CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT OF

POWER PLANTS

BY

FERHAT SULEYMAN DEMIRCI

DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
in the Graduate College of the
Illinois Institute of Technology

Approved _________________________
Adviser

Chicago, Illinois
May 2011
ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Zuyi Li

for the continuous support of my Master of Science study and research, for his patience,

motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the time

of research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better advisor

and mentor for my Master of Science study.

I would also like to express my pleasure to the working conditions at the Galvin

Library, Illinois Institute of Technology that allows graduate students to reach large

amount of databases all across the United States.

And my special thanks to my lovely family for their endless support of my

education, encouragement and prayers even if they are thousands of miles far away from

me.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................... iii

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... vi

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. vii

LIST OF SYMBOLS ............................................................................................... viii

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. x

CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1

1.1 Historical Perspective ................................................................. 2

1.2 Current Situation ......................................................................... 3
1.3 Objective of the Study ................................................................ 6
1.4 Contents of the Thesis................................................................. 10

2. CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
PROJECT DELIVERY ...................................................................... 12

2.1 What is the Construction Management ..................................... 12

2.2 Construction Management Project Delivery Systems ................ 13
2.2.1 CM Body of Knowledge, Risk Analysis and

Contingencies ........................................................... 18

2.3 Summary on Project Delivery..................................................... 25

iv
 3. TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS .................................................. 28

3.1 What’s Technical Consideration ................................................. 28

3.2 Power Plant Point of View ........................................................... 29
3.2.1 Generating Technologies, Different Plant Systems .. 30
3.2.2 Power Plant Construction Schedule........................... 38
3.2.2.1 Site Preparation ......................................... 41
3.2.2.2 Foundations ............................................... 42
3.2.2.3 Effect of Components Designs on
Construction Schedule .............................. 45
3.2.2.4 Pipe Supports and Piping .......................... 47
3.2.2.5 Auxiliary Instruments ............................... 48
3.2.2.6 Site Utilities .............................................. 53
3.2.2.7 Insulation................................................... 54
3.2.2.8 PAC Test and Start-Up ............................. 54

3.2.3 Geographical Location ................................................. 55

4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 66

4.1 Cost Estimation ........................................................................... 67

4.1.1 Capital Cost.................................................................. 67
4.1.2 Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses ............ 68

5. CASE STUDY ON A COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANT ........ 69

5.1 Assumptions and Components.................................................... 73

5.2 Management and Pre-Filed Actions ........................................... 76
5.3 Economics and Reliability .......................................................... 80
5.3.1 Reliability from Generation Point of View.................. 86

6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 91

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 95

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
2.1 Benefits of the Parties ....................................................................................... 16

2.2 Definition of the Areas...................................................................................... 21

3.1 Temperature Comparison of Gas and Steam Turbines ..................................... 31

3.2 Thermodynamic Comparison of Gas Turbine, Steam Turbine and

Combined-Cycle Power Plants ......................................................................... 32

3.3 Gas Turbine Power Output Elevation Correction Factors for Locations .......... 58

3.4 Types of Natural Draft Towers ......................................................................... 62

3.5 Lower 48 States of Highly Integrated Pipeline Network .................................. 63

5.1 Characteristic NOx emissions of a CCGT plant with and without SCR ........... 71

5.2 Technical Performance of CCGT Power Plants ............................................... 72

5.3 Environmental Impact of CCGT Power Plants ................................................. 72

5.4 Costs of CCGT Power Plants............................................................................ 73

5.5 Data Projections of CCGT Power Plant............................................................ 73

5.6 Project Financing Assumptions on 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant ....................... 77

5.7 Technical Performance of 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant ..................................... 79

5.8 Cost and Development Schedule of a 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant ................... 81

5.9 Investment Cost of a 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant ............................................. 84

5.10 Investment Cost of a 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant (additional costs) .............. 84

5.11 Total Project Investment Cost of a 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant ..................... 85

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
1.1 The Relationships between the Research Topics. ............................................. 9

1.2 Flow Chart Showing the Process of Research .................................................. 11

3.1 Generic Thermal Generators ............................................................................. 33

3.2 Gas Turbines ..................................................................................................... 33

3.3 Combined-Cycle ............................................................................................... 34

3.4 Cogeneration ..................................................................................................... 35

3.5 Overall Project Scheduling Periods. ................................................................. 41

3.6 Elastic Supports with a Steel Frame ................................................................. 43

3.7 Coverage Area of Lightning Unit in a Plant ..................................................... 45

3.8 Combined Power Generation Process ............................................................... 46

3.9 Auxiliary Systems in a Gas Turbine Power Plant ............................................. 52

3.10 Effect of Ambient Temperature ...................................................................... 56

3.11 Altitude Correction Curve............................................................................... 57

3.12 Schematic Diagram of a Cooling Tower ........................................................ 59

3.13 Cross Flow Natural Draft Cooling Tower ...................................................... 62

3.14 Counter Flow Natural Draft Cooling Tower ................................................... 62

5.1 Cost Datas for F-Class CCGT Power Plant ...................................................... 82

5.2 U.S. Wellhead Gas Prices ................................................................................. 83

5.3 Incremental Cost of Reliability ......................................................................... 87

vii
 LIST OF SYMBOLS

Symbol Definition

A/E Architect/Engineer
AC Alternative Current
AGC Associated General Contractor of America
AIA American Institute of Architects
BOO Build Own Operate
BOOT Build Own Operate Transfer
BOT Build Operate Transfer
BOP Balance Of Plant
BTU British Thermal Unit
CCGT Combined Cycle Gas Turbine
CM Construction Management
CO2 Carbondioxide
CPM Construction Project Management
CT Combustion Turbine
DBOM Design Build Operate Maintain
DC Direct Current
DCS Distributed Control System
DNO Distribution Network Operator
DOE US. Department Of Energy
EIA Energy Information Administration
EPC Engineering, Procurement and Construction
GADS Generating Availability Data System
GE General Electric
GW Gigawatt
GHG Greenhouse Gas
HRSG Heat Recovery Steam Generator
HV High Voltage

viii
I&C Instrumentation & Control
IEA International Energy Agency
KW Kilowatt
KWH Kilowatt Hours
KV Kilo Volt
LHV Low Heating Value
MW Megawatt
MWH Megawatt Hours
MVA Mega Volt Ampere
NERC North American Electric Reliability Corporation
NO Nitrogen Oxide
O&M Operation & Maintenance
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturers
PAC Process And Control
PE Preliminary Engineering
PVC Plastic Polyvinyl Chloride
SCR Selective Catalytic Reduction
ST Steam Turbine
WECC Western Electricity Coordinating Council

ix
 ABSTRACT

Construction Management (CM), in general, has on objective of achieving greater

benefits in terms of cost and time for owners of a construction project. Professional

management services are also the responsibilities of a construction manager. CM

includes not only the management services but also the interdisciplinary information and

data sharing. So the CM can use these presented information of a proposed project before

and during power plant construction from the technical point of view. However, there is

still ambiguity about the compatibility of the CM duties and responsibilities.

This study determines whether there is a need for updating the duties and

responsibilities of the CM for power plant construction, presents the fundamentals of

power plant construction management profession, introduces CCGT (combined cycle gas

turbine) power plant technologies, evaluates previous and existing datas on power plant

construction regarding their usage in CM practice in terms of cost, and presents the

updated duties and responsibilities of the CM. A case study is also conducted to identify

the costs of a current power plant. Based on the collected information’s and case study, it

is determined that the CM is highly needed in power plant industry that runs even in the

recession periods. On the other hand, the management functions of the power plant

industry are still deficient. This study does not include a specific chapter that defines

deficiencies and solutions to those in terms of proposed duties and responsibilities.

However, new approaches and practical application results are presented from the very

beginning of this thesis till the end of the study.

x
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Since the industrial revolution energy has begun to have a very important and

fundamental role in the world. Today, energy has become even more essential for

humanity’s survival and dependence on electrical energy will continue to increase. It

reaches to every small part of our lives such as telecommunication, transportation,

residence, business industry and so on. It is therefore obvious that production of this

energy and consumption of this produced energy are some of the most important

activities of human life. Since those activities have increased, the power plant

construction market has become one of the important players worldwide. A nation’s

energy resources, industrialization levels, population and geographical issues all

significantly affect the number of existing power plants and construction sites. The

question of, how efficiently the construction process of a power plant is managed today,

is still a challenging factor that determines the success of the attempt. This success

depends on many parameters and variables such as time and technology. For an efficient

power plant construction process, it is imperative to understand the priorities and

practices of construction management. In addition, it is necessary to evaluate and update

construction management as much as possible with respect to the changing expectations

of the parties and changes in technology with regards to power plant construction.
 2

1.1 Historical Perspective

The term “construction management” became a part of the construction industry

in the late 1960’s. It is generally accepted that the term reached a professional meaning

after 1970, when organizations like the Associated General Contractors of America

(AGC) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) attempted to formalize

construction management by defining the activities involved in the practice of such

profession (AGC 1972) and by drawing standard forms of agreement between owners

and construction managers (AIA 1973, AGC 1974).

Construction management falls under the discipline of civil engineering which

includes data analysis; cost analysis, simulation and estimation issues. With regards to a

power plant, it also deals with management to optimize time, infrastructure, safety and

money and so on.

The roots of this type of construction run much deeper than these issues. The

construction of a power station dates back to 1878, when Thomas Edison developed and

sold a commercially viable replacement for gas lighting and heating using locally

generated and distributed direct current (DC) electricity. The world’s first public

electricity was provided in late 1881, when the streets of Surrey in Godalming, UK were

lit by electric light. It was driven by a Siemens alternator. Those first steps of power

generation were then improved by the usage of alternative current (AC) electricity after

1887 and the invention of the larger systems called three phase power generation in 1983.

These two major developments in power plant technology led to remarkable changes in

construction. Based on mechanical and technical improvements and the dependence on

electricity for basic human life, governments and companies increased the number and
 3

the size of their power plants. As time went on, the price of energy became more of an

issue. The economical considerations using kilowatt hours (kWh) in dollars became the

main focus. As an obvious result of this kWh in dollars governments and companies were

encouraged to find an alternative type of source to produce electricity such as hydro, coal,

wind, oil (petroleum), nuclear and so on. All these different energy sources developed

their own associated generating technology, and construction management and have their

own technological, and environmental considerations.

1.2 Current Situation

At the present time, construction management is extensively utilized in many

countries by both private and public owners. Since the 1960’s and 1970’s construction

management has increased in popularity and the proportion of construction management

services offered by contractors and designers has increased both in national and

international contracts. Construction management involves the optimum use of available

funds, the control of the scope of the work, and effective project scheduling. It also

encompasses the avoidance of delays, changes and disputes, project design enhancement,

construction quality and optimum flexibility in contracting and procurement.

The interests of power plant construction and construction companies are the

same. Generating megawatt hours (MWh) is only a means to an end. While a new plant is

being constructed or while an existing one is being renovated the most important

parameter is time. The complete project, from its inception to start-up phase requires a

detailed and scheduled plan, along with a personnel team and respective responsibilities

assigned. It requires a sponsor and a clear definition of success. As mentioned above,

 4

time is the critical parameter for the construction of a power plant irrespective of the type

of generation.

By the time; the project phase moves to the field, everything about the

construction planning should be complete. At this point, it is both risky and too late to

start a planning process for a power plant.

One of the first decisions to be made is how the project will be structured.

Generally utilities design the specifications and open bids for the work. After evaluation

of bids, the most cost effective contractor will be awarded the job and the utility’s

construction group will manage the contractors. This is generally based on the cost and it

gives utilities total control of the process. On the other hand reliable power generation is

more than mere profitability. Power system reliability has become an important issue for

the utilities and their investors. This is due to fact that the profitability for the utility’s

investors has already been guaranteed, allowing the focus to be reliability.

However, as utility regulatory groups started focusing on the price of power in

addition to reliability, utility management began to look for more cost-effective ways to

manage construction projects. This led directly to contracting groups with architect and

engineering firms for the development of the field construction activities. Since many of

these architect and engineering firms were often involved in multiple power plant

construction projects at any given time, this situation resulted in lower design and

construction management costs than if the utility self-performed. This has become a

common approach for all applications regardless of the reliability or cost-effectiveness

discussion.
 5

Changes in regulations governing the generation and sales of electricity has

encouraged more and more cost control over the construction. This has led to the creation

of new types of power generators and independent power producers. These independent

power producers were focused on selling electricity at a profit, with their selling prices

reflecting the supply and demand of the electric power system. Therefore, they are much

more focused on controlling costs and schedule, especially when building new power

plants. This case has led to more innovative project delivery methods.

Terms such as; build-operate-transfer, build-own-operate, build-own-operate-transfer and

design-build-operate-maintain have become common for the power plant construction

era. But, since the government is not involved in power generation, build-operate-transfer

and similar type of project delivery methods have lost their importance in a very short

time, after the privatization and deregulated market.

Investors are forcing owners and contractors to become extremely cost conscious

and take responsibility for not only the building of the power plant but also its output

efficiency.

One of the technical results of these project delivery methods is the major shift in

the basic type of power plant being constructed. Their efficiency also started to be taken

into account. It has led to a shift from large steam driven turbines to smaller gas fired

turbines that can handle rapid load shifts at higher machine efficiencies. These types of

power plants can be delivered, installed and commissioned much sooner than other large

turbines. High operational flexibility is an essential prerequisite to ensure economic

success in liberalized market. Some of these operational flexibilities include ability to do

 6

fast start-up of a power plant, fast load output adjustment and predictable to possible

changes in market’ requirements.

