Bicentenario Combined-Cycle Power Plant Offline after Gas Pipeline Explodes in Argentina

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Latin America (Cordoba, Argentina)--On Friday morning, the 466-megawatt (MW) Bicentenario Combined-Cycle Power Plant in Pilar, Argentina, was evacuated following an explosion and resulting fire in the derivation pipelines that supply natural gas to the facility. Pilar is about 44 kilometers southeast of the city of Cordoba, in the Cordoba province of Argentina. Cordoba is the second-largest city in the country.

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The plant was evacuated and taken offline. Four brigades of firefighters were trying to contain the fire. The plant has two 168-MW Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) SGT5-200E V94.2 natural gas-fired combustion turbines, in combined-cycle with a 130-MW Franco Tosi SpA (Legnano, Italy) steam turbine.

At this point, it is still uncertain if the power plant was affected by the explosion or fire and when it will return to operations. Meanwhile, state-owned Empresa Provincial de Energia de Cordoba (EPEC) (Cordoba), which owns and operates the plant and the provincial transmission and distribution grid, is working to reestablish and restore the power supply to the city of Cordoba and localities.

The Bicentenario Power Plant began commercial operations in May 2010 and is located next to the 200-MW Gobernador Arturo Zanichelli Power Plant (also owned by EPEC), with four Ansaldo Energia SpA (STS:IM) (Genoa, Italy) steam turbines. This plant has been operational since 1967, and EPEC plans to perform a rehabilitation and modernization project on its four units starting in 2015 to extend its use life.

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