Taipower Relies on CTCI for Northern Taiwan Power Solution
Linkou Ultra-Supercritical 2,400MW Coal-Fired Power Plant Renewal Project
- Market: Power
- Owner:Taiwan Power Company (Taipower)
- Licensor:MC / Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS)
- CODs:October 2016 (Unit 1); April 2017(Unit 2); July 2019 (Unit 3)
- Location:Linkou, Taiwan
- Scope of Work:E + P + C + K
- Capacity:2,400MW
As it approached its 40th year of operation, Taipower’s Linkou 600MW Power Plant needed to be decommissioned or upgraded. Faced with heavy strain on the island’s power supply, particularly with the decommissioning of Taiwan’s Number 1 Nuclear Power Plant at Jinshan due in 2018 or earlier, owner Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) opted to instigate a massive renewal project. When the renewal is complete, Linkou will be Taipower’s first coal-fired ultra supercritical-pressure (USC) power plant, and will provide the north of Taiwan with a significant source of electricity. A consortium of CTCI and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) received the order for three coal-fired USC power generation units of 800MW in 2011, representing what was at the time the largest turnkey order in CTCI’s history. The completion of the 800MW Unit 1 of the plant demonstrates CTCI’s ability to work as an equal partner with international technology licensors on projects of significant scale, and paves the way for CTCI to undertake further power market projects on the international market.
Why CTCI?
A Strong, Technical Partnership
CTCI had forged a strong relationship with Taipower as a result of a track record of successfully completed power projects in Taiwan, including the world’s fourth-largest gas turbine combined cycle power plant at Dah-Tarn. That project also established a bond of trust between CTCI and MC/MHPS, which supplied the turbines for the 4,384MW plant. These factors combined with a highly detailed and cost-competitive bid gave Taipower the confidence to entrust the CTCI-MC/MHPS consortium with the project.
Reliable Realized
Multi-Dimensional Thinking
Due to concern over cost and national power distribution, Taipower needed to operate the soon-to-be decommissioned Linkou plant for as long as possible before handing over the entire site to CTCI. That meant that until the old plant could be demolished, CTCI’s construction team was initially confined to operating in an area of just 36,442m², (compared with a total work site area of 173,994m² at the end of the project). The CTCI project team had to meticulously plan the safe and efficient use of this limited space. We used 3D SmartPlant Review models to show Taipower exactly how the project would develop over time, including how the seawater tunnels and piping running beneath the site could be excavated by managing the work sequence without causing disruption to workflow. At the time of writing, CTCI is working closely with Taipower, and so far has managed to complete milestones on schedule. The tight timelines also demanded construction teams regularly worked through the night to keep to schedule.
Conventional coal-fired power plants operate at about 32% efficiency. Ultra-supercritical (USC) plants operate at temperatures and pressures above those at which the liquid and gas phases of water coexist in equilibrium, resulting in efficiencies above 45%. USC power plants require less coal per megawatt-hour, leading to lower emissions (including carbon dioxide and mercury), higher efficiency and lower fuel costs per megawatt.
Technical Matters
Safer, Faster Heavy Lifting
CTCI implemented a special process for erecting and installing the 84m height boiler. In order to keep the use of space and time to a minimum, as well as for safety reasons, the majority of assembly work was conducted on the ground. The team used a specially designed self-balancing hydraulic system comprised of 16 sets of bar jacks (250 tons/set) with a combined maximum safety working load of 4,000 tons, working in tandem with four strand jacks, to lift up the 1,912-ton integrated top girder block with roof header and link pipe. The aforesaid block was then raised and lowered to match the setting elevations of various pressure parts, allowing the installation and fixing of hanger supporting beams to hang the boiler components, as well as the roof header and piping, and buckstay to the boiler. The entire erection and assembly of the boiler equipment, which weighed about 8,000 tons, was safely completed and ready for hydro-testing in just 11 months.
Smarter Engineering
Integration of Engineering Technologies
CTCI was responsible for the plant’s power and Balance of Plant (BOP) Instrument Control Design (ICD) to integrate systems and incorporate MHPS’s Distributed Control & Data Acquisition System (DCDAS) logic. The team also prepared Material Take Off (MTO) and Quantity Take Off (QTO) to precisely control the schedule, and integrated the interface of various vendors’ equipment packages in the BOP and Air Quality Control System (AQCS) areas. This proved to be a serious challenge given the number and variety of systems and vendors:
- AQCS – Alstom (GE)
- Ash Handling System - Clyde Bergemann
- Demineralized Water Treatment System - Veolia
- Seawater Electrolysis System: Severn Trent De Nora LLC
CTCI worked with all the vendors and construction sub-contractors at each stage through the various phases of controlling, testing, adjusting, troubleshooting and commissioning, resulting in the seamless integration and successful completion of 720 hours cumulative full load operation and FAT (Field acceptance test) of Unit 1, and Synchronization of Unit 2. This helped Taipower avoid potential electricity rationing over the summer.
“The CTCI Linkou project team has done everything that has been asked of them so far. Completing the project on time is their priority, and consequently their team has also taken on and completed additional work outside the scope of the contract. Unit 1 has achieved full functionality without a hitch.”
Tseng Hsin-pin Taipower Project Manager