1.3 Objective of this Study

The first objective of this study is to investigate the construction attitutes of

natural gas fired power plants, and technical issues such as duties and responsibilities,

changes in these actions, and determine whether there is a need for updating these duties

and responsibilities in response to developments in power plant construction. If a new

power plant is being constructed or an existing one is being renovated, rules being

followed and the objective of each rule have to be determined carefully. Such rules may

include the schedule of the construction, time, field construction works, regulatory issues,

environmental issues and generation technology to be used.

All of these steps will be studied on the basis of construction of a power plant

with natural gas. Natural gas oriented generation technology using combustion-cycle gas

turbines (CCGT) and how its’ construction is done will be studied in this paper. This is

the second objective of this thesis. After the construction analysis of a power plant,

discussion on consequences that are related to economics and reliability issues will also

be studied as the third objective of this thesis. The final goal of this thesis is to develope

appropriate approaches and steps to the construction of a power plant.

Chapter 2 of this thesis investigate the changes in construction management’s

duties and responsibilities, and determines whether there is a need for updating these

duties and responsibilities in response to developments in power system construction

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technology. Since this issue itself involves many other approaches in civil engineering,

this topic is only mentioned briefly and it is not within the main scope of this thesis.

Based on a case study on the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine power

plant, all required steps to build up a power plant will be discussed and important

remedial actions will be explained based on the phases of the construction. After defining

this construction period of a power plant, the considerations of technical issues will be

presented such as project delivery structure, sourcing the resources, contingency analysis,

schedule and constraints, site managing, selection of technology, site selection, materials

(prefabricated as modules or site fabrication). Then the third objective of this thesis

mentioned above is discussed to point out the economical effects of the selected

technology that has been constructed and its reliability effects after construction is

completed. The discussion will be based on the number of generation units, and the

generating capacities in megawatts (MWs) studied in case study. The site selection of the

power plant to be constructed or renovated is also taken into account in the Chapter 2 .

Figure 1.1 represents the process and relationship between the three main scopes

of this study: technical considerations, economics, and reliability. Today, power plant

construction management requires more parameters such as new technologies, methods

used for project development, deregulated market, thus the reliability issue and

economics as overall consequinces of these parameters have to be taken into

consideration now. Reliability issues and defined regulation to utilities or owners directly

define the selection of the technology that is going to be constructed such as the

generating capacity of the plant or the number of units based on their individual

generating capacities. The question is whether we should construct generating units in

 8

bigger megawatts or construct generating units in smaller megawatts. In the latter case,

more units has to be built in order to meet desired demand. The selection of smaller or

bigger generating units affects the overall reliability of the system based on their

individual scheduled outages, forced outages or capacity factors. These relationships are

discussed in Chapter 5 of this thesis.

In summary, technical consideration based on reliability causes significant effects

on the economics of the whole construction process and this lead inturn to greater care of

the planning process. Reliability and economics are impacting parameters to the

construction planning, but their effects on the power plant during the operation of the

plant is not the main focus of this thesis.

 Technical

Considerations

Time, field work, structure

of the project.
 Utilities
 Contractors
 3rd party groups
 Technology
 Efficiency
GOAL
Possible new approaches in construction of power plant or
Relocation of existing construction schedule steps

Reliability Economics
Reliable or cost-effective

Figure 1.1 The relationships between the research topics

9
 10

1.4 Contents of this Thesis

This thesis consists of six chapters. After an introduction to the study in Chapter

1, Chapter 2 describes construction management project delivery and the construction

management, compares the construction management project delivery system with other

traditional project delivery systems, defines the integrated project delivery system and

compares it with the construction management project delivery system by means of a

literature review. Chapter 3 includes technical considerations and electrical based project

delivery. Chapter 4 describes the methodology used in pursuing the objective of the study

and the details on the construction of a power plant which is defined in Chapter 3 from

the basis of construction management. This methodology is leading us to a case study of

this thesis. Methodology defines the parameters and the variables of a power plant that

need to be taken into account in a technical manner.

Chapters 2 to 4 present the foundation of the study with respect to the literature

search. In Chapter 5, a case study of this thesis is shown. An example of the construction

of a power plant is investigated. Because of high thermal efficiency, low initial cost, high

reliability, relatively low gas prices and low air emissions, combines-cycle gas turbines

have been the new type of choice for bulk power generation for over a decade. There are

also other attractive attributes related to it such as, significant operation flexibility, the

availability of inexpensive power rate increments during the peak period operation of the

power plant and relatively low carbon dioxide production.

Those factors will lead us to the discussion of combined-cycle gas turbine

(CCGT) power plant. Finally in Chapter 6, the conclusions of the study and

recommendations for promoting good practice are presented. The suggested

 11

recommendations for further research are also presented in this chapter. Figure 1.2

presents the process flow.

Chapter – 1

Introduction

Chapter – 2

CM Project Delivery
Chapter – 6
Chapter – 5
Conclusions &
Chapter – 3
Case Study
Recommendations
Technical Considerations

Chapter – 4

Methodology

Figure 1.2 Flow chart showing the process of research

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CHAPTER 2

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROJECT DELIVERY

2.1 What is Construction Management?

Construction management (CM) refers to the provision of professional

management services to the owner of a construction project with the objective of

achieving high quality at minimum cost and time (Clough and Sears 2005). Construction

project management is the overall planning, co-ordination and control of a project from

inception to completion aimed at meeting a client’s requirements in order to produce a

functionally and financially viable project that will be completed on time within

authorized cost and to the required quality standards. Project management is the process

by which a project is brought to a successful conclusion. Construction project

management (CPM) is project management that applies to the construction sector (3rd

Forum “International Construction Project Management” 2003).

Construction management is generally about planning and this planning process is

applied in every kind of construction sector. The power plant construction approaches

have been changing since the last 25 years. Investors for a power plant project don’t

make money till the time of startup of this project or in other words construction period

of both a new power plant and a renovated one. This period has to be managed

professionally and it requires a scheduled plan, a clear definition of success, money, and

a skilled management and technical team. This process defines the success of rest of the

construction process.
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2.2 The Construction Management Project Delivery System

Typically, the Design-Bid-Build is accepted as the traditional project delivery

method. Under the traditional Design-Bid-Build system, the owner contracts first with a

design consultant to 'design' the project, then solicits 'bids' from general contractors based

on the completed design and, finally, contracts with a general contractor to 'build' the

project. Under the Design-Build system, the owner solicits proposals based on a

statement of requirements and then contracts with a single entity to both 'design' and

'build' the project under a single contract. The CM project delivery system is different

from either of these two systems in that the owner contracts separately, but not always,

with a design consultant and with a firm whose primary expertise is construction

management. The owner procures the management services of the CM prior to or early in

the design phase. This enables the CM to provide significant cost, schedule,

constructability, and serviceability input to the design, as an additional member of the

design team.

The CM project delivery system has become the major project delivery systems

because of the disadvantages of design/build and design/bid/build systems. For example,

the design/build project delivery system is affected by problems such as lack of fiduciary

relationship with the designer, difficulty of pricing design in the beginning, difficulty of

managing complex projects, no checks and balances between contractor and architect,

owner left to fend for himself versus the contractor, creating potential for reduced quality,

increased potential for conflict between owner and architect/engineering (A/E) firm, and

potential cost-saving problems. Similarly, the design/bid/build system is a lengthy

process, places the owner in the middle of disputes between the contractor and design
 14

professionals, does not allow the owner to know the cost of the construction until bids are

finalized, and intensifies the potential for change orders. The process requires a

significant economic commitment by the owner at the front end of the project by

requiring the owner to pay for the design before soliciting bids for the construction of the

project. Because the plans and specifications are completed prior to bidding, there is a

potential that bids for construction may exceed the owner's budget and hence it may

require the owner to either re-design or abandon the project. The inability of A/Es to give

an accurate estimate for the job and the limited management abilities of contractors are

factors that make the CM delivery system quite appealing. The failure of traditional

methods to meet the owner’s time, cost and quality objectives is one of the reasons why

the CM project delivery system has become popular.

Without CM project delivery, generally only one group takes control the overall

control of the project for the design-bid-build delivery method. Specifications of a project

are defined by this group which we call utilities in power industry then bidding process

takes place. After evaluations of the bids, due to cost effective approach, the most cost

effective group has the power to manage the contractors and third-party companies via

contractors. It gives the utility total control of the process.

Reliability and the price of power are now considered together for determination

of this project delivery system and its management. To be able to reach more cost

effective management during the construction and planning process, the utilities started to

share their activities with another group called architect/engineer (A/E). This led directly

to contracting with architect/engineer firms for the development of the specifications, the

solicitation of the contractor bids and many times, for the management of the field
 15

construction activities. Since many of the architect/engineering firms were often involved

in multiple power projects at any one time, their personnel developed economies of scale

that resulted in lower design and construction management costs than if the utility self-

performed (Hessler 2005).

Delivery methods to be used for the actual construction work should also be

evaluated with risk analysis. This is also a very detailed process involving geographical

location, funding, seasonal period of construction based on its phase. On the other hand

risks after completion of the project has to be considered for such factors as maintenance

costs, trouble shooting during the operation of the system and warranty based on legal

applications. As a result of these risk analyses and depending on the project, the

following project delivery methods are chosen: build-operate transfer (BOT), build-own-

operate (BOO), build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT), and design-build-operate-maintain

(DBOM). These innovative project delivery methods became more attractive after cost

controlled sale of electricity and focus is based on selling electricity at a profit. This cost-

controlled and profit based power generation idea brought out the kind of power

generators operated by independent producers. Increase of these independent power

producers all over the world led to the usage of those innovative project delivery

methods.

Parties involved in this kind of construction have significant benefits. These

parties ainclude financiers, owners, insurers and original equipment manufacturers

(OEM). These parties and their benefits are shown in Table 2.1.
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Table 2.1 Benefits of the parties

Parties Benefits
Owners Better forecasting on the overall project.
Reliability of the plant and its efficiency.
A predictable after construction management in economics.
Technical support for the purchased technology.
Based on agreements between the parties, possibility to reach
technical services and spare parts. On the long-term basis,
owners avoid unexpected price changes for the spare part when it is
defined in the contract.
Technical education of the engineers.

Financiers Certainity of margins (revenues and costs).

OEM has committed to support the technology on the long-term basis
which creates confidence over the financiers and insurers.
Creates more cost effective era with the usage of third parties such as
architect/engineer.

OEMs Able to collect operation datas that helps improve their technology.
An opportunity for long-term relationship with the owner.

Insurers Risk is shared.

Communication and relationships between the parties gives comfort.

Next we will go into more details after the definition of construction management,

and its delivery system. At the very beginning of the each project, this specific project

has to be identified and designed based on its technology and regulatory issues associated

with that project. Then it is approved and budgeted. Parties then define one of the project

delivery method discussed above. After responsibilities of the parties are defined, the one

who will deal with the construction of the new power plant has to take more steps from

this point on. The most important one at the very beginning of the whole process is to

establish construction management and technical team based on the delivery method

chosen. This construction management and technical team may be derived from the
 17

owners, OEMs or third parties. Because of a long period of power plant construction this

teams, work force in general, should be provided by the owner. But an owner supplied

work force is not enough due to technical considerations and the complexity of the power

plant technology; therefore OEM’s support should be sought by the owner during the

construction. This kind of working condition which promotes the cooperation of owner’s

technical team, electrical engineers, and OEMs specialist, will definitely increase the

skills of the owner’s team. The owner’s team and OEMs specialists will have a better

understanding or better cooperation in other words, on the overall system as the

construction process moves to its final phase which is commissioning.

Electrical engineers assigned for this job are expected to have a general idea of the

overall operating system. An electrical engineer has to have a great understanding over

the operation of mechanical, hydraulic systems as well as the overall electrical system of

the plant. This construction phase of a power plant is a great chance for the owner’s

engineers training. Based on the project delivery method, maintenance of the operating

power system may be assigned to the OEM with an agreement and price associated to it.

This leads both parties to a better communication during the operation period of the

constructed power plant. But there is a key point that has to be taken into account.

In addition to finding the required people with the necessary skills, at the time

needed, a plan should be in place to handle unexpected turnover. Especially on new

power projects, which are usually long terms, individuals may leave for personal reasons,

they may be replaced for performance reasons, or they may be rotated for company

convenience. A temporary fix to handle these situations is to cross-train personnel

(Hessler 2005).
 18

2.2.1 CM Body of Knowledge, Risk Analysis and Contingencies: Contingencies and

plans associated to them are the other important element that has to be strongly

encouraged in power plant construction. In general contingency plans help to control the

construction management process, control project risks and maintain the financial

stability of power plant project. From the construction management point of view;

contingency is an amount of money reserved by the architect, contractor, or owner to pay

for unforeseen design or construction costs in the project. Contingency funds are usually

included in the construction budget (Risner 2010). At the early days of power plant

construction when the regulated utilities have the control of the overall power system,

risk management and consideration of contingencies were not so important. During those

days the most important action was the completion of the project. But after economics

being involved into the construction era and after the deregulated market, this approach

has totally changed. Increased economic responsibilities between the parties, new

partners such as architect/engineering firms, and increased profit expectations in dollars

for each individual party, made them more susceptive and more conscientious about the

possible claims that they may face during the construction of a power plant.

This leads to tougher negotiations, tighter contract terms, and stricter

enforcement of contract language, especially on larger projects that is bigger than $100

million (Blumkin, M.2004).

Engineers try their best to develop a set of construction drawings before the field

works. However, there are almost always omissions or errors in/for their designs or

sometimes owner may decide to make last minute changes for electrical project. For

instance the owner may want to change the location of the cable trays, or the location of
 19

the transformer which is totally different than the projected work. These are all possible

and common issues that may be faced during the construction of a plant. In this kind of

case architect/engineer must literally go back to the drawing and make revisions. This

situation may have some other consequences due to fact that the results of the errors may

be faced during the on-going project, and then the architect/engineer rather than the

owner would be expected to pay for changes.

