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Trends and Future Outlook for

Thermal Power Plants

Hiroshi Nishigaki

1. Introduction of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) where


there has been a significant increase in demand for
Recent events have caused modern society to electrical power, for Libya which has recently returned
appreciate anew the benefits it derives from electricity. to the international arena, and the Southeast Asian
A wide-ranging massive power outage extending from countries of Indonesia and Vietnam. In these coun-
the northeastern United States to Canada and a power tries, the supply of electrical power has not caught up
failure throughout all of Italy have occurred, and have with the speed of economic growth and industrializa-
had large impacts on the life of residents in those tion, and this demand for many new power generating
areas. In Shanghai, rotating power outages have been plants is expected to continue for several years. These
implemented for years and are a large impediment to power plants will be mainly medium and small capaci-
normal business activities. In Japan, a stoppage of the ty facilities, which is Fuji Electric’s area of expertise.
operation of all nuclear power plants owned by The Fuji Electric has a track record of many successful
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. caused a great deal of applications including pure power generation and
anxiety, but aided by the cool summer weather, cogeneration plants based mainly on coal-fired power
ultimately did not result in a power outage. When a generation, and combined cycle power generation
large-scale power outage occurs, trivial problems grad- achieved by connecting an add-on to an existing gas
ually increase and may potentially cause the collapse turbine.
of large systems.
Power plants are part of the infrastructure of 3. Technical Trends
modern society and it is essential that these power
plant facilities by constructed so as to achieve a higher Fuji Electric was founded approximately 80 years
level of reliability. Moreover, it is the mandate of ago through a partnership between The Furukawa
companies involved in this industry to contribute to Electric Co., Ltd. and Siemens AG., to introduce
society by realizing higher performance and lower cost. European technology to Japan at a time when US
technology was already widespread. Fuji Electric has
2. Market Trends been involved in the production of thermal power
plants for approximately 40 years and has supplied
The climate surrounding Japan’s domestic electric many distinctive products by introducing technology
utility industry is as severe as ever due to sluggish from Siemens during construction of mainly utility
growth in the demand for electrical power, the ongoing thermal power plants. Table 1 shows the history of
decrease in electrical power rates, the advancement of growth in Fuji Electric’s main technologies and busi-
electric utility deregulation, the establishment of new nesses. Recently, Fuji Electric has delivered a ultra-
environmental taxes, and the rapid rise in prices of supercritical pressure steam turbine to the Isogo
such fuels as oil and coal. Power generation by means Thermal Power Station of The Electric Power Develop-
of renewable energy has been favored following the ment Co. (EPDC). This ultra supercritical pressure
enforcement of the “Special Measures Law Concerning steam turbine increases the efficiency of the power
the Use of New Energy by Electric Utilities” (RPS law) plant, or in other words, reduces the environmental
and then the Kyoto Protocol, which came into effect in load. Figure 1 shows a view of the entire EPDC Isogo
February 2005. However this market sector will be Thermal Power Station Unit No. 1.
stalled in a wait-and-see situation for the next 1 to 2 Meanwhile, with the deregulation of the electric
years, during which time, efforts to develop new power power industry, power plants are now being construct-
sources are expected to idle. ed by independent power producers (IPPs) and Fuji
In overseas markets, there is strong demand for Electric is supplying various types of economically
electrical power in both the public and private sectors beneficial equipment to these plants.

70 Vol. 51 No. 3 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW


Table 1 History of changes in Fuji Electric’s main technologies and businesses

Era
1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Category
TEPCO Ooi Thermal EPDC Ishikawa Coal Tohoku Electric Power EPDC Isogo Thermal
Power Station, Unit No. 3 Thermal Power Station, Noshiro Thermal Power Power Station, new Unit
(first pure sliding pressure Unit Nos. 1 and 2 Station, Unit No.1 No.1
operation in Japan) (high-temperature (50 Hz, 600 MW large- (600 MW ultra-
Thermal
turbine) capacity tandem supercritical pressure
power plants
machine) plant)
for utility in
Japan Okinawa Electric Power Kansai Electric Power
Makiminato, Unit No.9 Miyazu Energy Research
(Fully automated oil Center, Unit No.2
thermal power) (DSS operation)
UBE Industries, Ube Fuji Electric Gas Turbine UBE Power Center
Thermal plant Research Center (60 Hz max. global
power plants (145 MW, largest private- (69 MW gas turbine made vacuum pressure
for private use power plant in Japan) by Siemens) impregnated insulation
use and IPP air-cooled generator)
plants
in Japan Kobe Steel, Kakogawa Works
(axial flow exhaust turbine)

