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660 MW Power Plant
660 MW Power Plant
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Colongra
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-ofplant. The project represents Alstoms fifth contract in Australia for the supply of GT13E2 based power plants.
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 MW SC13E2 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
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)
Market situation
The Australian power market comprises a number
of interconnected regional state markets.
Interconnectors between each state facilitate power
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 SydneyNewcastle 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 aircooling 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 costeffective refurbishment.
The 21-stage subsonic compressor is equipped
with a set of variable inlet guide vanes. The
Aerial view
of the site
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-
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.
Unit 1 CCW
system
www.power.alstom.com