September Start for Pembroke Power Plant

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The final commissioning at the Pembroke combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Wales is due to take place in the next couple of weeks.

Plant owner, RWE npower, which is part of German energy company RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany), confirmed that the fifth and final unit at the 2,188-megawatt (MW) plant will start this month. The power plant began the commissioning process back in March this year. At that time three of the station's units were in the "hot commissioning stage", with commercial operations due to begin in the third quarter of this year. Commissioning is being performed by Alstom S.A. (ENX:ALO) (Paris, France), which is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project. For additional information see March 12, 2012 article - Commissioning Begins at Pembroke CCGT Power Plant.

When fully operational the plant will be capable of generating enough power for up to 3.5 million homes. Constructed on the site of a former oil-fired power station, the new €1.2 billion (US$1.56 billion) plant is touted to be the largest and most efficient CCGT in the U.K, with a claimed efficiency rating of almost 60%.

"In May, two of the five units of our new gas-fired power plant at Pembroke went into commercial operation, with the third and fourth following in June and July," RWE stated in its recent financial report. "The fifth unit is currently undergoing a trials and is scheduled to start generating electricity commercially from September. The plant has a net installed capacity of 2,188 MW. Its efficiency of 59% makes it one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly plants of its kind. We invested €1.2 billion in the plant."

The commissioning of Pembroke comes at a time when RWE is postponing investment in new fossil-fuel power plants due to shrinking demand for electricity. For additional information see August 27, 2012 article - German Energy Giants Recovering from Nuclear Exit.

The Pembroke plant uses five Alstom GT26, single-shaft gas turbines, each with a sequential dry low NOx (DLN) combustion system. Other equipment includes five drum-type, heat-recovery steam generators; five STF30C steam turbines with axial exhaust; and five TOPGAS turbo-generators.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.