These contingencies may be grouped as contractor contingency, owner

contingency, program contingency which is number of ongoing project at the same time,

and possible delays on project. All these definitions are not in the main scope of this

study but we can generalize them from the power plant construction point of view.

Therefore, a project delivery structure should also consider these possible contingencies,

so these unforeseen contingencies can have an acceptable rate for the financier of the

project and the owner of the project. The owner’s needs have to be satisfied such as

reliability of the whole ongoing process, service or replacement of the turbines and

generators and transformers which have an important weight on the budget. Owner and

financier may share this contingency together which brings a comfort to the insurance

companies. This is also another result of the contingency planning for the construction

era. All parties have effects on each other, so this also builds a better relationship and

trust between the parties and success of the project.

Construction management’s areas for a project delivery can be summarized in

Table 2.2. These areas have to be taken into consideration before and during the

construction of a power plant where highly specific and technical case should be

considered such as scheduling management and value management; others can be

 20

considered more general such as decision management. However, none is more important

than another. Each one contributes in its own way to complete performance, and

optimum expertise in all areas.

The CM body of knowledge covers the basic duties and responsibilities of a

construction manager. There are mainly twelve areas of knowledge for construction

management. It is clear that, there may be additions and deductions to these areas based

on the needs of the owner (Haltenhoff 1998). The twelve areas of knowledge which

collectively comprise the CM body of knowledge are:

1. Budget Management 7. Quality Management

2. Contract Management 8. Resource Management

3. Decision Management 9. Risk Management

4. Information Management 10. Safety Management

5. Material/Equipment Management 11. Schedule Management

6. Project Management 12. Value Management

Table 2.2 shows the definitions for each area of construction management from

both civil engineering and electrical engineering points of view regarding power plant

construction.
 21

Table 2.2 Definition of the areas (Page 1 of 5)

Areas Definitions
Budget Budget management is one of the most important decision processes
Management for a power plant construction. Resource allocations (people,
equipment, materials) within the project must be included in this
phase. Budgeting of a power plant not only includes its construction
and field work phases. A budget management has to cover the
complete life-cycle of the project including the completed project’s
maintenance, repair and replacement costs beside its capital costs. At
least 30 years of life-cycle has been accepted for a natural gas fired
power plant. Therefore, a complete budget management is required
that covers all operation periods. This management ease us to predict
the kwh/$ cost in the future operation of the power plant.

Contract The involvement of the CM in contract management helps the CM to

Management manage the project with respect to budget and time goals. The CM
should inform the owner and other parties about the critical issues in
the project (Trigunarsyah 2004). For instance, these critical issues
may be the technical specifications of generator to be used, technical
service that will be granted by the equipment supplier during the field
operations of the engineering projects such as automation and control
systems or mid-voltage projects of the power plant so on.

Decision Decision management is the least technical area in construction

Management management but it keeps its importance because of interrelationships
between the project and the construction team, and the relationship
between the members of the construction team.
Decision management is about gaining understanding from the
perspectives of different project contexts, the characteristics of
construction conditions (e.g. constraints, requirements, environment)
and construction performance dimensions (time, cost, quality) (Russel
et al. 2009).

Information Information management encompasses the collection, documentation,

Management dissemination, safe keeping, and disposal of verbal and graphic
project related information. The team structure and the use of
multiple contracts significantly increase the information available to
the owner. The volume of information generated for project
accountability purposes requires a multilevel, need-to-know reporting
structure and an efficient information storage and retrieval system
(Haltenhoff 1998).
 22

Table 2.2 Definition of the areas (Page 2 of 5)

Areas Definitions
Information Informantion management can be shortly defined as the organization
Management of and control over the structure, processing and delivery of
information.

Material/ Good project management in construction must vigorously pursue the

Equipment efficient utilization of labor, material and equipment. Improvement of
Management labor productivity should be a major and continuous concern of those
who are responsible for cost control. Material handling, which
includes procurement, inventory, shop fabrication and field servicing,
requires special attention for cost reduction. The use of new
equipment and innovative methods has made possible wholesale
changes in construction technologies. Organizations which do not
recognize the impact of various innovations and have not adapted to
changing environments have justifiably been forced out of the
mainstream of construction activities (Hendrickson 2008).
Construction of a power plant in terms of engineering and technical
field works is based on highly skilled workers. Engineering group
which is generally composed of electrical, mechanical and civil
engineers are the one responsible for this management area as a team
because of interdisciplinary relations between field works.

Project Project management encompasses all of the operations aspects of

Management project delivery, including determining, formulating, developing,
installing, coordinating and administering the necessary elements
from the beginning of design to the termination of warranty period.
The CM has the responsibility to make the selected CM process
work, to coordinate the efforts of the team and the performing
contractors in achieving their common goal.
In this area of management an electrical engineer should be able to
coordinate plan preparation, drawings, and/or sketches to illustrate
construction requirements on both design-build and energy projects.
And an engineer has to maintain a positive relationship with clients
by acting as primary contact with the other parties in technical issues.
Also possible changes in the scope of the work during the field work
may be occurred. Here an electrical engineer must lead other
engineering disciplines based on the technical cases, because other
engineering disciplines may not come up with a correct prediction to
 23

Table 2.2 Definition of the areas (Page 3 of 5)

Areas Definitions
Project the overall schedule of the system after this point on. So an effective
Management communication between management levels is an important factor to
achieve a successful goal.

Quality Quality management includes the processes required so that the

Management project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It includes
all activities of the overall management function that determine the
quality policy, objectives and responsibilities and implements them
by means such as quality improvement (PMI 2000).
Quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control are the main
scopes of quality management.

Resource Resource planning and management is one of the most important

Management ingredients for competitiveness and profitability in today's
construction industry. In order to control costs, equipment and labor
should be utilized in the most efficient way possible. This can be
achieved by keeping the total cost at the minimum and increasing the
efficiency to the maximum level of owned or leased equipment and
contracted labor force (Karaa and Nasr, 1986).
Since the built-up process of generator, transformers, automations
which corresponds to huge amount of technical work is made by sides
of the contracts, most of the resources used in these areas can be
supplied without problem because each side of the parties has legal
responsibilities. But issue rises for the third group parties or
architect/engineering companies. Their schedule on providing service
and goods has to be strictly followed by the electrical engineer.

Risk Risk management is an important part of the decision-making process

Management in construction (Kangari 1995), and now widely accepted as a vital
tool in the management of projects (Wood and Ellis 2003). Risk
management in the construction industry has mostly been used for
measuring the impact of potential risks or uncertain events or
conditions that, if they occur, have a positive or negative effect on the
global project parameters such as time and costs (Schatteman et al.,
2008).
 24

Table 2.2 Definition of the areas (Page 4 of 5)

Areas Definitions
Safety All over the world, construction is one of the most hazardous
Management industries due to its unique nature (Jannadi and Bu-Khamsin, 2002).
Construction projects are dynamic (Bobick, 2004).
For a power plant construction safety planning involves job
description and responsibilities of the workers. Actually, from the
electrical point of view, the most important period is the
commissioning period of the power plant. Only authorized personnel
should be included in this work during the start-up phase. Each one of
the equipments has to be labeled and instructions have to be placed.
Because of high voltage, rotating machines, hot surfaces, steam, gas
and many other reasons, issue of safety management has to be
introduced to the workers during the construction phase of a power
plant. This includes a survey of physical hazards of the site, as well as
a review of the normal hazards anticipated in the construction. Safety
plan execution involves the application and implementation of safe
construction practices on site in accordance with the requirements of
the plan. Administration and reporting is also important for any
potential accidents in construction sites. Insurance companies
generally require periodic reports about the safety of construction
sites and accidents.

Schedule Scheduling eliminates or mitigates potential time-resource crises by

Management predicting start and finish dates for intermediate project milestones.
Electrical work generally takes place after the infrastructure is
completed and it s generally planned to be 30 or 40 percent of overall
schedule which runs in parallel with both mechanical and
construction field works. Schedule management is a form of
communication that should be presented in the simplest form with
just enough detail to convey its message.

Value Value management, also known as value engineering in the United

Management States, is a structured, organized team approach to identifying the
functions of a project, product, or service with recognized techniques
and providing the necessary functions to meet the required
performance at the lowest overall cost (SAVE International 2001).
A thorough knowledge of construction materials and equipment,
value engineering techniques, and life-cycle cost analysis is essential.
Support knowledge in the areas of design, materials technology,
 25

Table 2.2 Definition of the areas (Page 5 of 5)

Areas Definitions
Value estimating, scheduling, and procurement is important. The CM must
Management consider the three major areas of owner concern (time, cost and
quality) when recommending courses of action to the team.

2.3 Summary on Project Delivery

Body of knowledge which is discusses in this thesis specifies what construction

management means from the viewpoint of power plant construction. But a complete

project delivery of a power plant includes all elements such as program development,

project development, awarding construction contracts, construction management and

maintenance. Project delivery begins with planning and analysis and it ends when the

whole project is constructed. Each stage has its own individual components that include

activities and products. This scheme is shown in Figure 2.1.

Program Development

Project Development
Project Delivery System
Construction Management

Maintenance

Figure 2.1 Components of Project Delivery System

Program development is the first stage of the power plant construction, and occurs

before the start of a specific project. Project development begins with power system
 26

planning at the state and local levels. Plans are developed to identify power needs and

outline a system of power plant facilities and services to meet those needs for the

proposed region and possible interconnection to other grids. Project priorities are

determined. This issue includes money, reliability and technology which will be

discusses in the next chapter of this thesis. Management decisions are taken such as scope

of the project, schedule and budget. For these three steps construction managements body

of knowledge is used which was explained previously.

Project development, also known as Preliminary Engineering (PE), is the second

stage for power plant construction projects. Projects are further defined with a work plan,

timeline and project design. Here there is an important step that has to be taken for the

successful future of the project. Project leaders based on their specializations must be

assigned from the very beginning of the active process. Those specializations are

generally civil engineers, electrical engineers and mechanical engineers which are guided

by a skilled project manager. Those groups may be composed of the owner’s workforce

for private power plant constructions. Then, based on technology, location and

conceptual designs a project design is selected. These selection criteria’s will be

explained in details in Chapter 4 of this thesis.

Construction management is the last phase of a project. The project is constructed

based on final plans and specifications. CM first considers the issues before the on-site

work begins such as bonds, insurance, and subcontractor compliance. These issues are

not explained here because they are not in the objective of this thesis. After these actions

are taken then on-site work begins. The contractor begins construction that is responsible

for furnishing materials and doing the required work according to the construction plans
 27

and specifications. After the on-site work is completed by the contractor a final project

documentation is submitted. For the following process the project manager ensures all

on-site construction and other work required under the contract with the other project

leaders who have their own technical specialization. For a better project delivery

maintenance is also included too, but duration of this maintenance period should be at

most 5 years and it should be done by the constructor. Aim is to combine construction

period with the very first operation years of the power plant. If any malfunction occurs

based on technology or on the some phase of the construction that affects the operation of

the system (e.g. a lower efficiency via air inlets, outlets) then both sides of the contract

will be responsible to each other. This completes the project delivery system.
 28

CHAPTER 3

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

3.1 What’s Technical Consideration?

Technical issues based on power plant construction are more focused on electrical

and mechanical infrastructure, technologies used, efficiency, and their technical

specifications which are combined with turbine technology. Selection of these

technologies, equipments, and associated infrastructure is defined after long and detailed

program development and project development procedures which are explained

previously.

First of all, these technologies and equipments are discussed and then their

implementation to the construction site is explained; possible new installation hints on

turbines and their effects on construction process are introduced. Those electrical,

mechanical infrastructure and technical specifications are expressed in terms of gas fired

turbines. Economical reviews to these technical factors are taken into account for

combined-cycle applications with the consideration of utility markets. Comparative

assessment of efficiency, cost and construction schedules of combined-cycle power

plants are also examined from this point on.

Other than detailed technology investigations expressed above; geographical

location of a projected power plant and its distance from the major fuel resources is also

an important issue from construction point of view and economics. All these issues will

be discussed in this part; and Chapter 3 will be concluded with these studies.
 29

3.2 Power Plant Point of View

Generation facilities are currently owned and operated by two categories of

companies; utilities and non-utilities (EIA 2000). Electric utilities are defined as either

privately owned companies or publicly owned agencies that engage in the supply

(including generation, transmission and/or distribution of electric power). Non-utilities

are privately owned companies that generate power for their own use and/or for sale to

utilities and others. Power plants are operated by electric utilities, based on generation

technology. Utilities must meet the load requirements. There are three major load types:

base, intermediate and peak loads. Peak load generating units are normally smaller plants

using combustion gas turbines and those types of units can be brought into service

quickly and they are used to meet the system requirement during the highest load.

Intermediate load generating units meet system requirements that are greater than base

load but less than peak load. Intermediate load units are used during the transition

between base load and peak loads.

Base load generating units are generally used to satisfy all base load of the

system. They run continuously and generally produces constant rate of electricity. But

these large units cannot be brought on line or taken off line quickly because of high start

up costs and time. At this point combined cycle power plants were built to substitute the

large base load units with focus on higher efficiency, lower initial costs, high reliability,

low gas emissions, and so on. A large number of constructions were expected during the

early years of 1990s. But due to significant increase in gas prices and changing market

conditions in deregulated markets, many combined cycle power plants are now being

operated as intermediate plants and even with daily cycling. This led utilities to construct
 30

smaller combined cycle power plants but a large number of then to satisfy reliability

requirement of the power system. Beside these significant consequences on combined

cycle power plant construction, this situation led technology producers to come up

different generating turbines that are smaller but more efficient.

