NEW: UDI directories, databases provide latest generation-market intelligence

Chris Bergesen, editorial director for UDI products at S&P Global’s Platts (formerly McGraw-Hill Inc), called to say the 2016 edition of the respected publishing group’s Who’s Who at Electric Power Plants has been released. Often thought of as the industry bible for those doing business at generating stations in the US and Canada, the “yellow book” contains more than 750 pages of information on nearly 4700 facilities of all types.

Data published in the authoritative directory are gathered from thousands of direct surveys, annual reports, websites, and other industry and government sources, and compiled into corporate and powerplant site profiles for easy access and use. Details and sample pages are available online.

Don’t want paper? An enhanced PDF directory is available on a CD. Bookmark and indexed links supplement standard Adobe search functions allowing easy access to the directory’s plant design and contact information. A look-up spreadsheet can be filtered to identify plant sector, fuel, technology, and capacity targets.

Want more than the US and Canada? Subscribe to UDI’s World Electric Power Plants Database, updated quarterly. It contains design specifications for more than 200,000 generating units (at nearly 100,000 plants) of all sizes, technologies, and fuels owned and/or operated by regulated utilities, independent power producers, and industrial firms in more than 230 countries.

BUSINESS STARTUP: Mega-Watt Consulting LLC

Derek King, looking 10 years younger after retiring from Brush Electrical Machines Ltd at the end of last year, was at the Western Turbine Users’ 2016 conference to introduce his new company, Houston-based Mega-Watt Consulting LLC, to attendees requiring guidance on the servicing and upgrade of their generators. King is best known by owner/operators for his work in managing the US service business for Brush.

TRAINING: Large motors and diesel-driven generators

Izzy Kerszenbaum, PhD, PE, well respected among electric utilities for his in-depth knowledge of things electrical, and for his ability to explain complex theory in common language, is conducting a three-day seminar on large motors and diesel-driven generators June 14-16 in Irvine, Calif.

THANK YOU Pat Myers

An email just arrived (April 28) from Pat Myers to say next week will be his last working for AEP. The Ceredo Generating Station manager is taking a “work break to have some R&R” for the remainder of this year. Myers gets a big “thank you” from the editors for his unselfish sharing of information of great value to gas-turbine owner/operators—the 7EA users in particular. He deserves industry recognition for spearheading the drive for a solution to the clashing problem that dogged the 7EA fleet for years.

Myers was recognized by the Combined Cycle Users Group in 2013 with the organization’s Individual Achievement Award. The citation below was written at that time.

“Pat Myers’ career contributions to American Electric Power (AEP) and the Ceredo Generating Station that he manages are believed “immeasurable” by colleagues. Like many in the industry, Myers is a mechanical engineer who got his start at the General Electric Co as a field engineer. Later, he spent a couple of decades with the Columbia Gas Transmission Co before transitioning to AEP.

“Following a series of relatively recent natural-gas explosions that caused deaths and considerable loss of property, Myers was appointed chair of an AEP internal team that designed and implemented venting and purging procedures for that fuel. This work earned Myers industry recognition and speaking assignments and his company a top Best Practices Award from the Combined Cycle Journal.

“Myers has been the de facto leader of the 7EA Users Group steering committee for several years. This organization, which covers 7B-E models, as well as 7EAs, has benefitted considerably from his willingness to share knowledge and experience.

ENVIABLE STATS from Harry Allen Generating Station

The leadership and O&M teams at NV Energy’s Harry Allen Generating Station embrace safety and reliability with purpose and pride as evidenced by the following statistics:

• No lost-time accidents since commissioning June 1, 2011.

• No OSHA recordables since July 25, 2013—more than 1000 days.

• A 433-consecutive-day run without a power-block outage, which was interrupted for a day by a transformer safety concern.

SPS introduces portal for reliability benchmarking and analytics

The ORAP® Analytics Portal, a real-time business intelligence platform, is introduced by SPS (Strategic Power Systems Inc). CEO Sal DellaVilla told the editors, “This portal provides each of our customers with an Internet-based solution that revolutionizes the way ORAP delivers key data metrics to support business decision-making needs.”

Customers now have the ability to both visualize the performance data for their plant in near real time and can customize it to the specific needs of their respective organizations. Example: The portal allows for relevant “peer group” selection, enabling customers to benchmark their assets against the selected group. Plus, analytics that show total plant KPIs, including combined cycle and other multi-unit configurations, are now available.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems update

Orders for the company’s 44^th and 45^th J-series gas turbines (19 in commercial operation), rated 327 MW each, are received from Iberdrola SA as part of the 890-MW 2 × 1 Noroeste combined cycle expected in service 2019. CFE (Mexico’s state-owned utility) awarded Iberdrola a 25-yr power purchase agreement to build, own, and operate the facility in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state.

