First Integrated Renewables Combined-Cycle Plant to be Built in Turkey

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Europe (Galway, Ireland)--Turkish developer MetCap Energy Investments (Istanbul, Turkey) plans to build the world's first integrated renewable combined-cycle (IRCC) power plant, bringing together gas, solar and wind.

Known as the Dervish project, the 534-megawatt (MW) plant will be based in the north of the Karaman province and is scheduled to start commercial operation by the end of 2015. The plant will be based on General Electric's (NYSE:GE) (GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) FlexEfficiency 50 CCGT package. The package is a development of the company's standard integrated solar combined-cycle offering and integrates a 50-Hertz 9FB gas turbine, a 109D-14 steam turbine and a heat-recovery steam generator in a single-shaft configuration, with 22 MW of GE wind turbines and 50 MW of eSolar concentrated solar power (CSP) thermal tower technology. Control and integration is handled by a GE Mark VIe plant control system. The plant is expected to operate at up to 69% efficiency and will have no liquid discharge, reduced emissions and a single button, 28-minute startup time.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2012. Gama Power Systems Engineering and Contracting (Ankara, Turkey) will serve as engineering, procurement and construction contractor in consortium with GE.

In an IRCC power plant, steam generated in the solar field is fed into the water-steam system of the combined-cycle plant, replacing the heat that would otherwise be supplied by burning natural gas. During the night or during periods of cloud cover, the power plant remains fully functional using just natural gas. Solar thermal energy becomes much less expensive when integrated with a combined-cycle power plant, because the steam turbine, generator and other expensive components are already available and can be used for the solar thermal integration.

Paul Browning, chief executive of GE Energy's global thermal products business, says the FlexEfficiency 50 IRCC "will lead into a new era of power generation."

GE has also signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Harbin Electric, for the purchase of two 9FB gas turbines featuring the FlexEfficiency technology before 2014, pending Harbin being awarded the projects.

In related news, MetCap has also engaged the services of a GE-Gama consortium to develop an 893-MW combine-cycle plant in Kirklareli, Turkey. Site work for the Eurostar power plant began in July of this year in preparation for construction kickoff in January 2012.

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