Siemens to Build Two Power Plants in Argentina to Overcome Power Shortage

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Argentina is a significant Latin American energy producer and consumer. It is a net energy exporter, primarily to neighbouring Brazil and Chile. However, Argentina, with an installed capacity of 24,000 megawatts, has become a vulnerable country in energy terms since 1994. Throughout the years, the situation has deteriorated due to the fact that thousands of Argentine industries, just when they were starting to emerge from the economic collapse initiated by the devaluation of 2001, became victims of the energy crisis due to shortages of gas.

Argentina has the third largest power market in Latin America. The biggest power plant in Argentina is the Yacyreta hydroelectric dam with 3,200 megawatts of installed capacity that is evenly shared by Argentina and Paraguay. In second place, the 1,890-megawatt (MW) Salto Grande is another bi-national project, owned by the governments of Argentina and Uruguay.

Moreover, there are two nuclear power plants in operation and one under construction: The 360 MW Atucha I and the 650 MW Embalse facilities, both operated by Nucleoelectrica Argentina SA (Province of Buenos Aires). Work on Atucha II ceased in 1994 due to political and financial concerns. The Argentine government announced a new initiative to stimulate the nuclear power industry in the country. The plan includes the completion of the 692 MW Atucha II reactor and the extension of the planned operating life of the Embalse facility by 30 years.

Argentina is attempting to boost productivity in the power sector by launching an energy plan targeting an expansion of the electrical generation system. With an important power market in Latin America, which relies mostly on hydropower and natural gas-fired thermal plants for most of its electricity supply, Argentina plans the addition of two thermal generation plants as a way to meet rising electricity consumption and replace the need for hydroelectric power. Siemens Power Generation (Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires) won the bid for the turn-key construction of the two combined-cycle power plants against strong international competition from Alstom, Mitsubishi, and General Electric. The Siemens-led consortium will build the power plants in Campana in the province of Buenos Aires and in Timbúes near the city of Rosario in the province Santa Fe.

Both projects, valued at $1.6 billion, are part of the government’s national energy plan from 2004 to prevent an energy shortage. The two power plants, with a capacity of 830 megawatts, will be operated by the Independent Power Producers Termoeléctrica Manuel Belgrano S.A. (TMB), whose gas turbines will be transported in July 2007, and Termoeléctrica José de San Martín S.A. (TSM), which announced the gas turbines will be transported between August and September 2007.

Siemens will deliver two high-efficiency gas turbines (SGT5 – 4000F) and one steam turbine (SST- 5000). Also, the Siemens scope of supply includes the heat recovery steam generator and power electrics. Siemens also will handle maintenance for the two power plants for a period of ten years. The consortia partners Duro Felguera S.A. and Electroingeniería S.A. for TMB, Inelectra S.A.C.A. and Electroingeniería S.A. for TSM will be responsible for the balance and construction of the plants.

The primary fuel will be natural gas, with liquid fuel as an alternative. Commercial operation is due to start in the first half of 2008 in open cycle mode and full operation in combined cycle mode is scheduled for one year later, in early 2009.

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