Calon Energy has selected General Electric to upgrade the 800MW Sutton Bridge power plant in Lincolnshire, UK.

The upgrade is intended to increase the energy output of the natural gas-fired, combined-cycle facility by 3.4%, as well as lowering its start-up times and operating costs.

GE will be responsible for upgrading two existing GE 9FA gas turbines and a D-11 steam turbine at the plant. This will be achieved by equipping them with multiple applications from the OpFlex controls software suite, a Dry Low NOx 2.6+ combustor, and advanced gas path (AGP) technology solutions.

The upgrade package deployed at the plant will include OpFlex enhanced transient stability, AutoTune, variable load path, cold-day performance, extended turndown, variable inlet bleed heat, and variable airflow and steam turbine agility applications.

Scope of work will cover installation of steam turbine thermal blankets for improving cold-start capability of the turbines, as well as upgrades to the balance-of-plant equipment.

GE expects to start on the upgrades in mid-2016, and it is likely to take several months to complete.

Calon Energy CEO Kevin McCullough said: “Along with other combined-cycle gas turbine plants in the UK, Sutton Bridge has competed with subsidised renewables, cheap coal and high gas prices.”

GE has been responsible for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the power station under a multiyear services agreement from 2013.

Great news! Richard Keegan and Eddie O’Kelly have published Lean Service.

Lean is about VALUE … the creation, delivery and retention of value.

In a service business, the delivery of value is very much customer–‐ or client ‐dependent. The client defines what they see as ‘value’, not the business. The most successful service businesses understand this very well and spend much time and effort

working to better understand their customers and to meet their spoken needs and often

unspoken wants. To understand how Lean concepts can be applied to a service business, you need to know a little about Lean Principles, Lean Rules, Lean Questions and Lean Tools. Read on

LEAN SERVICE includes case studies showing how Lean Service has been applied

In companies as diverse as Deutsche Post DHL, DirectSki.com, Grant Thornton, Irish Rail,

Musgrave Group, Openet, Parker Advertising and Thornton Partners.

About the authors:

Richard Keegan is the manager of the Competitive Department at Enterprise Ireland, where he and his team are responsible for the Lean Business Offer, the Benchmarking Service, Environmental Assessments and the Green Start and Plus Programmes, as well as for the Envirocentre.ie and assisting companies to access European support for environmentally-based improvement products. He has written extensively on the area of Lean/Best Practice/World Class Business. His approach of combining benchmarking and Lean tootls and techniques has been adopted by UNIDO to help companies in the developing world to achieve competitiveness.

Eddie O’Kelly is Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering at National University of Ireland, Galway. A holder of three master’s degrees in Engineering and PhD in Applied Mechanics, Electrical Engineering and Economics, he worked as a professional engineer in Paris and Strasbourg before setting up a subsidiary of Ulmic s.a in Cork.

German power manufacturer Siemens has received an order to deliver gas turbines and generators for two combined cycle power facilities in Mexico, totalling 550MW.

The power equipment order for the Tula 1 and 2 power blocks have been placed by Avanzia, which is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the facilities.

The combined cycle power plants are owned by the Mexican utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Under the deal, the facilities will be equipped with two SGT6-5000F gas turbines and two SGEN6-1000 generators manufactured by Siemens.

The SGT6-5000F gas turbines from the German firm offer an electrical power output of up to 232MW. The models are expected to deliver utmost cost efficiency when working at peak-, intermediate and/ or base-load duty.

Power units at the plants, which are located in Tula in the municipalities of Hidalgo in central parts of the country, are likely to be commissioned by summer 2017.

Once operational, the project will be able to meet the energy requirements of around 300,000 homes in the country.

Siemens Power and Gas Large Gas Turbine Sales Americas vice-president John M Wilson said: “Working with CFE and private IPPs Siemens will maintain a strong presence in the Mexican market. Our SGT6-5000F is a proven and an environmentally friendly gas turbine technology.”

Siemens will manufacture the equipment at its chief production unit for Siemens 60Hz power generation, located at Charlotte, North Carolina in the US.

German manufacturer Siemens has received an order from Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) for delivering two gas turbines and one steam turbine at the combined cycle power facility, Holland Energy Park, in Holland, Michigan, the US.

The Holland Energy Park is being transformed into a fuel-efficient power producing facility by the local utility HBPW. It was previously a coal-fired plant.

Under the deal, Siemens will supply two of its SGT-800 gas turbine models for the facility along with one SST-400 steam turbine.

The firm has also signed a long-term service contract for the two gas turbines.

The facility is expected to start commercial operations by fall 2016.

Once operational, the power plant will generate approximately 125MW of power in the summer months and 145MW during winter.

Siemens power and gas distributed generation business head Wolfgang Konrad said: “This new combined cycle plant makes a two-fold contribution to environmental protection.

“On the one hand, it replaces a coal-fired plant, which halves the CO2 emissions and on the other, it helps do away with the need for salt and grit in the winter.”