Before the technology study of the combined cycle power plants, the main

considerations can be summarized as;

 generation technologies, different plant technologies (turbines and general

comparison between technologies, efficiency),

 construction schedule,

 geographical location (distance to the resources, elevation of construction site and its

effect on the efficiency, and distance to the transmission lines and etc.),

3.2.1 Generating Technologies, Different Plant Systems: From a general point of

view, basic generating systems’ comparisons can be seen in the following figures. These

approaches give a very basic understanding and comparisons between thermal generating

units, gas turbines, combined cycle units and cogeneration units.

Their thermodynamic principles determine the difference between these

technologies. For a combined-cycle power plant this principle can be defined by looking

at its efficiency during the thermal process. This high-efficiency thermal process gives an

answer to the question of; why combined-cycle power plants are being constructed.

Explanation to this issue is in the Carnot Efficiency;

 31

Here, = Carnot efficiency

=Temperature of the energy supplied

=Temperature of the environment

Naturally, the efficiencies of real processes are lower since there are losses

involved. A distinction is drawn between energetic and exergetic losses. Energetic losses

are mainly heat losses (radiation and convection), and are thus energy that is lost to

processes. Exergetic losses, on the other hand, are internal losses caused by irreversible

processes in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (Traupel 1977). Major

distinction is determined by both heat being supplied to the cycle and temperature of the

waste heat. These are called losses and occur during the heat exchanges. The best way to

improve the efficiency of the process is to reduce these losses which can be accomplished

by raising the maximum temperature in the cycle, or by releasing the waste heat at as low

a temperature as possible. These two considerations made combined-cycle applications

more attractive. Since these two considerations are not possible to make by using only

one cycle, it thus seems reasonable to combine two cycles. One cycle is to make higher

process temperatures and the other cycle is to get as low temperature as at the waste heat

of the system. Table 3.1 shows the process and exhaust temperatures of gas turbines and

steam turbines.

Table 3.1 Temperature Comparison of Gas and Steam Turbines

Areas Process Temperature Exhaust Temperature
Gas Very High; because its energy is Quite High.
Turbines supplied directly to the cycle
without heat exchangers
 32

Steam Not Very High Very Low

Turbines
Combinations of gas turbine and steam turbines yield a great solution to get much

possible high efficiency from the thermal processes. Table 3.2 makes this comparison

more clearly with the associated number to each power plant. These indicators shown in

Table 3.2 can be used as an indicator for the quality of a thermal process. Combined

cycle power plants are more promising than the single cycle plants. Steam power plants

with reheat process also have lower thermal process quality and construction of these

steam power plants with reheat process is quite sophisticated. With their higher

theoretical Carnot efficiency (10 to 15 points higher) and less complex installation and

construction phase of the auxiliary units such as heat recovery and water treatment, these

numbers make clear just how interesting the combined-cycle power plants are based on

their efficiency and field works.

Table 3.2 Thermodynamic Comparison of Gas Turbine, Steam Turbine and

Combined- Cycle Power Plants (Kehlhofer 1991).
Steam Power Steam Power Combined-
Gas
Areas Plant with Plant without Cycle Power
Turbine
Reheat Reheat Plant
Average 950–1000 (K) 640–700 (K) 550–630 (K) 950–1000 (K)
temperature 1250–1340 (F) 690–800 (F) 530–675 (F) 1250–1340 (F)
of the heat
supplied

Average 500-550 (K) 320-350 (K) 320-350 (K) 320-350 (K)

temperature 440-530 (F) 115-170 (F) 115-170 (F) 115-170 (F)
of exhaust
heat supplied

Carnot 42-47 45-54 37-50 63-68

Efficiency, %
 33

Different Plant Systems: Figure 3.1 shows the steam-electric (thermal) generating units

which are typically the large base load units. Steam produced in a boiler turns a turbine to

drive an electric generator. Fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and petroleum products,

natural gas or other gaseous fuels and other combustible fuels, such as biomass are

burned to produce steam.

Figure 3.1 Generic Thermal Generators (Baldick, 1999)

Figure 3.2 shows that gas turbines and combustion engines use hot gas from

burning fossil fuels, rather than steam, to turn a turbine that drives a generator.

Figure 3.2 Gas Turbines (Baldick, 1999)

Figure 3.3 shows combined cycle plants that first use gas turbines to generate

power and then use the waste heat in a steam-electric generator to produce more
 34

electricity, thus combined- cycle plants make more efficient use of heat energy in fossil

fuels. New technologies are improving the thermal efficiency of combined cycle power

plants to 50% to 60% thermal efficiency. This encourages construction of new plants.

Figure 3.3 Combined-Cycle (Baldick, 1999)

Figure 3.4 shows cogenerators, also known as combined heat and power

generators, are facilities that utilize heat for electricity generation and for another form of

useful thermal energy (steam or hot water), for manufacturing processes or central

heating. There are two types of cogeneration systems; bottom-cycling and top-cycling. In

a bottom cycling configuration, a manufacturing process uses high temperature steam

first and a waste-heat recovery boiler recaptures the unused energy and uses it to drive a

steam turbine generator to produce electricity. In one top-cycling configuration, a boiler

produces steam to drive a turbine generator to produce electricity, and steam leaving the

turbine is used in thermal applications such as space heating or food preparation. In

another top-cycling configuration, a combustion turbine or diesel engine burns fuel to

 35

spin a shaft connected to generator to produce electricity, and the waste heat from the

burning fuel is recaptured in a waste-heat recovery boiler for use in direct heating or

producing steam for thermal applications (EIA 2000).

Figure 3.4 Cogeneration (Baldick, 1999)

Every industrial plant strives to keep production costs as low as possible, and

power plants are no exception in this regard. Political factors and environmental

protection legislation impose certain limits on this goal, but economy of operation still

remains the most important criterion when selecting what type of power plant to build

(Kehlhofer 1991). All types of power plants explained above must be able to deal with

the changes and challenges of liberalized and deregulated markets. Nowadays operational

flexibility of a modern power plant is a major issue. Therefore constructions of new

combined-cycle power plants are still in active process and seem to be still attractive in

the next decade from the viewpoint of efficiency and economic. Also there are

operational effects that encourage new investments. Some of the main advantages for the

combined-cycle power plants which are related to its operational flexibility include fast
 36

start-up and shutdown, fast load changes and load ramps, high start-up reliability and

load predictability, frequency control and ancillary services. Since these are not in the

scope of this thesis, they will not be explained in detail here.

Maturities of electrical and mechanical technologies are obvious for the

combined-cycle power plants. There were no operational and real efficiency datas of

these plants at the very beginning of this technology during 1980s and 1990s. But now

utilities have more chance to access many information based on operation of combined-

cycle plants. Those utilities that have their own plant have their own operating data.

These data led technology producers to come up with better solutions since the last 10

years. Now it can be said that it’s a proven mature technology. As technologies related to

gas fired power plant matures, now their construction is far from being an issue. The

basic construction needs of a combine-cycle power plant for domestic or international

projects do not change significantly.

The disciplines involving in the construction (civil, mechanical, electrical) site

and the source of materials are important. For example, turbine installation, required for

control boards and power control modules are an important issue based on source of these

equipment, i.e., whether they are supplied (produced) locally or imported. Considerations

related to the resource requirements can be outlined by the manufacturing, fabrication,

labor, construction equipment and materials. The necessary manufacturing, fabrication,

labor and construction equipment infrastructure is available today or can be readily

developed to support the construction and commissioning up to tens or hundreds of

power plants in a decade now. Challenge on construction is to have the right resources

available at the right place and the right time to build.

 37

Manufacturing, Fabrication and Labor. The components for combined-cycle

power plants are manufactured on a worldwide basis. Private manufacturers and material

suppliers were contacted to determine current capabilities and abilities to expand

production capabilities. Manufactured equipment is generally pressure vessels, steam

generators, control drives, fuel control elements, steam turbine generators and

condensers, pumps, valves, electrical and electronic controllers. All the equipment’s

technical details and specifications are defined in the contract and negotiations. The same

applies to tools, equipment, and consumables. A review must be made of what is

available locally vs. what need to be imported vs. the cost and time trade-offs.

Use of prefabricated modules are used or planned to expedite the construction of a

plant and they even might be cost effective and decrease the labor work during the

construction process. Mechanical equipment modules include piping, pipe supports,

valves, instrumentation, tubing, cable tray, and junction boxes in the plant, a structural

base and supports. To have those bases and supports, these would be preassembled or as

sub-modules and then field assembly should be made to create the bigger modules. Other

than structural modules, the electrical modules follow the same criteria and ways. But

electrical installation and commissioning takes at least 20 % to 30% percent of the total

schedule. Prefabricated (manufactured) electrical modules installation is done after the

installation of mechanical/constructional equipment modules. Such electrical equipment

and systems include the main panels, control panels, motor control panels of defined

operating voltage, AC and DC uninterruptible power supply systems, accumulator units,

emergency generators, transformers, generators, power distribution centers, possible

indoor or outdoor substations and interconnection infrastructure to the grid. Substation

 38

and interconnection issues are mainly related to the location of the plant and to the future

projections which might be done by the government or utilities.

Skilled engineers and technicians are the key point for this part of the construction

process.

3.2.2 Power Plant Construction Schedule: The construction management and project

delivery methods are discussed in Chapter 2.1. Basically, project management is a subset

of construction management and it consists of four major parts; Planning, Organization,

Execution and Control. Combined-cycle power plants had large number of interlinked

activities. It is therefore, necessary to have a plan that gives overall view of how the

whole project work will proceed and which activities are more important than others and

requiring special attention.

Such a schedule is termed Master Control Network or Level-I schedule, which is

basically a schedule based on Critical Path Method and shows only the major activities

with their interdependence, start/end dates, allowable delays (floats) and criticalities. The

critical path in a schedule is the longest chain of successive related activities without any

float i.e. allowable delay and therefore decides the total completion period of the project

(Hydro Power, 2010). Construction of a combined-cycle power plant can be scheduled

either upwards or downwards. In upwards scheduling Level-III schedule is first worked

out, then Level-II as aggregate of Level-III schedules, and finally Level-I or Master

Control Network is prepared by aggregating Level-II schedules. In preparing a

downwards schedule, empirical Level-I schedule is first prepared taking into account the

constraints in the project, like time, climate & weather etc. Level-II and Level-III
 39

schedules are then prepared which are in conformity with Level-I. Finally, all three

schedules are refined later on according to the actual conditions. In combined-cycle

power plants, normally downwards scheduling has to be done. It gives a better overall

control of the constructions process. This approach can be actively applied in many

power plant constructions which also clearly determine the responsibilities of the sides of

the contractors due to its overall coverage over all construction steps which are explained

below.

Participant groups and various subcontractors will be responsible for the site

construction and plant installation. Generally owner/utility acts as the general

construction contractor and issues subcontracts to diverse local contractors as required to

complete the power plant installation. An architect/engineering party provides

engineering support for the project design documents and is available for meeting and

discussions with owner/utilities and subcontractors regarding design (electrical/

mechanical/ civil) clarification’s or discrepancies. One of the other activities of the

architect/engineering groups is that they are responsible for issuing design change notices

which is a critical issue when the construction phase comes to an end. Subcontractors

provide equipment, materials and labor to complete all phases of the construction and

installation of the plant. But technical labors who are responsible for the electrical

installation such as electrical engineers and skilled technicians can be provided by the

owner.The site construction is generally divided into several construction phases as

follows;
 40

 Site Preparation (modularization and prefabrication),

 Foundations (turbine, generator and substation foundations),

 Effects of equipment designs on construction schedule

 Pipe supports and piping

 Auxiliary systems (air intake system, starting system and fuel system)

 Site Utilities

 Insulation

 PAC Test and Start-Up

Combined-cycle power plant equipments can be and should be adapted to

installation requirements defined by varying climatic conditions, system configuration

and owner/operator preferences. Equipment that is used within combined-cycle power

plant is suitable for outdoor installations, semi-outdoor installations, or fully enclosed

installations. The equipment and its filed applications are discussed in Section 3.2.2.5 of

this thesis.

Figure 3.5 shows both overall project scheduling period and construction schedule

period. A constant construction management must be provided for all these construction

phases. As a result of high number of phases, the number of subcontractors may be

increased. Also the third part inspections should be subcontracted by owner/utilities. This

is because most of the construction subcontractors may not have personal-experienced in

power plant construction in term of engineering, purchasing, materials management.

Basic power plant constructions knowledge is needed for subcontractors. If this

 41

knowledge is missing, the subcontractor may divert site management’s attention from the

daily work activities, which can result in less effective site managing and increased costs.

Figure 3.5 Overall Project Scheduling Periods.

3.2.2.1 Site Preparation: Background of the site planning and development hasn’t been

considered as a planning or modeling structure, because a site preparation for a power

plant construction is not unique due to its location, owner’s approach to the site planning

and the size of the project. For a successful site planning and development, advanced site

development should be developed. It includes; supply-chain infrastructure, off-site

management for module fabrication, module delivery, assembly of these modules and

outfitting and power island construction. One important issue is to have support facilities
 42

that are required for off-site module fabrication and assembly. Once these are obtained

then focus is on the site, because large spaces are needed for storage, prefabrication and

pre-assembly of modules. Site development may have effects on overall construction

schedule. If lay-down areas are not available for storage, prefabrication and pre-assembly

of electrical and mechanical equipments, the site construction schedule will be affected.

Cooling towers infrastructure must be completed before the site development.