Philippines: Battan, Unit No.2 Thailand: Mae Moh, Taiwan: FPCC FP-1,
(full-scale entry into overseas Unit Nos. 4 to 13 Unit Nos. 1 to 4
business of thermal power plant (largest thermal power plant in (60 Hz, 600 MW large-capacity
for utility) Southeast Asia) tandem machine)
Overseas
thermal Australia: Gladstone Pakistan: Jamshoro Unit No.1 Bangladesh:
power plants Unit Nos. 1 to 4 (largest indirect hydrogen- Meghnaghat
(direct hydrogen-cooled generator) cooled generator) (combined-used
turbine, large-
capacity air-cooled
generator)
EPDC El Salvador: USA: Coso Geothermal Indonesia:
Onikobe Geothermal Ahuachapan, Unit No.3 Power Plant, Unit Nos. 2 to 9 Wayang Windhu,
Power Plant (full-scale entry into (modular turbo-set) Unit No. 1
Geothermal (generator delivered) geothermal power plant (world’s largest single-
power plants business) casing geothermal turbine)
TEPCO, Hachijojima
Geothermal Power Station
High-temperature Improved 12Cr rotor for Completion of new
12Cr rotor high temperature Shiraishi Factory
Technical Direct hydrogen-cooling method 22 kV-class F resin/ F insulation Automated stator
development F resin/ F II insulation winding machine
Global vacuum pressure
Experimental prototype of 126
impregnating facility for medium
MVA air-cooled generator
and small-size generator
Global vacuum pressure 22 kV-class global
impregnating facility for vacuum pressure
large-size impregnated
insulation system

Fig.1 EPDC Isogo Thermal Power Station new Unit No. 1 Fig.2 View of the entire UBE Power Center Plant

Trends and Future Outlook for Thermal Power Plants 71


The construction of utility thermal power plants in Moreover, appropriate advice concerning preventative
Japan has reached as standstill at present and is not maintenance is also provided in order to avoid down-
expected to recover soon. Additionally, IPP planning time due to mechanical failure.
has also become saturated. Figure 2 shows a view of
the entire UBE Power Center Plant that was con- 4. Steam Turbines
structed as an IPP plant. Fuji Electric will continue to
develop products while carefully monitoring these Various improvements to steam turbine technology
market trends in the future. The technical trends of have been previously requested in order to enhance the
medium and small capacity power plant equipment, thermal efficiency and space efficiency of thermal
which are Fuji Electric’s main products at present, are power plant facilities. In the large-capacity generator
described below. sector, Fuji Electric has advanced the development of
600 MW-class supercritical pressure steam turbines,
3.1 New small-capacity non-reheat steam turbines and together with the improved thermal efficiency due
Fuji Electric has newly developed a steam turbine to higher temperature and pressure steam conditions
(FET-N type) having a simple configuration suitable and the development of large turbine blades, has
for small capacity (25 to 50 MW) applications. A first reduced the number of low-pressure turbine casings to
unit is already in operation in China, and a second realize more compact turbines. In the medium and
unit has already been shipped and is being installed small-capacity generator sector, technology has been
onsite. developed to increase the efficiency, compactness and
serviceability of steam turbines, enabling smaller
3.2 Large non-reheat steam turbines initial investment and higher reliability. Fuji Electric
Fuji Electric’s expertise is greatest in the technical has continued to improve the space efficiency by
field that involves private-use power plants. These migrating from the conventional three-casing structure
plants have multiple steam processes and require to a two-casing structure and then to a single-casing
complex control. In a turbine, the process steam flow structure. With the increase in capacity, the ability to
rate is controlled as required, and at the same time the maintain stability of the shaft system as the distance
electrical power output is adjusted. In the past, the between bearings increases in a steam turbine and
output power was approximately several tens of MW measures to prevent erosion of the low-pressure blades
but, in response to market needs, technology has been presented technical challenges that have since been
developed to achieve larger turbines capable of greater overcome due to greater analytical precision and
than 160 MW output. structural improvements. A single casing turbine of
165 MW maximum capacity has already been brought
3.3 Single-casing reheat steam turbines to market and is achieving good operating results. In
Fuji Electric has developed a reheat steam turbine order to reduce the construction costs associated with a
configured with a single casing instead of the conven- combined cycle steam turbine, axial flow steam tur-
tional two-casing construction, and a first unit has bines are being widely used. Fuji Electric will continue
already been placed in service. Shortening the length to advance the development of technology to improve
of the turbine shaft has enabled a reduction in efficiency and lower the cost of medium and small
construction costs, including civil engineering work, capacity turbines.
and the realization of a more economical plant.
5. Generators
3.4 New digital control system
A new digital control system (TGR) that provides Air-cooled generators, due to their low construction
integrated control for a turbine and generator, and cost, short production time and ease of operation and
uses Fuji Electric’s MICREX-SX, which is a high- maintenance, are gradually beginning to be used in
performance PLC, has been placed into commercial applications traditionally associated with hydrogen-
operation and it being applied to other plants. cooled generators. At present, Fuji Electric’s air-cooled
generators are suitable for applications ranging up to
3.5 Remote monitoring 280 MVA for 60 Hz generators and 300 MVA for 50 Hz
A remote monitoring system has been developed generators. Because air, which has lower cooling
that periodically gathers operating status data from performance than hydrogen, is used as a coolant with
power generating equipment that has been delivered to larger capacity generators, Fuji Electric implemented a
a remote overseas location and transmits that data via technical verification test by fabricating a 126 MVA
the Internet to a maintenance department, where it is experimental generator and taking on-line measure-
received. Thus, even when a failure occurs in remote ments at more than 1,000 on the stator and rotor. The
onsite equipment, the customer can be instructed results of this test demonstrated that it was possible to
quickly as to the appropriate measures, thereby mini- manufacture a large-capacity air-cooled generator hav-
mizing downtime and reducing the customer’s loss. ing sufficient reliability.

