Petrobras Announces $560 Million Investment in Gas-fired Power Generation by 2012

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian energy company Petróleo Brasileiro Sociedade Anônima (NYSE:PBR) (Petrobras) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has recently announced the intention to invest nearly $560 million to modernize and convert fuel oil-fired power plants to natural gas by 2012.

Luis Carlos Prestes, a 240-megawatt (MW) thermoelectric power station in Três Lagoas in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and Sepé Tiaraju, a 160-MW thermoelectric plant, in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, will both go through a combined-cycle conversion process that will also increase their output capacities.

Luis Carlos Prestes has four General Electric (NYSE:GE) (GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) gas-fired heavy-frame model MS6001 combustion turbines, each with a nominal capacity of 60 MW. For this plant, Petrobras plans to add two new steam turbines to increase plant capacity by 120 MW. The new turbines will operate in combined-cycle mode. With this new configuration, Luis Carlos Prestes should be operational in early 2012.

Sepé Tiaraju has a single GE gas-fueled heavy-frame model MS7001 combustion turbine, which has a capacity of 160 MW. Petrobras aims to add a 60- to 90-MW steam turbine and heat-recovery steam generator HRSG. The facility will increase its generation capacity and make more efficient use of the existing equipment. Completion was also set for early 2012.

Petrobras will also be involved in the conversion of three running fuel oil-fired power plants in Manaus, in the state of Amazonas. For these projects, Petrobras will form a joint venture with the owner of the plants. The owners are Companhia Energética Manauara Sociedade Anônima (Manaus, Brazil), owner of the 85-MW Manauara Thermoelectric Power Station; and Breitener Energética Sociedade Anônima (Fortaleza, Brasil), which owns and operates the Tambaqui and Jaraqui power stations, which each of an generation capacity of 83 MW. Breitener Energética is itself a joint venture whose main owners are Petrobras (65%) and Orteng Enegenharia Limitada (5.5%).

The Manauara plant currently has five 18V46 Wärtsilä engines, with a nameplate capacity of 17 MW each, running on fuel oil. Conversion of the first engine started in mid-January, and it should take approximately 40 days for each engine to be switched from fuel to natural gas operation. Completion of this project is expected at the end of the third quarter this year.

Both Tambaqui and Jaraqui plants are equipped with four 17.8-MW 18V48 MAN B&W Diesel engines, as well as a 12-MW 16V32 engine from the same manufacturer. Breitener Energética intends to replace generation from these engines, after installing 23 2.6-MW GE Jenbacher generators at each location. Work has already started on the site, and the equipment should be ready for operation at the end of the third quarter of this year.

The total investment cost for these three conversion projects has been estimated to be $141.72 million.

Finally, Petrobras is considering the possibility of adding a 161-MW gas turbine to the Euzébio Rocha Thermoelectric Plant in Cubatão, in São Paulo state. Euzébio Rocha was formally inaugurated last week after nearly three years of construction. This plant has an operational capacity of 215 MW, being equipped with a 160-MW GE frame MS7001 combustion turbine, working in combined-cycle mode with a 55-MW Siemens steam turbine.

Euzébio Rocha generates 1.72 million pounds of steam per hour, and Petrobras' adjacent refinery uses almost of half of this. The total investment cost for the construction of this plant was estimated to be $585 million.

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