To be able to start effectively the preparation process, the construction site should

be equipped with the field mid-voltage and low-voltage electricity that is going to be

terminated after the completion of the project. This mid-voltage projects are generally

prepared by the third parties during the pre-project engineering phase of the construction

process.

A simple summation of the maximum power requirements from all of the

contractors, superimposed on the construction schedule, will readily determine what’s

required and when it’s required. Then, it’s simply a matter of applying the contractually

agreed process to set up the temporary transformer, feed it, and distribute from it (Hessler

2005).

3.2.2.2 Foundations: The function of the foundation is to maintain the engine at its

correct initial elevation and to keep the rotating shafting in permanent alignment

(Kauffmann 1977). Foundations for the turbines and generators must be designed during

the planning stage for the facility building. The foundation designer should require test

checks of soil compaction at the site, with vibration techniques, a soil profile down to

refusal, and determination of soil load-bearing ability. This will provide the basis for a
 43

decision on whether piling is necessary. Foundation type which is determined based on

size of the engines and soil specifications should be implemented as soon as the site

preparation is completed. In all cases, foundations for turbines and generators must be

both economic and effective. Figure 3.6 shows the elastic supports with steel frames and

the main foundation for a turbine and generator.

Figure 3.6 Elastic Supports with a Steel Frame (Gerb USA)

Normally engines are arranged on a common rigid foundation. In case of small

equipment this would be usually a steel frame. Larger generators usually have a concrete

foundation that is often provided to prevent the dynamic and static forces into the subsoil

or substructure. Massive concrete foundations do not prevent the transmission of dynamic

forces into subsoil and therefore may affect the building and its surroundings which

finally results with vibration problems. There are two consequences for foundations of

engines;

 Settlement problems can be solved with an expensive pile foundation, but

 The transmission of disturbing dynamic forces can rarely be limited.

Therefore, uncoupling the machine foundation which is done previously from the

substructure using spring and elastic elements may give more effective results on the

transmission of dynamic forces. This elastic support system with a steel frame has many
 44

advantages. Machines foundation is dynamically uncoupled from the surroundings, mass

of the foundation and therefore the size of the foundation can be substantially decreased.

If local predicted small earthquakes take place and a resettlement occurs due to these

earthquakes, the readjustment of the spring elements can be done easily during the

maintenance period of the engines.

Substations are an assemblage of equipment within a fenced area that switch,

changes or regulate voltage in electric transmission and distribution systems used to

transform voltages for delivery of electricity to homes and businesses (Alameda 2006).

Foundation of a substation within a power plant is not a big challenge. During the

construction phase, cable channels which lie under the floor level or foundation should be

planned for future projections. Enough free space and free working space should be

considered in the channels during the planning phase. Accumulator room that is required

during an emergency to activate switches and lighting and room for the neutral grounding

resistors for the high voltage transformers are also included in the project. Earthing

copper mesh and earthing electrodes should be placed before and during the foundation

works of both power plant and substation. Soil resistivity measurements, location of

lightning conductor and placement of lightning electrodes should be done before the

completion of foundation work. It should cover all sites of the power plant. Figure 3.7

gives an example on one of the coverage areas of lightning electrodes for a geothermal

plant and its subsequent facilities of CO2 and greenhouse facilities. Soil resistivity

measurement is 0.04 Ohms which is a very acceptable rate of resistivity for the selection

of lightning equipments.
 45

Figure 3.7 Coverage Area of Lightning Unit in a Plant (Demirci 2008)

3.2.2.3 Effect of component designs on construction schedule: Briefly speaking, main

considerations in plant-design with respect to main components are usually mentioned

under equipment erection title. Since this topic is not in the main scope of this thesis,

detailed erection techniques and their operation schedules are not described here. Main

components that are used within the combined-cycle power plant include combustion gas

turbine, electrical generators (for steam turbine and combustion gas turbines), boiler,

exhaust units, steam transport pipes, condenser, steam turbine and chimney. Figure 3.8

illustrates these components of a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant and its

operational order. What’s illustrated is a single-train combined-cycle plant that consists

of one gas turbine generator and one steam turbine generator. It is called “1x1

configurations”. Beside the “1x1” configuration, increasingly, common approaches are to

construct power plants that use two or even three gas turbine generators and heat

recovery steam generators (HSRG) feeding a single but larger steam turbine generator.
 46

These kind of systems are called “2x1” configuration based on their numbers of gas

turbine generators.

Figure 3.8 Combined Power Generation Process (Alstad - Foss 2004)

Power production in a combined-cycle power plant is generally made up of 2/3

from gas turbines and 1/3 from the steam turbine. Gas turbines are generally two or more,

but there is generally only one steam turbine. Design of power plants before the

construction is based on their efficiency. There are many factors that affect efficiency

such as; size of the turbines, elevation, gas prices, predicted operation load of the power

plant. But in general, the efficiency of the gas turbines are highly load dependent,

whereas the steam turbine is more flexible when compared to the combustion gas

turbines. To avoid running on low efficiency, a power plant should be planned with

several smaller turbines if load for each turbine is an important design criterion. This

criterion changes the whole picture of a power plant from the viewpoint of engineering

design and construction phases. In such a combined-cycle power plant, units should be
 47

operated d at optimal load. Due to results of these issues an important part in designing

the power plant is to determine the optimal number and sizes of combustion gas turbines.

An optimal design of components is made based on the type of generation for instance;

whether it is a base load power plant or peak load power plant. This design issue also has

effects on construction costs of a power plant which are discussed in the following

chapter of this thesis.

Gas turbines are normally standard equipment due to very high development

costs. Steam turbines come in a wide range, and it is not difficult to find a suitable one to

match the gas turbines (Bolland 2003). Construction schedule is obviously accelerated

with more but smaller gas turbines to run the system on optimum load to meet the

efficiency explained above. Once the required foundations and power houses are built

with a well planned allocation of workers, the erection of two or three gas turbines can be

started at the same time. Other main components that are included into design and

erection process are electrical generator, power generating component, evaporators,

instrumentation and control systems (vibration measurement with displacement probes,

velocity pickup detectors and accelerometers, pressure measurement, temperature

measurement, thermocouples, resistive thermal detectors / speed control, temperature

control, protective systems such as overspeed, overtemperature, vibration, loss of flame,

loss of lubrication), condensers, and power transformers.

3.2.2.4 Pipe supports and piping: Within industry, piping is a system of pipes used to

convey fluids (liquids and gases) from one location to another. A power plant is generally

described on its turbines, generators, and steam turbines and so on. All these units are
 48

connected to each other with the pipes. Design and process of a pipe group or system is

determined by its working conditions/surroundings and fluids passing through it. A

power plant is a mesh of pipe systems where air, steam, gas, and water are processed. It is

one of the most important phases of the construction phase. Piping work requires high

skills on welding and mechanical. Piping process literally takes long time. It starts with

the site preparation and continues till the end of the construction process. At the very

beginning of piping, drain systems and associated rain/drain infrastructure of the power

plant site is prepared. Then before the site works, connection process to the main gas

transportation lines/storage facilities that are operated by private companies in the region

is started. After site preparation and foundation processes are completed in the field, main

piping systems are then started.

Pipe line components are known as fittings, valves and other devices, typically

sense and control the pressure, flow rate and the temperature of the transmitted fluid.

These sense and control systems come with an electrical background. If a power plant

site is considered a quite large one, the cabling issue for these electrical equipments has

to be done carefully. Sub-modules or infield process control panels might be needed for a

reliable operation and control of the pipe lines. Due to electrical head start, cable tray

should be mounted at the same time with the piping works. This definitely accelerates the

rest of the electrical work to be done during the following construction phases.

3.2.2.5 Auxiliary instruments: Electrical and mechanical equipment of a combined-

cycle power plant can be classified from the start process of power generation to the last

step which is exhaust gas. The equipment include air intake systems, combustion gas
 49

turbines, electrical generator connected to the combustion gas turbine, boiler, water and

gas circulating pipe system, steam turbines, and another electrical generator which is

connected to the steam generator.

Air Intake: Air intake systems provide clean air into the compressor. During continuous

operation the impurities and dust from the air in take deposits on the compressor blades.

This reduces the efficiency and output of the plant. The air filter in the air intake system

prevents this. Today most of the gas turbines are able to operate successfully in a wide

variety of climates and environments due to inlet air filtration systems that are

specifically designed to suit the plant location while also considering the impact of local

air quality variation on the system design. Under normal conditions the inlet system has

the capability of processing the air by removing contaminants to levels below what are

harmful to the compressor and turbine. Filtration systems, however, are not 100%

effective and an increase in the inlet contaminant concentration level will generally result

in an increase in the contaminant level of the air discharging from the filters. In some

circumstances, the location of balance of plant (BOP) equipment or neighboring

industrial activities may increase the incoming contaminant concentrations to such a

degree that additional precautions may be necessary and require optional filtration or

moisture removal equipment (Wilkes 2007). Geographical location determination of a

power plant is also affected by these factors. The following information gives an idea on

the composition of particulates; therefore this gives another reason for selection and

construction of a power plant based on its location. The composition of particulates is

wide ranging and will vary considerably with local emission sources. There are, however,

general patterns within the US that show in western regions the particulates generally
 50

consist of carbon and nitrates and in the eastern region the particulates are largely

composed of carbon and sulfates (United States Environmental Protection Agency 2004).

Selection of filters for the air intake system is also an important process that has to be

taken into account before the construction phase. Some of the selection criteria are

nominal air flow rate , maximum air flow rate , initial pressure drop

at nominal air flow rate, etc.

Implementation on construction phase: modular design of air intake systems is a

special feature that allows customized solutions. These modules can be flexibly adapted

to match local and system based specifications involved during the construction period.

The modules are assembled completely beforehand, and need only be bolted or welded

together, therefore this process facilitates erection and decrease the installation costs.

This concept also allows to develop standardized air intake systems that is going to suit to

a particular range of turbines. Especially stainless steel should be used for the housing of

the air intake systems. This stainless steel manufactured housing and filter frames avoid

salt corrosion for the plants which are located at the coast or close to the coastal region.

All other modules of the air intake systems are added on to this basic housing. Other than

this, another solution can be presented by installing these modules in already existing

building.

Starting System: Starting system provides the initial momentum for the gas turbine to

reach the operating speed. A gas turbine in a power plant runs at 3000 rpm for the 50 Hz

grid and 3600 rpm for the 60 Hz grid. During starting process the speed has to reach 60%

for the turbine to work on its on inertia. Simple method is to have a starter motor with a

torque converter to bring the heavy mass of the turbine to the required speed. For large
 51

turbines this means a big capacity motor. For gas turbines, the latest trend is to use

generator itself as the starter motor with suitable configuration. These applications

increase the operation flexibility of the turbine and generator. And it also enables to

handle more compact unit in a power plant. Otherwise auxiliary starting systems are

introduced to the plant and this increases the complexity of the operation field that results

in more possible faults, man work and maintenance and operation costs. For instance, in

some places where there is no other start up power available, such as ship or an off-shore

platform or a remote location, a small diesel or gas engine is required.

Fuel System: fuel system prepares a clean fuel for burning in the combustor. Gas

turbines normally burn natural gas but also fire diesel or distillate fuels. Erection of

burner system and ignition system requires great significance. All safety procedures and

precaution steps have to be followed during the construction period. Although most of the

fuel system units such as heaters, filters, and control valves have quite mature technology

and design, fuel gas system installation should be taken with care by the specialized

construction group.

Safety interlocks are the most important items. A control valve regulates the

amount of fuel burned. A filter prevents entry of any particles that may clog the burners.

External heaters are used to heat the gas for better combustion. For the liquid fuels high

pressure pumps are introduced into the construction, which pumps fuel to the required

pressure level for fine atomization of the fuel fir burning. Figure 3.9 shows these

auxiliary systems in a gas turbine power plant that was mentioned above.
 52

Figure 3.9 Auxiliary Systems in a Gas Turbine Power Plant (Khemani 2009)

Exhaust System: Different than other gas turbines, construction of diverter damper is

introduced in combined-cycle gas turbines. This unit is used to change the flow of gasses

to the heat recovery boilers instead if the outlet stacks. Diverter dampers are installed

between the gas turbines and the heat recovery boilers and this improves the generating

flexibility of the plant as, for example, both gas turbines can produce electricity in the

event of a steam turbine shutdown or both gas turbines and the steam turbine can produce

electricity in the event of a boiler shutdown. The control of the diverter damper can be

operated remotely from the power plants control room or manually from the local panel.

Included in the control panel are safety switches, power transformers, local control

switches for the fan, actuator and valves. In the past the electronic control for this system

was simply to fully open or close the damper. Recent developments in the industry have
 53

led to using the diverter as a trottling device to bring the heat recovery steam generator

(HRSG) up to speed faster. These new electronic control designs and mechanical designs

have led utilities to achieve rated load faster during the operation period of a combined-

cycle power plant.

Electrical equipments must be taken care of during the construction phase of

dampers. Installation of power and communication cables should be done carefully.

Generally, the distance from the control room is not too much, and communication cables

are not affected by the length but the electromagnetic field. But nowadays control is

made more commonly with the AC low voltage control that eases the field cabling work.

If there is no feedback prepared to check the position of the dampers then manual

operations are a necessity. In this kind of situations, a safe operation area should be

prepared during the construction phase that is going to allow workers to operate the

dampers from field control panel or manually.

