John Lammas, GE Vice President Thermal Engineering says that high-efficiency 9HA gas turbine technology should prove to be an appropriate solution for Europe, once market design takes into account the need for more secure, flexible gas-fired power to combat the volatility of renewables.

GE together with Toshiba announced a fresh order for the latest in its H-Class high efficiency combined cycle gas turbine technology this week requested by Hokkaido Electric Power. Although an Asian introduction Lammas sees there being a future point when the technology is increasingly relevant to Europe.Much of the content of Tuesday’s key note speeches at the POWER-GEN Europe event in Cologne, Germany centred on the need for a new market design aimed at assisting gas-fired power’s role in energy security for the bloc. Features inherent to the high-efficiency 9HA Gas Turbine destined for the Ishikariwan Shinko Power Plant Unit 1, HEPCO’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled thermal power plant in Japan, look an ideal fit for Europe’s needs should a new design come into being.

“I see a situation in Europe where there is this great penetration of renewables and you need something that can respond when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing an I think that gas turbines are part of that solution,” Lammas told Power Engineering Internationalat the POWER-GEN Europe event. “It probably won’t be totally base load but you need flexibility which is another element that we are building into these machines; it’s that ability to get to full gas turbine output in approximately ten minutes and full plant in less than 30 minutes, which allows it to work in harmony with the renewables so we think long term there is definitely a future for these sorts of machines in Europe.”

The combined-cycle thermal power generation system combines GE’s latest high-efficiency 9HA Gas Turbine with Toshiba’s most-advanced steam turbine. Toshiba will be the prime contractor for the Hokkaido project. The gas turbine combined-cycle system ordered by HEPCO is expected to achieve a thermal efficiency of 62 per cent, the world’s highest1, at the lower heating value. The plant will have an output capacity of 569.4 MW and construction is expected to start in October 2015.

Lammas anticipates a worldwide demand for the newest in H-class. “Certainly there is a trend in the industry towards the larger machines to get the CAPEX advantage at the plant level and then high efficiency particularly where gas prices are high; around the world this is a trend we are seeing. The machine we are building is greater than 61 per cent. Obviously as we test the machine we will be able to potentially improve that efficiency rating but it brings value from both the CAPEX element and the operational cost as well.

Brian Gutknecht, Vice President Thermal Engineering at GE told the POWER-GEN Europe show newspaper that there was another key advantage to their latest offering. “Through this plant we offer the lowest life cycle cost of electricity. Compared to prior F-Class technology it’s about a 5 per cent reduction in cost of electricity that would translate to $21m per year of net savings at the life cycle value; that would be for a 9HA02 plant running at about 6000 hours a year. So balancing the higher performace with low maintenance costs as well.”

Siemens has made a leap forward in its SPPA-T3000 Instrumentation and Control room technology as announced at POWER-GEN Europe in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday.

Hans-Christian Ostertag, Siemens Energy’s Head of Market Requirements delivered a presentation on the advance in control room technology at the event, which he explained was primarily motivated by the question, “How can a control system boost operator efficiency?”“Information handling and decision making to prevent maloperation and to enable fast and sound troubleshooting are the key to further increase availability and profitability of power generation. It is the core responsibility of the operator in the control room to ensure availability and profitability of a power plant,” Ostertag said.

He explained to the audience three innovations that backbone the new SPPA-T3000 control system, including a new graphical user interface, new intelligent alarm handling and a new concept for central control rooms.

The newly designed user interface offers enhanced, optimized operating efficiency. So-called “trip stop” buttons provide the user with distinct instructions on how to react to faults that occur in the power plant. A fresh harmonization concept enables control of remote power plants from one single, central control room.

The key consideration for the layout and design of the new SPPA-T3000 user interface was to ensure that the operator can intuitively react reliably and correctly in any situation. Vital criteria for this included prioritization, individualization and ergonomics.

Meanwhile innovative intelligent alarm handling in the guise of two “trip stop” buttons were also developed as a new alarm class for SPPA-T3000. These buttons are integrated in the alarm line for the new user interface and enable the operator to react quickly, appropriately and reliably in critical situations. The “trip warning” button is used to evaluate trip-relevant scenarios and generate warning messages to which the operator must give special attention to avoid unwanted shut-downs.

The “trip stop” button can also be used in situations in which a sudden fault re-quires an immediate reaction. This button provides brief, pre-defined instructions on actions to take to avoid unwanted shutdowns, along with an associated user window that the operator can use to help bring the critical situation quickly under control.

Meanwhile new concept in fleet control allows the operator master various plants from one central control room.

The need for central control rooms has arisen as a result of demographic and economic developments. Central control rooms must be capable of operating an entire fleet comprising various power plant installations with dissimilar instrumentation and control systems as if the control room were on hand at each power plant site. Siemens deploys its SPPA-T3000 control system for this purpose in a multiple unit configuration, operators in the central control room have a secure handle on the entire fleet at all times, as if they were actually at site, thanks to the system’s uniform operating and signalling philosophy.

“In the advanced development of SPPA-T3000 besides our own innovations the experience and practical needs of customers were integrated”, stresses Dieter Fluck, head of Product Management in the Siemens Energy Instrumentation, Controls & Electrical business unit. “Our central control room concept contributes to a substantial reduction in operating costs and, thus, to more competitiveness of our customers.”

“All of these innovations are focused on the operator. His efficiency is the key to success,” concluded Ostertag.