Siemens wins service contract for gas-fired Blythe Energy Center in California

Siemens has been awarded a long-term service agreement for the Blythe Energy Center in California. The customer is AltaGas Ltd, headquartered in Alberta, Canada. The new agreement covers scheduled maintenance activities, program management, spare parts, power diagnostics and performance monitoring for the plant's two Siemens V84.3A (now named SGT6-4000F) gas turbines for the next 25 years or 116,000 equivalent operating hours (EOH).

The Blythe Energy Center is a 507MW rated natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant located in Blythe, California. Exhaust from the two Siemens V84.3A gas turbines is directed to heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) where the thermal energy in the exhaust gases is recovered to generate steam that flows to the steam turbine generator (STG). The combustion turbines and the STG each drive an electric generator to produce electricity.

The agreement will enable the Blythe Energy Center to take advantage of Siemens modernization and unit enhancements, such as thermal performance optimization, low-load turn down, and rotor exchanges, all designed to help extend scheduled inspection intervals and improve the operational flexibility of the two combustion turbines at the facility.

Siemens offers the turn down optimization as part of its Flex-Power Services portfolio. The optimization is designed to reduce carbon monoxide emissions at part load. Craig Weeks, CEO, Siemens Power & Gas Services Business Unit said “this continued service agreement and gas turbine performance enhancing upgrades will enhance the units' ability to continue to operate optimally for many years to come.”