3.2.2.6 Site Utilities: construction process is not only composed of in-field works. Site

utilities should be installed to the site boundary and connected with a fully coordination

of scheduled field work. These utilities are steam, temporary electricity for the field

work, water supply, boiler feed water, natural gas and so on. Each of these actions should

be defined in construction management plan with their technical operation and

application scenarios. If any of these utilities lays back from the construction schedule, at

this stage, it creates very big delays. Generally third parties provide these actions, so their

schedule and work plant should be prepared very carefully by the all parties of the
 54

contract. A construction manager must always stay in touch with the third parties and

improve his/her communication ways with these parties.

3.2.2.7 Insulation: The insulation work generally involves the insulation of pipe fittings,

valves, and flanges as specified in the design documents by the contractor company. The

types of materials that are used during the construction depend upon whether the

installation is underground, outside buildings, underground within buildings, or

aboveground within buildings. Beside these considerations, the availability of certain

types of desired piping materials and fittings may also govern the type of material

actually used. Underground piping outside of buildings may be cast-iron soil pipe,

galvanized steel, concrete or plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. Underground piping

within buildings may also be of cast iron, galvanized steel, lead, or PVC; however, cast

iron and PVC are the most popular materials used. Aboveground piping within buildings

consists of either one of or a combination of the following: brass or copper pipe, cast iron

or galvanized wrought iron, galvanized steel or lead. Exposed pipes in power plants are

typically insulated with materials made of hydrous calcium silicate that meet or exceed

government standards for fire retardation from 100 to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit, low heat

conductivity and vapor retardation (low smoke properties). Fiberglass pipe insulation is

also designed for power plants. It is fire rated to withstand 850 degrees Fahrenheit and

meets most building codes for vapor and smoke ratings.

3.2.2.8 PAC Test and Start Up: The process and controls (PAC) test starts by following

the completion of the plant installation. This test can be scheduled from one month to a

couple of months to be able to make observations over the whole system after
 55

construction is completed. During this period technical support is provided b the sides of

the contractors and this technical support varies in many different disciplines which may

include electrical and mechanical specialists, air and gas system specialists and so on.

During PAC period all drawing and revised projects should be checked again. Because

during the construction period project might not be updated properly, this is also another

important task. This test doesn’t mean start-up of power plant. The plant start up is

scheduled to commence following the completion of the PAC test.

3.2.3 Geographical location: Today’s modern power plants are much easier to locate

than the larger old-style power plants because they are smaller and no longer cooled by

water. The country’s power needs could be met by locating a new power plant anywhere

in the region. But there are still factors that help to determine where to construct a new

power plant. Based on power plants location, distance from the main natural gas pipe

lines and high voltage transmission lines, distance from fuel resources, distance to the

water resources, air temperature of the regions, elevation of projected power plant, and

peak loads and periods of these peak loads of the projected region, these factors can be

considered.

Site Elevation/Altitude: Design and application of electrical systems at elevations in

excess of 3000 ft (1000 m) requires knowledge of the effects of atmospheric conditions

on each particular component. Failure to understand adequately and include the effects of

high altitude in the application of the equipment may result in its poor performance,

premature aging and/or failure (Nelson 1984). Since the gas turbine is an air-breathing

engine its performance is changed by anything that affects the density and/or mass flow
 56

of the air intake to the compressors. Ambient weather conditions are the most obvious

changes from the reference conditions of 59F/15C and 14.7psia/1.013bar. Figure 3.10

shows how ambient temperature affects the output, heat rate, heat consumption, and

exhaust flow of a single-shaft MS7001 gas turbine. Each turbine model has its own

temperature-effect curve, as it depends on the cycle parameters and component

efficiencies as well as air mass flow (GER-3567H). Gas turbines are constant volume

mass flow dependent engines. Their exhaust flow and temperatures vary with ambient

temperature and barometric pressure. As the ambient temperature decrease, the gas

turbine will experience a low heat-rate and will result in an increase in power output. In

addition; steam production and steam turbine output vary with the gas turbines exhaust

gas flow and temperature supplied to the HRSG. The steam turbine should be sized so

that their rated flow should match the steam turbine production.

Figure 3.10 Effect of Ambient Temperature (GER-3567H)

 57

Correction for altitude or barometric pressure is straightforward. The air density

reduces as the site elevation increases. While the resulting airflow and output decrease

proportionately, the heat rate and other cycle parameters are not affected. A standard

altitude correction curve is presented in Figure 3.11.

Figure 3.11 Altitude Correction Curve (GER-3567H)

Effect of altitude is generally used for the design issues of the turbines but beside

design issues; it also affects the operating efficiency of a power plant based on selected

altitudes ambient temperature as shown in Table 3.3. That’s why elevation is a factor that

affects the decision making on selecting a location of a projected combined-cycle power

plant. But this altitude is not a major factor in this decision. Another example is given for

elevation adjustment for power output as follows. Table 3.3 shows the power output

elevation correction factors for selected Western Electricity Coordinating Council

 58

(WECC) locations based on standard gas turbine altitude correction curve. Locations are

ranging from 185 ft up to 5004 ft.

Table 3.3 Gas turbine power output elevation correction factors for locations (Northwest
Power Planning Council 2002)
Location Elevation (ft) Power Putput Factor
Buckeye, AZ (nr. Palo Verde) 890 0.972
Caldwell, ID 2370 0.923
Centralia, WA 185 0.995
Ft. Collins, CO 5004 0.836
Great Falls, MT 3663 0.880
Hermiston, OR 640 0.980
Livermore, CA 480 0.985
Wasco, CA (nr. Kern County 345 0.990
plants)
Winnemucca, NV 4298 0.859

Distance to the water resources/Cooling towers: Water consumption of a power plant

condenser cooling appears to be an issue of increasing importance for the locations where

there is no abundant water resources. Distance to the water resources, such as a river or a

lake, affects decisions during the planning phase of construction and its schedule.

Construction of cooling towers projected based on availability of water resources and

construction of dry cooling systems are discussed below. It also may result with higher costs

in terms of pipe supports and piping equipment that carries cooling water from water

resource to power plant and vice versa. If the distance increases, the size of the required

pumps for the cooling system that runs the pipes lines will increase, and therefore the

operation costs of these systems after the construction will be higher.

Cooling towers are generally used to achieve an effective cooling of the processed

water in power plants. A cooling tower is an equipment used to reduce the temperature of a

water stream by extracting heat from water and emitting it to atmosphere. Cooling towers
 59

make use of evaporation whereby some of the water is evaporated into a moving air stream

and subsequently discharged into atmosphere. As a result, the remainder of the water is

cooled down significantly. Cooling towers are able to lower the temperatures more than

devices that use only air to reject heat, like huge radiators, and are therefore more cost-

effective and energy efficient.

Figure 3.12 Schematic Diagram of a Cooling Tower

(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 2001)

There are different methods for cooling such as “wet cooling” and “dry cooling”.

These two technologies are introduced to a power plant based on its size, planned budget,

water availability of the constructed power plant’s region and etc. Wet and dry cooling

technologies are explained as follows. Wet cooling occurs in all conventional cooling towers,

and it is commonly used in large systems due to its low initial cost and low sink

temperatures. “Wet cooling” consumes about 40 liters/day/kW. “Dry cooling” encompasses

all devices that reject heat by heating the incoming air. Dry cooling is commonly used in
 60

smaller applications, but all dry systems have following issues: higher fan costs, higher sink

temperatures (therefore lower system efficiency and higher power consumption), great

capital costs, higher noise levels.

However dry cooling systems do not require consuming water as mentioned

above and they have no associated water treatment costs. Since focus is on the large

combined-cycle power plants construction wet cooling and associated cooling towers are

the main objective at this point. Also construction and implementation of combination of

wet and dry cooling is newly introduced in today’s investments where both options are

applicable.

Today, manufacturers use a variety of material to construct cooling towers.

Materials are chosen to enhance corrosion resistance, reduce maintenance, and promote

reliability and long service life. Galvanized steel, various grades of stainless steel, glass

fiber, and concrete are widely used in tower construction as well as aluminum and

plastics for some components (Bureau of Energy Efficiency 2004). The basic components

of a cooling tower that should be taken care of during the construction phase include

frame and casing, fill, cold water basin, air inlet, louvers, nozzles and fans. Frame and

casing of larger towers are mode of concrete. Glass fiber is also used for cooling tower

casings and basins because they extend the life of the cooling tower and provide

protection against harmful chemicals. These structural frames support casings, motors,

fans and other components. Fills are used to facilitate heat transfer by maximizing water

air contact. Cold water basin, during the construction period, should be located at the

bottom of the tower or near the tower. Mainly a basin receives the cooled water that

flows down through the tower and fills. Air inlet; it is the point of entry for air entering
 61

the tower. Based on the design of the tower air inlet is constructed whether at the entire

side if the tower (cross-flow design) or it can be located at the lower part of the sides or at

the bottom of the tower (counter-flow design). Louvers; are constructed based on the

design of the cooling tower. Many counter flow tower design do not require louvers. The

purpose of louvers is to equalize air flow into the fill and retain the water within the

cooling tower. Nozzles; spray water to wet the fill, therefore a uniform distribution at the

top of the fill is essential to achieve proper wetting of the entire fill surface. During the

construction these nozzles can be fixed and spray in a round or square patterns, or they

can be part of a rotating assembly. For the nozzles plastics are widely preferred, and

many nozzles are made of PVC, polypropylene and glass filled nylon. Generally hot-

dipped galvanized steel materials are used for the fans.

Cooling towers for power plants can be categorized in two types: the natural draft

and mechanical draft towers. Natural draft cooling towers are mostly for large heat duties

and they require large concrete structures that are expensive to construct. Its height is up

to 200 meters with its concrete tower shell. They are also called hyperbolic cooling

towers which make use of difference in temperature between the ambient air and hotter

air inside the tower. Due to the layout of the tower no fan is required. Natural draft

towers tower are separated in two parts based on its construction design which are cross

flow natural draft and counter flow natural draft cooling towers.

Mechanical draft cooling towers have large fans to force or draw air through circulated

water. Mechanical draft towers are available in a large range of capacities. During the

construction, towers can be either factory built or field erected. For example, concrete
 62

towers are only field erected. Therefore site preparation, piping and access to the site

utilities should be available before the field work of cooling tower.

Table 3.4 Types of natural draft towers

Type Explanation
Cross flow tower Air is drawn across the falling water and the fill is located outside
the tower (Figure 3.13)
Counter flow Air is drawn up through the falling water and the fill is therefore
tower located inside the tower (Figure 3.14)

Many towers are constructed so that they can be grouped together to achieve the

desired capacity. Thus, many cooling towers are assemblies of two or more individual

cooling towers or “cells”. The number of cells they have, e.g., eight-cell tower, often

refers to such towers. Multiple-cell towers can be lineal, square, or round depending upon

the shape of the individual cells and whether the air inlets are located on the sides or

bottoms of the cells (Bureau of Energy Efficiency 2004).

Figure 3.13 Cross Flow Natural Figure 3.14 Counter Flow Natural
Draft Cooling Tower (Gulf Coast Draft Cooling Tower (Gulf Coast
Chemical Inc. 1995) Chemical Inc. 1995)
 63

Distance to the fuel sources: Moving natural gas from where it is purchased to the

power plants where it is going to be turned into electricity is an ever present challenge for

regulated market operations. For a power plant that is constructed too far from the main

gas transportation lines, the following considerations should be taken into account for a

reliable and safe operation: Negotiation with the suppliers and market companies, daily

energy supply optimization strategies should be established and implemented, today’s

and future’s financial transactions, nominated and scheduled supplies are required to

reduce exposure to pipeline penalties, risk management policies concerning natural gas

hedging and etc.

Location of natural gas pipelines are not a significant factor for selecting a

construction site. The U.S. natural gas pipeline network is a highly integrated

transmission and distribution grid that can transport natural gas to and from nearly any

location in the lower 48 States (EIA 2007).

Table 3.5 Lower 48 States of highly integrated pipeline network (EIA 2007)
Regions States
Northeast CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV
Midwest IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
Southeast AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN
Southwest AR, LA, NM, OK, TX
Central CO, IA, KS, MO, MT, NE, ND, SD, UT, WY
Western AZ, CA, ID, NV, OR, WA

Distance to the high voltage (HV) transmission network/Grid: In general, a new

power plant that is going to be constructed is located close the to main electricity

transmission lines. The operational activities of a power plant and reliability issues are

affected by its location. These operational activities are not in the scope of this thesis.
 64

From the construction point of view, the locations of a power plant with respect to its

distance to the transmission lines affect the substation of this power plant to be projected

and constructed. An efficient transmission of produced electricity from the substation

may require higher rate of power transformers and different types of high voltage circuit

breakers and etc. Thus, higher investment costs for the substations of power plants have

to be taken into account during the planning period of a power plant to be constructed.

Again, if a plant is also far from the main transmission lines, then additional network

should be constructed between the substation of the power plant and main transmission

line. But this is not a common situation, because most of the power plants are located

close to the transmission lines. Different power generating technologies such as solar

power plants or wind farms may be far from transmission lines because of their specific

available resources regions. These energy resources are usually located in areas with

good sun irradiation or good wind characteristics. The following key aspects have to be

studied for transmission network connection and substation construction projects which

can be studied with the construction management body of knowledge study which was

explained in the Chapter 2:

 potential generation connection points and connection method for the proposed

plant generation,

 spare capacity on the distribution network based on publicity available

information and any possible reinforcement requirements should be identified,

 a connection provision to the distribution network should be made based on

budgetary price,
 65

 for the power plant to be constructed, determination of generation capacity and

based on this capacity the import/export requirements for the generation and

 an assessment of grid connection points and connection voltages to the

distribution network operator (DNO) network should be studied,

Once these key aspects are studied before the contract period, a grid connection

plan is proposed in terms of cost, provision of power plant auxiliary supplies, obtaining

plans for constructing any additional infrastructure that may be required for the

connection, and obtaining grid connection for the planned completion date of the

proposed power plant with minimum system reinforcements (London Power Associates

2009). This plan is more focused on the field works and based on studied final key

aspects explained above.