72 Vol. 51 No. 3 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW


For hydrogen-cooled generators, indirect cooling is tions of equipment for removing this hydro-sulfuric
also being used instead conventional direct cooling. gas, which previously had been released into the
Indirect cooling is the method of cooling used in air- atmosphere.
cooled generators, and technology acquired during the
development of air-cooled generators is also being 7. After-sales Service
applied to hydrogen-cooled generators. At present, the
applicable range for indirect hydrogen-cooled genera- After-sales service has been implement thus far in
tors has an upper limit of 450 MVA. a close working relationship with the user, mainly by
providing periodic inspections of delivered equipment
6. Geothermal Power Plants and replacing or repairing parts for preventative
maintenance. These activities include responding to
There are presently no plans for the construction of incidences of sporadic failure and also providing vari-
geothermal power plants in Japan. The reason for this ous suggestions for improvements. Periodic inspec-
lack of plans is the high cost due to risks associated tions are necessary to ensure the safety of a plant, and
with underground resources, the large initial invest- in Japan, this is a characteristic of a regulated
ment that is required, and the long lead time required industry protected by laws. As the relaxation of
to coordinate and reach a consensus concerning treat- regulations results in a shift from mandatory periodic
ment of national parks and existing hot springs. inspections to voluntary inspections, technical sugges-
However, small-scale binary power generation that tions by manufacturers are being closely scrutinized
utilizes previously unused steam and hot water from a based on economic criteria to determine whether they
hot springs region is a promising model for economical are absolutely necessary for ensuring stable operation.
geothermal power plants because there are no drilling Against this backdrop, specialized maintenance service
costs and the lead time is short. The RPS law has been companies have already begun operating in Europe
enforced since 2003, obligating electrical power suppli- and the US. The necessity for periodic inspections is
ers to use renewable energy. Because geothermal also being recognized in Southeastern Asia, and these
binary power generation is also included in this European and US maintenance companies are early
category, the construction of geothermal power plants participants in those markets. Fuji Electric intends to
is expected to gain momentum. leverage its reliable and responsive after-sales service
Overseas, due to the slowdown in the global in order to insure the stable operation of power plants,
economy that began with the Asian currency crisis and to compete as an equipment manufacturer against
from 1997 through 1998, developing countries post- these specialized maintenance companies.
poned or froze almost all their geothermal development After-sales service for an aged plant can encompass
plans that required an initial investment or involved plans for major renovations or renovation of the entire
investment risk. However, in response to the increase plant in order to reuse the plant’s facilities. These types
in demand for electrical power that accompanied the of plans can be diverse and may involve conversion of
subsequent economic recovery, plans that use public the type of fuel that was used originally at the time of
funds such as yen loans or financing from the Asian construction, massive renovation of the entire plant—
Development Bank for investigating geothermal re- such as changing the operating principle of the power
sources and constructing geothermal power plants plant, and repairing or replacing worn out parts to
have been reinvigorated. prolong the service life of the equipment or reducing
In the past, geothermal power plants commonly maintenance cost and enhancing the efficiency of the
adopted affordably-priced single-flash cycle. In order plant. Technology has also made great advances since
to achieve a more efficient use of resources, double- the time of the initial construction and a wide range of
flash cycle, combination with binary cycle using brine measures are available for problem solving.
from flash cycle and cogeneration of hot water for
house heating using exhaust or extracted steam are 8. Conclusion
adopted.
In order to improve plant efficiency and the Thermal power plants are industrial goods that
utilization rate of geothermal turbines, the following produce electricity. Moreover, these plants are impor-
technologies are recognized as important for geother- tant to customers and are presumed to have a service
mal power plants: technology for preventing the adhe- life of greater than twenty years. Accordingly, the
sion of and removing silica scale from turbines, reliability of a power plant is considered most impor-
monitoring techniques and easy maintenance, and tant, followed by after-sales service and then economic
measures to prevent the adhesion of silica on re- efficiency. As demand for electrical power increases
injection piping or a re-injection well. Geothermal throughout the world, Fuji Electric intends to continue
steam contains a minute amount of hydro-sulfuric gas to strive to supply power plants that provide reliabili-
and, as environmental quality standards become strict- ty, high performance and low price in accordance with
er, an increase is expected in the number of installa- the needs of customers.

Trends and Future Outlook for Thermal Power Plants 73


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