Fuel-efficient technology equipment from Siemens is likely to reduce CO2 emissions at the facility by approximately 50%.

As well as generating energy, the facility will be used in winters to melt the snow in the city.

Additional heat produced at the plant from the circulating water system will be used to expand the municipally-owned snowmelt system in the city.

Image: SGT-800 industrial gas turbine from Siemens. Photo: courtesy of Siemens AG.

Danish power firm Dong Energy has acquired the Borkum Riffgrund West 2 offshore wind project in Germany from Energiekontor.

Application for setting up grid link for the project is likely to happen in 2017 or 2018.

Construction for the project is expected to start by 2020, once grid connection is approved and the developers agree on a final investment decision.

The wind farm will have a generation capacity of 215MW.

It will be located near Dong Energy’s German offshore wind development project 312MW Borkum Riffgrund West 1 project, and will be equipped with 43 turbines.

Dong Energy Wind Power executive vice president Samuel Leupold said: “With the Borkum Riffgrund West 2 project we are now strengthening our post-2020 pipeline.

“Having our other offshore wind project, Borkum Riffgrund West 1 right next to it, there are a number of synergies for the development, construction, and operation of this project.”

As well as the Borkum Riffgrund West 1 and 2 offshore projects in the German North Sea, Dong Energy also has Gode Wind 1+2 with a combined capacity of 582 MW under its portfolio.

Germany plans transition to renewable energy supply, with it needing to install 15GW of offshore wind power by 2030.

With almost one-third of all offshore wind projects in Europe under its portfolio, Dong Energy has built almost 2.5GW of such projects till date. The firm intends to take it up to a total of 3.5GW by 2020.

Eddie O’Connor-led group’s offshore windfarms to be operational by 2020

A consortium led by Eddie O’Connor’s Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP) has been given consent by the UK government to develop a massive 1.2 gigawatt series of windfarms off the coast of Yorkshire.

The Hornsea 1 project, a joint venture between MRP’s SmartWind tie-up with SiemensProject Ventures and also the Danish company Dong Energy, will generate enough electricity to power 800,000 homes.

Mr O’Connor, a former Bord na Mona chief executive, has previously said the initiative could cost up to £3.5 billion (€4.4 billion) to develop. The Irish company owns a third of the project, with Siemens providing much of the financing and MRP contributing much of the development experience.

The windfarms are due to be operational by 2020, the joint venture partners said on Wednesday.

UK planning officials said Hornsea 1, which will incorporate three separate windfarms, will need between 150 and 332 wind turebines, depending upon their size.

Mark Paul

The UK has given a boost to the £1bn plan for the development of world’s first power-generating tidal project in Swansea Bay, as the government revealed negotiations about arranging taxpayer support for it.

Plans for the project have been included in the National Infrastructure Plan 2014, which was published by the HM Treasury ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

The 2014 Project Pipeline Update to the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan also notes how tidal lagoons can bring in up to £5bn of private sector investment in Wales.

The project will be developed by Tidal Lagoon Power. It will house 16 underwater turbines, which will generate enough power for 155,000 homes for 120 years.

Tidal Lagoon Power chief executive Mark Shorrock said: “It’s another positive step towards tidal lagoon infrastructure becoming a mainstream energy solution.

“The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon provides the key to unlock large quantities of reliable, low-cost, low-carbon electricity for the next 120 years.

“Backing the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon also means backing a catalyst for British industry and exports, a new option for strategic flood defences, an opportunity to regenerate coastal communities and a vision for national energy infrastructure that can work hand-in-hand with nature.”

UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey was quoted by BBC News as saying: “Tidal lagoons alone could provide up to 8% of our power needs, replacing foreign fossil fuels with clean, reliable home-grown electricity.

“That’s why we’re showing investors and developers that we’re serious about tidal lagoon potential and have started in-depth discussions for what could become the world’s first tidal lagoon.”

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has offered a KZT14bn (€59.2m) loan to Wind Power Yereymentau, a special-purpose vehicle in Kazakhstan, for development of a 50MW wind power project in the country.

The project will be the first large-scale wind farm in Kazakhstan that will be financed under the new feed-in-tariff mechanism.

Located in Yereymentau in central Kazakhstan, the scope of the plan will involve construction, commissioning and launch of a greenfield 50 MW wind power plant, which will then need to be connected to the power transmission grid.

Besides EBRD, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) will offer up to €18m of concessional financing for the project, which is the first for the country.

Kazakhstan’s national energy company JSC Samruk-Energo will guarantee the loan for the Yereymentau Wind Park.

JSC Samruk-Energo management board chairman Almassadam Satkaliyev said: “The signing of this loan agreement is in line with Kazakhstan’s low-carbon economy agenda.

“This year we are completing the construction of the first wind farm with a 45 MW capacity.

“Our partnership with the EBRD and the CTF will enable us to increase capacity up to 95 MW.”

EBRD energy and natural resources managing director Riccardo Puliti said: “Supporting clean energy projects is at the core of the EBRD’s mandate.