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CHAPTER 4

METHODOLOGY

The current and future projected cost of new electricity generation capacity is

critical information for development of energy projections and analysis. The cost of new

power plant plays an important role in determining the mix of capacity additions that will

serve growing loads in the future. Because cost of construction and fuel to be used may

be substituted, these considerations become more feasible in term of economics. The cost

of new power plant also helps to determine how new capacity competes against existing

capacity. Current and projected future power plant construction costs of energy related

capital projects are explained in Chapter 5.

This study aims to provide a summary of main findings of a CCGT power plant

and its construction, including a comparison of the new estimates on construction cost

and construction management issues. The project focused on gathering current

information regarding the “overnight” and “all-in” cost for CCGT generation technology.

The cost estimates for the proposed technology were developed for generic facility of a

specific size and configuration, and assuming a location without unusual constraints or

infrastructure needs. This case study does not include a cogeneration technology within

power plant.

The inclusion or exclusion of various components of costs can have a large impact

on overall cost estimates. This includes categories of civil and structural costs (e.g.

allowance for site preparation, drainage, underground utilities, and buildings), project

indirect costs (e.g. a construction contingency), and owners costs (e.g. development costs,
 67

preliminary feasibility and engineering studies, environmental studies and permitting,

legal fees, insurance costs, property taxes during construction, and the electrical

interconnection costs, including a plant switchyard and tie in nearby transmission) (DOE

2010). All of these components are explained in case study.

The methodology of the study involves the following:

 investigations on previous and existing CCGT technologies from the

efficiency point of view,

 information gathering on construction costs, including previous, present

and future construction costs,

 defining assumptions and components,

 data and associated results based on assumptions and components selected

from the construction point of view, i.e., “Cost Estimation”.

 construction management, CM, duties and responsibilities,

 economics and reliability issues on the construction of a new power plant.

4.1 Cost Estimation

4.1.1 Capital Cost: Capital cost estimate is developed on 7-F Class gas turbine bases

CCGT power plant with a specific size and configuration, and assuming a location

without unusual constraints or infrastructure needs. Cost estimate was developed based

on assumed costs in 2010 on an overnight and all-in capital cost basis. In each cost

estimate, the total project engineering, procurement and construction (EPC or Turnkey)

cost was considered as;

 68

 Civil/structural material and installation

 Mechanical equipment supply installation

 Electrical instrumentation and controls (I&C) supply and installation

 Project indirect costs, fees and contingency etc.

 Owner’s costs (including project financing costs).

This approach does not always result in the lowest cost of construction; but it does

result in an achievable cost of construction. These cost considerations which are given

above are considered for the cost estimation.

4.1.2 Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses: O&M expenses consist of non-

fuel O&M costs (or direct operation of the proposed power plant), owner’s expenses, and

fuel rated expenses. Direct O&M costs include the following categories; Fixed O&M

expenses, Variable O&M, and Major Maintenance. Fixed O&Ms do not vary

significantly with generation. Variable O&M expenses are related to the production

which varies with electrical generation. Major maintenance generally requires an

extended outage, and it varies with electrical generation or the number of plants start-ups

and specific original equipment manufacturer recommendations and requirements.

 69

CHAPTER 5

CASE STUDY ON A COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANT

This chapter describes the technical characteristics and cost and performance

assumptions for a new natural gas combined-cycle gas turbine power plant. The intent is

to characterize a power plant based on its location, facility descriptions and basic

assumptions, technical performance, cost and development schedules. And a CCGT is

discussed in more details when compared to the previous chapter. There are three

objectives which are process and technology status for constructing a power plant, costs,

and economics and reliability issues for pre-construction and post-construction period,

recognizing that each plant is unique and those of actual projects may differ from these

assumptions. These assumptions may be helpful in the assessment of other issues where

generic information concerning natural gas combined-cycle power plants is needed.

Choosing the optimal design of components is made based on the type of

production e.g. base load or peak load. The main rule is that operational flexibility is

expensive. The main consideration in the design process is the choice of the optimal set

of gas turbines (Alstad - Foss 2004). For each combination of fuel cost, load factor and

capacity factor, there is an economical pressure and temperature of steam which will

result in the lowest cost of power. There is a tradeoff between increasing the efficiency

due to increase in steam pressure and temperature and the additional investment in

equipment required for the purpose (Bolland 2003). A deeper approach on the CCGT

power plants helps to get more understanding on this case study from technology point of

view. CCGT plants offer maximizing efficiency, minimizing emissions and a great
 70

approach to environmental issues when compared with the gas fired thermal plants.

Overall, 20% of the world’s electricity production is based on natural gas. The electricity

generation capacity in Europe is approximately 800 GW, of which 20% is based on

natural gas. In the United States, the total generating capacity is approximately 1000 GW,

of which 395 GW is based on gas. CCGT is the dominant gas-based technology for

intermediate and base-load power. A CCGT plant consists of one or more gas turbine

electricity generators equipped with heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) to capture

heat from the gas turbine exhaust. Steam produced by the HRSGs power a steam turbine

generator to produce additional electric power. It’s an important design criterion that

CCGT plants respond relatively fast to changes in supply (from base-load capacity) and

demand. Technological developments aim to increase the efficiency by raising the gas

turbine inlet temperature and simultaneously decrease the investment cost and emissions

of CCGT plants (Ishikawa 2008). Possible/expected efficiency increase encourages

independent investors to construct new power plants. Their generating efficiency is

expected to increase from today’s 52-60% (lower heating value, LHV) to some 64% by

2020. But there is a fact that even if new CCGT power plants constructed till 2020, they

will have only 18% of global electricity output by 2020 and 15% by the 2030 due to

today’s projections. And when compared to the coal-fired power plants, CCGT plants

have much lower specific investment costs. They emit roughly half as much CO2 per

kWh as coal-fired power plants. Non greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions e.g. SO2, NOx

(nitrogen oxide), and particles are also relatively low. The best available CCGT power

plants emit approximately 50% less CO2 and up to nine times less NOx per kWh than the

coal fired power plants. The emission of NOx of a CCGT plant may be reduced by
 71

application of SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx). Table 5.1 provides the

characteristic data of NOx of a CCGT plant without and with SCR (IEA 2009). SCR

technology is used for the reduction of NOx from gas fired units. This technology is

capable of reducing nitrogen oxides with an efficiency of up to 95%. As the energy costs

rise along with environmental awareness, additions of SCRs to the systems will become

more common in order to keep energy production cost effective and the environment

clean.

Table 5.1 Characteristic NOx emissions of a CCGT plant with and without SCR (IEA
2009).
Combined Cycle plant Combined Cycle
Fuel Unit
(no SCR) plant with SCR
NOx ] 52.5 23
emission 45 20
0.30 0.13

At the beginning of this chapter it is mentioned that; “choosing the optimal design

of components is made based on the type of production e.g. base load or peak load”.

Based on this information, and due to their low specific investment costs but relatively

high fuel costs (natural gas) compared to coal-fired plants, CCGT plants are generally in

lower demand in terms of long term economical expectations, which means they are

operated in intermediate rather than in base load. The opposite approach is also true for

the coal-fired power plants. This explains why they will have only 18% of global

electricity output by 2020 and 15% by the 2030 with respect to today’s projections.

Due to high price of construction materials and equipment and the increasing

demand for new CCGT plants the investment cost of a CCGT power plant has increased

from approximately $800/kW in 2002 to $1100/kW in 2009. The investment cost of

 72

CCGT plants may decline from $1100/kW in 2010, to $1000/kW in 2020, and to

$900/kW in 2030, according to International Energy Agency. The annual operation and

maintenance (O&M) costs of a CCGT plant is estimated at 4% of the specific investment

costs, i.e. $44/kW/a in 2010, $40/kW/a in 2020 and $36/kW/a in 2030. Representative

generation costs of a CCGT are $65-80/MWh, typically $72.5/MWh , of which $30-

45/MWh for natural gas (IEA 2009). This information on CCGT power plant is presented

in a tabular form in Table 5.2, Table 5.3, Table 5.4 and Table 5.5.

Table 5.2 Technical performance of CCGT power plants

Technical Performance Data and Explanations
Energy Input Natural gas

Output Electricity

Technologies CCGT

Efficiency, % 52-60%

Construction time, months Minimum 24; Typical 27; Maximum 30

Technical lifetime, yr 30

Load (capacity) factor, % 20-60

Max. (plant) availability,% 92

Typical (capacity) size, MW 60-430

Installed (existing) capacity,GW 1124 (end of 2006)

Avarage capacity aging Differs from country to country. CCGT plant
construction started around 1990.

Table 5.3 Environmental impact of CCGT power plants

Environmental Impact Data and Explanations
CO2 and other GHG emissions, 340-400
kg/MWh

Nox, g/MWh 30
 73

Table 5.4 Costs of CCGT power plants

Costs Data and Explanations
Investment cost, including 1000-1250; Typical 1100
interest during construction,
$/kW
O&M cost (fixed and variable), 44
$kW/a
Fuels cost, $/MWh 30-45
Economic lifetime,yr 25
Interest rate, % 10
Total production cost, $/MWh 60-80; Typical 72.5
Market share,% 20

Table 5.5 Data projections of CCGT power plant

Data Projections 2010 Datas 2020 Datas 2030 Datas
Net efficiency (LHV) 52-60% ≤64% ≤64%
Investment cost, including interest 1100 1000 900
during construction, $/kW
Total production cost, $/MWh 72.5 70 70
Market share, % of global 20 18 15
electricity output

Based on the above information, a case study on CCGT power plant is presented

in detail next.

5.1 Assumptions and Components

A 2x1 configuration using F-class natural gas turbine technology with production

capacity of 540 megawatts (MWs) is studied. Other plant components include a

switchyard for electrical interconnection, cooling towers for cooling the steam turbine

condenser, a water treatment facility and control and maintenance facilities are

considered in terms of cost for the construction of this 2x1 configuration, 540 MW

CCGT power plant. Location of the proposed power plant is assumed not far from the

main natural gas transportation lines and high voltage power transmission lines, therefore
 74

issues related to the Chapter 3.2.3 do not have any additional influences on the

construction phase of the plant and the investment cost of the plant. One of the

consequences of this matter is shorter construction period and lower technical costs

which is explained at the end of this case study.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) reference ambient conditions

are assumed to be applied to FA-class gas turbine which are 14.7 psia, 59 degree

Fahrenheit and 60% relative humidity. The generating capacity of 540MWs is obtained

at this ISO conditions. A 2x1 configuration combined-cycle plant consists of two F-class

gas turbine and generators and a steam turbine generator which is one of the most

common technologies in use for large size CCGT power plants since the last ten years.

Since two gas turbines and HRSGs are used, a large steam turbine generator is used.

Larger plant sizes result in economies of scale for construction and operation, and designs

using multiple combustion turbines provide improved part-load efficiency.

Additional peaking capacity can be obtained by use of various power

augmentation features, including inlet air chilling and duct firing (direct combustion of

natural gas in the heat recovery steam generator). Duct burners use supplementary firing

to increase the heat energy of a gas turbine’s exhaust, making it possible to increase the

output of a HRSG. Most of the modern combined-cycle plants are designed for baseload

operation using duct burners. Generally, duct firing provides electrical output at lower

capital cost. It is therefore often utilized during the peaking hours of load. For example,

an additional 20 to 50 MWs can be gained from a single-train (1x1 configuration) by use

of duct firing. In our case study up to 70 MWs of additional power is assumed to be

gained by duct firing. The main issue is not the thermal efficiency of duct fire, which is
 75

much lower than the base combined-cycle plant’s thermal efficiency. But the cost of duct

firing is low and other than that; the additional electrical output can be valuable during

peak load periods.

Pipeline natural gas is the fuel of choice because of relatively stable prices which

may be guaranteed at forecasted gas price by the pipe line operator companies,

deliverability and low air emissions. Therefore there is no need to build storage for back-

up fuel. Generally distillate fuel oil is used as back up fuel, however, its use for this

purpose has become less common during the last decade because of additional emissions

of sulfur oxides. A periodic testing is needed in this case to ensure proper operation on

fuel oil which has increased turbines maintenance that caused by fuel oil during the

operation. This results to an increase in the scheduled outages of the system and

eventually decreases the plant availability. It is now more common to ensure fuel

availability by securing firm gas transportation. Fairly significant amounts of water is

required for cooling the steam condenser, therefore it is assumed that the power plant is

planned to be constructed near a water resource, e.g. lake or river. Actually water

consumption can be reduced by use of dry (closed cycle) cooling. But this is not the case

in our study. In addition to this, the use of dry cooling has a negative influence on cost

and power plant performance (efficiency).

Electrical and Control Systems: The 2x1 configuration conventional CCGT hast two

combustion turbines (CT) and one steam turbine (ST) electric generator. The generators

for the CTs are 60 Hz and rated at approximately 215 MVA with an output voltage of 18

kV. The ST electric generator is 60 Hz and rated at approximately 310 MVA with an
 76

output voltage of 18 kV. Each CT and ST electric generator is connected to a high-

voltage bus in the conventional CCGT via dedicated generator circuit breaker, generator

step-up transformer, and a disconnect switch. The generator’s step-up transformer

increases the voltage from electric generators from 18 kV to interconnected high voltage.

This CCGT power plant is controlled using a Distributed Control System (DCS). The

DCS provides centralized control of the facility by integrating the control systems

provided with each individual CT and associated electric generator, ST and associated

electric generator, and the control of Balance-of-Plant (BOP) systems and equipment.