Earlier, two 501Js were ordered by Tenaska Pennsylvania Partners LLC as part of a 2 × 1 combined cycle being built in South Huntington Twp (Westmoreland County). Award includes a long-term service agreement.

NTE Energy, St. Augustine, Fla, orders an M501GAC gas turbine as part of a 475-MW 1 × 1 combined cycle scheduled for service in Cleveland County, NC, in 2018.

Paul F Browning is appointed president and CEO of MHPSA with the retirement of Dave Walsh, who had been with the organization since its formation in 2001 with six employees. That number has grown to more than 2000 today. Browning has deep executive experience with Irving Oil Co, GE, Solar Turbines, and Caterpillar Corp.

The first US-manufactured 501J shipped from the company’s Savannah Machinery Works to GRDA ‘s Grand River Energy Center in late January to replace a coal-fired unit. It is scheduled for commercial operation in 2017.

Siemens update

The company’s Berlin gas-turbine factory in Berlin ships its 1000^th engine, a SGT5-4000F (V94.3A), to Qatar, where the 300-MW unit will be installed in the Umm Al Houl combined-cycle plant. The 1000 GTs were purchased by customers in 65 countries over a period of 44 years.

Siemens Power Generation Services Div, headed by CEO Randy Zwirn, unveils its Digital Services for Energy product, powered by Sinalytics, at Germany’s Hannover Fair. The intelligent knowledge system combines “Big Data” with the company’s comprehensive domain expertise to support customers.

Clean Energy Future selects Siemens as the turnkey supplier for its 940-MW 2 × 1 SCC6-8000H Flex-Plant™ in Ohio to support renewables integration.

The company reports its fleet of 19 operating H-class gas turbines passed the 200,000-hr mark in January. Siemens had sold a total of 76 SGT-8000H machines by March—including 39 for 50-Hz service, 24 of those for three projects in Egypt. The first commercial H engine entered commercial operation in 2011 in Irsching, Germany. Three units for the 60-Hz market were sold to Florida Power & Light Co for its Cape Canaveral Energy Center in 2013.

In other news, more mundane F-class gas turbines have been purchased for the St. Joseph Energy Center in Indiana as part of its 670-MW 2 × 1 combined cycle. . .Peru’s Termochilca SA hires Siemens to upgrade its simple-cycle Santo Domingo de los Olleros plant to combined cycle by addition of an SST-900 steamer. . .Holland (Mich) Board of Public Works orders low- and medium-voltage equipment and transformers for its new Holland Energy Park combined cycle previously ordered from the company. . .Stadtwerke Duesseldorf AG reports its 1 × 1 Lausward combined cycle achieves 604 MW (net electrical output) and a world-record 61.5% efficiency during preliminary testing.

BRIEFS

ProEnergy announces the award of five-year O&M contracts for the simple-cycle peaking plants Rocky Road Power, Elgin Energy Center, Gibson City Energy Center, and Shelby County Energy Center by affiliates of Rockland Capital LLC. ProEnergy will provide site management, planning, scheduling, and maintenance services. The company also was selected by Prairie Power Inc as the EPC contractor for a turnkey 42-MW LM6000PC addition to its Alsey Generation Station.

Ludeca Inc announces partnerships with Easy-Laser, a Swedish manufacturer, to promote and sell the next generation of laser systems for industry, and with SDT Ultrasound Solutions to offer products for leak and fault detection and optimized bearing lubrication.

ATCO Emissions Management renames itself Innova Global Ltd, a roll-up that includes ATCO Noise Management and Higgott-Kane.

GTC introduces an “improved” Mark V TCPS (power supply), which it says offers better performance, high reliability, and longer life than the OEM’s original card.

Emerson Process Management completes a combined-cycle optimization project that delivers operational improvements and reduces fuel use—specifically, a 67% reduction in average 2 × 1 hot-start fuel consumption. Additionally, average transition energy consumption—the fuel used to bring another GT/HRSG train online and blend it with the running units—is reduced by 31%.

MTU Maintenance announces Statoil, the Norwegian oil and gas company, has extended its maintenance/repair/overhaul contract for GE LM industrial gas turbines for another seven years. The Statoil fleet includes LM2500, LM2500+, and LM6000 engines. The agreement also covers onsite services and spare parts.

Clark-Reliance Corp receives a US patent for its Eye-Hye® SmartLevel™ system for remote indication of water level in power and process boilers. The patent recognizes the uniqueness of the system’s self-diagnostic technology, which monitors the condition of its sensing probes required to maintain system accuracy. When probe cleaning is necessary to maintain reliability of level indication, the device notifies the control room.