With more than 1.3 billion people lacking access to reliable power today, we are positioned to serve communities in both developing and industrialized countries where we see a growing demand for distributed power solutions to improve local energy security and comply with more stringent environmental regulations,” said Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE’s Distributed Power business.

GE also announced a number of related agreements including: two memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Clean Power Indonesia (CPI) and PLN for the development and deployment of its integrated biomass gasification power system in Indonesia; two Southeast Asia gas engine supply-and-service agreements with distributed power project developer Navigat Energy Pte Ltd to provide 100 Jenbacher gas engines; and a MOU with PLN Enjiniring to develop a power generation pilot project for an integrated virtual pipeline on remote islands of Indonesia, using small-scale natural gas fueling solutions combined with Distributed Power’s power generation gas turbine and engine.