Repowering Japan's Futtsu power plant
3 November 2023GE Vernova has announced the successful start of commercial operation of the repowered Futtsu power plant Group 4, Chiba, Japan, with an installed capacity of 1.5 GW. A “flange-to- flange” replacement has been carried out, ie, replacement of an older engine from inlet flange to exhaust flange. At Futtsu Group 4, three GE 9HA.01 gas turbines have been installed in place of three GE 9H machines, which entered service over the period 2008- 2010. The 9H gas turbines at Futtsu were the first GE H class units to be deployed in Asia. The GE H class employed steam cooling of gas turbine components (rotating as well as stationary), but this approach was dropped in favour of the all-air-cooled HA.
Above: Futtsu site (photo JERA)
The LNG fuelled 5.6 GW Futtsu power plant is comprised of four groups and is one of Japan’s largest and most critical power generation facilities. It adjoins the Futtsu LNG terminal, Japan’s largest, which receives over 11 million tons of LNG annually. Owned and operated by JERA (Tepco/Chubu Electric 50:50 joint venture), the Futtsu power plant plays a vital role in powering the Tokyo Metropolitan area.
“The Futtsu facility has now reset the clock on crucial assets,” said JERA Futtsu power plant general manager, Fumitaka Ninomiya.
In addition to an upgraded auxiliary system and upgraded Mark VIe control system for the gas turbine, steam turbine, and HRSG, GE Vernova will also provide equipment maintenance services for 12 years.
GE Vernova says its gas turbines, some 130 of them, account for about 50% of Japan’s gas-fired installed capacity.
Anegasaki and Yokosuka
JERA has recently announced start of commercial operation at two other fossil fuelled power plants, Anegasaki new unit 3 (650 MW, natural gas fuelled combined cycle) and Yokosuka unit 1 (650 MW, ultrasupercritical coal).
With the entry into operation of new unit 3, there are now three 650 MW LNG fuelled combined cycle plants in operation at Anegasaki, all of which started up in 2023. These combined cycle plants replace three old 600 MW gas fired steam boiler units. There are still two of the latter in operation at the site, which started operation in April 1977 and October 1979.
Yokosuka unit 1 began commercial operation in June 2023, and unit 2 is scheduled to go commercial in February 2024.
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