Alstom has been awarded a contract worth approximately Euros1 billion by RWE npower plc for the design and construction of a turnkey gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Pembrokeshire, Wales. With an output of approximately 2000 MW, the new plant will, say Alstom, be the biggest and one of the most efficient of its kind in the UK. Approximately 40 per cent of the UK fleet was built before 1975 and will need replacement in the short to medium term. This facility is part of RWE npower’s plan to renew its power generation fleet with new, more efficient and more environmentally friendly power plants.
The new plant will be built on the site of the previous oil-fired plant. It will include five Alstom GT26 turbines and accompanying core components. It will be designed for high load flexibility while maintaining low emissions and high efficiency – it is intended to be able to be run as efficiently at low load as at full capacity during peak hours, allowing the operator to respond to fluctuating energy demands.
This project is the second that Alstom has signed with RWE npower in the UK, following the 2007 contractfor the gas-fired 1650 MW Staythorpe power plant, currently under construction in Nottinghamshire. Alstom is also building Centrica’s Langage and E.On’s Grain power plants, both in the UK. These four power plants will add close to 6 GW of new electrical power to the UK grid.
•For each of the five KA26-1 single-shaft combined cycle power blocks, the Alstom in-house core components are: one advanced-class GT26 gas turbine, one triple-pressure heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), one compact reheat type STF30C steam turbine, one TOPGAS (hydrogen-cooled) generator and the ‘ALSPA’ plant control system.
