Two Combustion Generating Units Remain Offline at 200-Megawatt Punto Fijo Thermal Plant in Venezuela

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Two units at Venezuela's Punto Fijo Thermal Plant, owned and operated by state-owned Compania Anonima de Administracion y Fomento Electrico (Caracas, Venezuela) remain offline since 2007. The 200-megawatt (MW) plant is located in Las Margaritas, Falcon state.

One of the units is the 40-MW General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) NB7000 gas turbine, which went offline in September 2007 after an explosion occurred. The turbine burst occurred on Unit 14 as a result of contamination of the generator's compartment and an oil leak on bearing level 4. Plant officials said that it has not been decided yet whether the axial compressor damage will be repaired. For more information, view related September 11, 2007, news article - Explosion at Unit 14 of Venezuela's Punto Fijo Power Station Forces Shutdown.

Punto Fijo's Unit 8 has been offline since July 2007. TurboCare (Chicopee, Massachusetts) will begin maintenance work in January 2009 on the turbine's casing perforation, which is under guarantee. The outage is estimated to last at least 60 days.

The plant will also perform a combustion chamber inspection on Unit 10 that is expected to last eight days. About five months later, a hot gas path inspection is planned for the same unit.

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