VARIOPLANT 700 - The New Development for 500-700 MW Class Steam Power Plants

摘要

Coal is the number-one source of energy used today to produce electric power. Since coal is expected to remain available worldwide at stable prices over the long term, current predictions indicate that it will retain as a number-one ranking fuel over the next several decades. What will, however, change are the conditions under which coal is used to produce electricity. In many markets, deregulation and liberalization have already intensified the competition among power producers, and consequently among suppliers of component and systems technology. Because financial resources are limited, the majority of future projects will also have to be financed privately by so-called independent power producers (IPPs). BOO (build-operate-own) and BOT (buildoperate- transfer) projects will therefore become increasingly important. As a result, the only projects that stand a chance are those with the lowest power generation costs, i.e., projects in which low investment costs, short construction times and the highest levels of availability are assured. Moreover, suppliers also feel increasingly compelled to offer ever more ecologically sound designs, in addition to economic viability and calculable project risks. And, last but not least, system solutions have to include custom-tailored operating and maintenance concepts. Since the beginning of the 1990s, Siemens has pursued the development of packaged-engineered plant concepts for the unit capacity range of 200 to 1000 MW in response to changes in the power plant industry worldwide (Figure 1). This development effort also resulted in a modular plant concept for steam power plants in the 500-700 MW range called the VARIOPLANT 700. This concept combines the maximum operating economy with a high level of flexibility in plant design and operation (Figure 2). The VARIOPLANT 700 was developed in close cooperation with component suppliers, plant operators and consultants in order to ensure optimum compliance with current market requirements. CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP Power) of Hong Kong was a major contributor in the development of both the technical concept and a market-ready O & M concept. CLP Power's operating experience from its power stations with an installed capacity of 6,300 MW was incorporated directly into the development. In the course of development, it was also possible to incorporate some of the experience gained in IPP projects in which CLP Group has participated as a developer.