Siemens Energy Reports Successful Trial of Mega Gas Turbine at E.ON Energie Power Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany), the energy division of Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), reported the successful on-schedule completion of trial operations of the SGT5-8000H gas turbine, reported to be the world's most powerful and largest in terms of output, in the Irsching 4 power plant in Bavaria, Germany. The Irsching power generation facility is owned by E.ON Energie (Munich, Germany), a subsidiary of E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany).

In 2000, Siemens Energy launched the concept phase of the SGT5-8000H product development program. In 2005, the company announced the development of the product as an advanced, powerful, highly efficient and entirely air-cooled unit entailing lower lifecycle costs when compared to steam-cooled gas turbines. Two years later, a prototype of the gas turbine was installed at the Irsching 4 power generation facility for testing in real power plant conditions, under a hosting agreement with E.ON Energie. In December 2007, the unit was fired for the first time, resulting in the start of an 18-month trial operation at the Irsching 4 block.

Trial runs were conducted for 1,500 operating hours, with the turbine running on full load for 1,200 operating hours. Based on data measured and subsequent evaluation, the rated output of the turbine was revised from the original value of 340 megawatts (MW) to 375 MW in simple-cycle operations, and from 530 MW to 570 MW in combined-cycle operations. The overall increase of 40 MW in output in combined-cycle duty is estimated to be sufficient to meet the electricity demands of an additional 27,000 homes.

Following successful testing of the gas turbine, the Irsching 4 power plant will be rebuilt as a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant with the addition of a steam turbine and a heat-recovery steam generator. According to original plans, the CCGT facility was to have a power generating capacity of 530 MW, but test runs have revealed that the gas turbine is capable of generating 570 MW. The overall investment in the Irsching 4 prototype plant is estimated to be $728 million and includes design, development, manufacturing and testing costs.

The gas turbine has a simple-cycle efficiency of more than 39%. In combined-cycle operations, it has an efficiency of more than 60%, an increase of 2% over the maximum efficiency level of 58% attained to date by German CCGT plants. The increased efficiency will enable the Irsching CCGT facility to reduce carbon emissions by 40,000 tons to 45,000 tons per year compared to other CCGT plants in the country.

Built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, E.ON Energie's power generating facility at Irsching comprises three gas-fired units that originally were oil-fired. Unit 1 with a capacity of 151 MW, and unit 2 with a capacity of 312 MW have been placed in the cold standby mode. Unit 3 generates 415 MW of power to address peak demand. Construction work on units 4 and 5 started in 2006. Siemens Energy is expected to give unit 4 to E.ON Kraftwerke GmBH (Hanover, Germany), a subsidiary of E.ON Energie, by 2011. E.ON Kraftwerke will operate the power plant.

Siemens Energy is also involved in the development of unit 5, which is being constructed by Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Irsching GmbH (GKI) (Vohburg, Germany). In July 2006, GKI awarded a $574 million contract to Siemens to build and maintain the Irsching 5 facility, an 800-MW CCGT power plant. Siemens is supplying two SGT5-4000 F gas turbines, a steam turbine, a heat-recovery steam generator, and electrical and control systems. The plant will generate 860 MW of power, with more than 58% efficiency, and is scheduled for commissioning this year. GKI is jointly owned by E.ON Kraftwerke; regional power utilities N-ERGIE AG (Nuremberg, Germany), Mainova AG (ETR:MNV6) (Frankfurt, Germany), and HEAG Südhessische Energie AG (Darmstadt, Germany).

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