“We stand ready to help Kazakhstan unlock its potential in renewables by financing pilot projects with strong local and foreign companies.”

The project will road-test the new regulations in the country, which include the renewable energy law introduced in June 2013.

It will also set the benchmark with regard to developing, building and operating a greenfield renewable project.

SHE Transmission, the network business for UK-based energy firm SSE, has awarded a £460m living wage contract to engineering firm ABB.

The deal is a part of the Caithness to Moray transmission project, which involves setting up a subsea link connecting Caithness to Moray.

The subsea link will feature more than 100 miles of underground and subsea cable. It will transmit power from renewable sources to the northern parts of Scotland.

Under the deal, ABB will design, engineer, supply and commission a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system, which will run between converter stations at Spittal in central Caithness and Blackhillock, near Keith, in Moray.

Construction of the link is scheduled to be completed by 2018, SSE said.

The project is a part of an investment programme in power transmission infrastructure to support the transition to lower carbon electricity generation and boost supply security.

SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “The new Caithness to Moray contract will make sure hundreds of workers on-site will get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and reflects our commitment to being a responsible employer.

“It is one of several actions SSE is taking to make a difference, including being the first FTSE 100 company to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark.”

From 10 -12 March 2015, the international converting community will gather in Munich, at ICE Europe 2015, to explore the latest manufacturing solutions and discuss prevailing industry trends. More than 400 exhibitors from 21 countries will present a comprehensive range of machines, materials, accessories and services at the 9th International Exhibition for the Conversion of Paper, Film, Foil and Nonwovens.
“Key topics at ICE Europe 2015 are environmentally-friendly converting processes, utilisation of new applications and energy efficient production. General trends such as automation and digitalisation do also have an increasing impact on the converting industry. Visitors to ICE Europe 2015 will be able to discover all these future converting trends at the show,” says Nicola Hamann, Managing Director of Mack Brooks Exhibitions, the organisers of the show.
With a net exhibition space of more than 10,000 m2 and more than 400 exhibiting companies, ICE Europe is the world’s biggest trade fair for the converting industry. A total of 6,600 visitors from 64 countries attended the previous record event. “The upcoming ICE Europe is, once again, set to be a highly international event, with 40% of the exhibitors coming from outside Germany. Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland and the USA are major exhibitor countries next to Germany,” says Nicola Hamann.

Live demonstration of the latest applications ICE Europe is renowned for the large number of live demonstration of machinery at the exhibition stands. Whether biodegradable materials, flexible conversion processes, new printing solutions or high-precision measuring systems; at ICE Europe many novelties will be presented to a wider audience for the very first time.

The exhibition profile of ICE Europe exclusively focuses on converting of web-based materials and includes the following categories: materials, coating and laminating, drying/curing, treatment, flexographic and rotogravure printing, control and measurement, accessories, slitting and rewinding, finishing, factory equipment, retrofits, toll coating, converting and slitting as well as specialist software.

Trade visitors at ICE Europe are industry professionals such as plant managers, design and production engineers, technical managers, purchasers, sales and marketing specialists as well as packaging designers from a wide range of industry sectors including packaging, food, pharma, furniture, electronics, package printing, wipes, textiles and nonwovens, automotive, paper and chemicals.

A specialised conference rounds off the exhibition programme at ICE Europe 2015. The three- day conference is organised by AIMCAL (Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators) in cooperation with Fraunhofer Institut IVV. Main topics of the conference are web processing, web coating/drying, and web coating – metrology and inspection. The conference is held in English. Detailed information about the conference programme are available on the exhibition website www.ice-x.com.

Visitor Information
A visitor brochure and a comprehensive Show Preview can now be ordered via the exhibition website. The visitor brochure contains key details about the show and useful information about travel and accommodation. The brochure is available in five languages.
The Show Preview features detailed descriptions about hundreds of exhibiting companies and their products as well as special feature articles, the complete exhibitor list, the conference programme and key information about the exhibition.

ICE Europe 2015 will be held in halls A5 and A6 at the Munich Trade Fair Centre in Munich, Germany. The show can be accessed via the East entrance. ICE Europe 2015 is open on Tuesday, 10 March 2015, and Wednesday, 11 March 2015, from 9am – 5pm and on Thursday, 12 March 2015, from 9am – 4pm. Entry tickets are available at a discounted price
via the online ticket shop. A day ticket costs €20, a 3-day-ticket €30. On site, tickets cost €32 (day ticket) or €47 (3-day-ticket). Entry tickets for ICE Europe 2015 are also valid for CCEInternational 2015.

The 2nd International Exhibition for the Corrugated and Folding Carton Industry will, once again, be co-located to ICE Europe, in hall B6, directly opposite the ICE Europe halls. More than 150 exhibitors from 18 countries will present raw materials, machines, accessories and systems for the production and conversion of corrugated and cartonboard. CCE International attracts production specialists and packaging designers from a large variety of industry sectors and thus offers added value for many visitors to ICE Europe 2015.
www.ice-x.com