5.2 Management/Pre-Field Actions

The proposed CCGT power plant is based on the General Electric 7FA gas turbine

generator in 2x1 configuration. The base load capacity is 540 MWs and the plant includes

an additional 70 MWs of power augmentation using duct burners. The plant is fueled

with pipeline natural gas using a firm gas transportation contract with capacity release

provision. No back up fuel is provided. Condenser cooling is wet mechanical draft as

explained in Chapter 3.2.3 of this thesis. After plant facility description and basic

assumptions, actions (project financing of the proposed combined-cycle power plant) of

the following groups should be defined from the construction management point of view

that which was previously discusses and explained in details in Chapter 2.2. Parties

involved in this plant construction are financiers, owners, insurers and original equipment

manufacturers (OEM). Project developers and their ratios on project are;

 consumer-owned utility: 5%

 investor-owned utility: 5%
 77

 independent power producer: 90%

Financing assumptions for these project developers are shown in Table 5.6. Long term

construction debt is assumed to be refinanced at the completion of construction.

Table 5.6 Project financing assumptions on 2x1 combined cycle plant

Consumer- Investor-
Developer Independent Developer
owned Utility owned Utility
General inflation 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%
Debt financing fee 2% 2% 2%
Debt peyment period 20 yrs 20 yrs 20 yrs
Capital amortization - 20 yrs 20 yrs
period

Debt/Equity ratio 100% 50/50% Development:0/100%

Construction:60/40%
Long-term:60/40%

Interest on debt - - Development:n/a

(real/nominal) Construction:6.3/9.0%
Long-term:6.1/8.7%

Return on equity - - 14.4/17.3%

Federal income tax rate n/a 34% 34%
Tax recovery period n/a 20 yrs 20 yrs
State income tax rate n/a 3.7% 3.7%
Property tax 0% 1.4% 1.4%
Insurence 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%

Another important step is to define the “technical performance” of the power plant

before the project period. Net power to be generated, operating limits of the power plant,

scheduled outages, forced outages, system availability and etc. are defined with the

selected technology. These technical performance data of the combined-cycle power

plant are shown in Table 5.7. Both the financial and technical negotiations are made

during the contract period. Once the contract negotiations are over and all parties have

come to terms, on both technical and economic conditions, it is time to start the job. The
 78

first step will be to set up the job site. Actually, the whole purpose of the site preparation

is to facilitate the management process. During the process of managing project in field

all of the steps are discussed in detail. Some example are the amount of man power

required for each specific stage of the construction phase based on schedule; allocation of

construction equipments in the field such as units, modules, auxiliary generators. Safety

precautions are well determined and requirement education and information support is

given to the workers. At this stage of the construction a site manager is highly

recommended who is responsible for administrative requirements, the purchasing

process, and relationship with the third parties. This site manager has not too much to do

with technical works. This position is needed for a better construction management

during the very beginning of the site work, because delays caused by miscommunication

due to lack of management skills may cause delays on overall project which means a late

start-up time and associated lost in $/kWh.

 79

Table 5.7 Technical performance of 2x1 combined cycle plant (page 1 of 2)

Technical
Data
Performance
Net power New and clean: 540MW
baseload, 610MW peak
Lifetime average; 528MW
baseload, 597MW peak
Explanations
Lifetime average is based on 1%
degradation per year, 98.75% recovery
at hot gas path inspection or major
overhaul, GE data

Operating Minimum load: 40% Minimum load: One GT in service,

limits Cold start: 3 hours point of minimum constant firing
Ramp rate: 7%/min. temperature operation

Scheduled Scheduled outage factor: 4%, Based on plant maintenance schedule

outages 15days/yr of a 7-day annual inspection, a 10-day
hot gas path inspection & overhaul
every 6 years. Planned maintenance
intervals are GE baseline
recommendations for baseload service.
İn additon, assumes two additional 28-
day scheduled outages and one 90 day
plant rebuild during the 30-year plant
life.

Forced Forced outage rate: 4% NERC Generating Availability Data

Outages Mean time to repair: 24 hours
System (GADS) weighted average
equivalent forced outage rate for
combined-cycle power plants, reduced
to account for improving availability
of combined-cycle plants. Mean time
to repair is GADS average for full
outages.

Availability 92% Estimated lifetime average equivalent

annual availability at the busbar.

Heat rate New & clean (Btu/kWh): Baseload is new & clean rating for GE
(HHV, net, 6880 baseload; 9290 207FA/ Lifetime average is new &
ISO incremental duct firing; 7180 clean value derated by 2.2%.
conditions) full power. Degradation estimates are from GE.
Lifetime average (Btu/kWh): Duct firing heat rate is
7030 baseload; 9500 recommmendation.
incremental duct firing; 7340
full power.
 80

Table 5.7 Technical performance of 2x1 combined cycle plant (page 2 of 2)

Technical
Data Explanations
Performance
Seasoanal Seasonal output factors are Based on power output ambient
output determined based on location temperature curve for GE STAG
input ambients temperatures combined-cycle plant using 30-year
of the power plant to be monthly average temperatures an
constructed estimation is made.

Elevation See Table 3.3 for power Based on standard gas turbine altitute
adjustment output correction factors for correction curve.
for power different elevations. Power
output output factor: 0.985

After financial assumption and technology are specified cost and development

schedule is prepared. At the very beginning of this development schedule studies are

made with respect to draft project study and concluded with the final project study where

all parties reach an agreement. Table 5.8 shows the costs of the 2x1 configuration CCGT

power plant and project development schedule.

5.3 Economics and Reliability

At the very beginning of this thesis, the economics on a power plant and its

relationship with the technical considerations and reliability issue have been mentioned

and an illustration of this relationship is presented at Figure 1.1 in Chapter 1. Here, the

investment cost of a 2x1 configuration CCGT power plant is defined. The components of

the investment cost of this power plant are based on, installed capital equipment,

contractors’ engineering and construction costs that are involved into construction,

connection to cooling water, connection to a gas terminal, spare parts and etc. These

parameters are given and used for determination of economics of a power plant. Their

derivation/calculation methods are not discussed in this thesis since it is another

 81

concentration based on mathematical modeling for each specific parameter. Previous

year’s investment cost datas are investigated (last 10 years) before this table of economic

is constructed. Construction cost of the power plant is yielded here in terms of $/kW.

While the cost of this construction is estimated, an equilibrium market conditions are

considered where the supply of goods are equal to their demand. Since there is neither

surplus nor shortage in the power market, there is no innate tendency for the price of the

items to change. Beside its cost project time is also determined at this stage.

Table 5.8 Cost and development schedule of a 2x1 combined cycle plant (page 1 of 2)
Cost &
Data Explanations
Schedule
Development Baseload configuration: Excludes financing fees and interest
& $945/kW overnight; durinnf construction. Assumes
construction $1038/kW all in. “equilibrium” market conditions.
(D&C) cost Power augmentation Values are based on new & clean
configuration: $878/kW rating.
overnight; $964/kW
all in.

Lead time Development: 2 yrs

Construction: 2 yrs

D&C annual 1%/1%/59%/39%

cash flow

Fixed Base load configuration: Includes operating labor, routine

operating and $12.1/kW/yr. Power maintenance, general & overhead,
maintenance augmentation configuration: fees, contingency and an allowance for
(O&M) costs $11.2/kW/yr. start up costs and average sales tax.
Excludes property taxes an insurence
which is shown in Table 5.6. Values
are basen on new and clean rating.

Variable $4.7/MWh Includes consumables, catalyst

operating replacement, makeup water and waste
costs waterdisposal costs, long-term major
equipment service agreement,
contingecy and an allowance for sales
tax. Excludes any greenhouse gas fees.
 82

Table 5.8 Cost and development schedule of a 2x1 combined cycle plant (page 2 of 2)
Cost &
Data Explanations
Schedule
Interconnectio $15.00/kW/yr Includes scheduling, system control
n and regional and dispatch, and reactive supply and
transmission voltage control ancillary services.
costs Busbar effects are omitted. Value is
based on new & clean rating.

Overnight cost: Overnight cost is an estimate of the cost at which a plant could be

constructed assuming that the entire process from planning through completion could be

accomplished in a single day. This concept is useful to avoid any impact of financing

issues and assumptions on estimated costs. Starting from overnight cost estimates,

electricity modeling explicitly takes account of the time required to bring each generation

technology and the costs of financing construction in the period before a plant becomes

operational.

Technical & cost datas for the proposed case study are shown in Table 5.7 and

Table 5.8. A comparison between our case study and datas from the US Energy

Information Administration for the same technology F-class gas CCGT power plant is

shown below to make a better understanding.

Figure 5.1 Cost Datas for F-Class CCGT Power Plant (EIA 2011)

Plant
Characteristics Plant Costs
Nominal Heat Overnight Fixed O&M Variable O&M
Capacity Rate Capital Cost Cost Cost
(kilowatts) (Btu/kWh) (2010 $/kW) (2010$/kW) (2010 $/MWh)
Conventional CCGT
(EIA 2010) 540.000 7.050 $978 $14,39 $3,43
CASE STUDY
(2011) 540.000 6.880 $945 $12,10 $4,70
 83

Net delivered gas prices are subject to change based on incremental pipeline

capacity costs. Delivered gas prices are generally expressed in variable cost terms

(Btu/kWh). Actually, a portion of the price will be fixed, and will have to be paid

whether or not the plant is operating. It is assumed that the firm pipeline transportation

component of the fuel price is a fixed payment, but that portion of this payment can be

recaptured through the capacity release market. Therefore the only fixed portion of the

fuel price with respect to power plant dispatch decisions is the portion of the fuel

transportation cost that is not recoverable in the capacity release market. Here, it is

assumed that the total firm transportation costs comprise 90% of the delivery costs. And

it is assumed that 10% of this cost can typically be captured in the capacity release

market. This approach is proposed to the power plants where sales of electricity produced

are granted and to those where alternative pipeline transportation pipelines are available

as an option. Figure 5.2 shows the historical information on U.S. wellhead gas prices in

U.S. dollars per thousand cubic feet on a yearly basis between 1999 and 2010.

Figure 5.2 U.S. Wellhead Gas Prices (EIA 2011)

9
8
US $/thousand cubic feet

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 US wellhead gas prices
1998

2005
1996

1997

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010
 84

Table 5.9 and Table 5.10 give a clear definition on cost associated with each

element that is considered during the construction of a CCGT power plant. And finally

Table 5.11 shows the overall total project investment cost.

Table 5.9 Investment cost of a 2x1 combined cycle plant (turnkey)

Turnkey Costs $ USD (x1000)
Total installed capital equipment 289280

Contructor’s engineering 32070

Contructor’s construction 40490

Miscellaneous & start-up costs 10690

Contingency (10%) 37200

TOTAL TURNKEY COSTS 409730

Table 5.10 Investment cost of a 2x1 combined cycle plant (additional costs)
In % of
Additional costs $ USD (x1000)
Turnkey cost
Turnkey contr. 5.0% 20486

Connection to cooling water 4.0% 16389

Connection to HB overhead 5.0% 20486

lines/upgrade and HV lines

Connection to gas terminal 6.0% 25583

Conceptual enginnering, etc. 5.0% 20486

Power and fuel for comissioning 0.5% 2048

Spare parts (not capitalized) 1.0% 4097

Verifications, insurance, risk analysis 2.5% 10243

and environmental studies

Contingency, additional costs 15% 61459

TOTAL ADDITIONAL COSTS 181277
 85

Table 5.11 Total project investment cost of a 2x1 combined cycle plant
Total investment cost $ USD (x1000)
Turnkey costs 409730
Additional costs 181277

TOTAL project investment costs 591007

As we see from Table 5.11 an estimated total project investment cost of a

combined cycle power plant is around 590 million U.S. dollars. It should be noted that

this cost rate is increasing every year based on energy costs and capital costs. In other

words the two major factors that are increasing the cost of electric generation are

increased fuel cost and increased cost for new construction. On the other hand price may

decrease if the technology used becomes more mature and the output efficiency is

increased beyond the expectations.

Based on the forecasting of power generation investments, energy demand is

likely to grow in the future. While new technologies will have an important impact, they

are not likely to be a complete solution for all of our energy issues, and therefore resource

planning will continue to be made on long-term periods because of the numbers of years

required to plan, develop and construct facilities. Almost every two decades there has

been a strong economic growth period and periods of recession. Under the effects of

these circumstances, planners must ensure an adequate and reliable supply of electricity

for customers at all usage levels regardless of any short-term economic fluctuations.

Therefore, forecasting should be taken into account during the periods of strong

economic growth, with high customer demand. At these extreme periods reliability issue

should be discussed with the construction of new power plants. Since the future is
 86

unknown, forecasting usually involves testing a number of different scenarios that

include high and low, facilities, fuels and environmental costs which helps to create a

safe and more reliable power market (Minnesota Office of Energy Security and the

Reliability Administrator 2009). Load growth is an important factor. Forecasting should

cover a range of foreseeable load-growth outcomes and should be taken into account for

uncertainty with achievable conservation levels and potentially significant industrial load

growth. The forecast of energy need should include projected power plant construction

need for all utilities.

5.3.1 Reliability from generation point of view: The main goal of generation

planning is to meet the electrical energy needs of the customers at the least cost safely,

reliably and on equal basis. Generation planning deals with future decisions which have

to be made in an environment of uncertainty. The key sources of such uncertainty

include: Fuel prices, investment costs, unit operation, regulatory developments and etc.

The probability of consumers being disconnected for any reason can be reduced

by increased investment during the planning phase, operating phase, or both.

Overinvestment can lead to excessive operating costs. Consequently the economic

constraint can be violated although the system may be very reliable. On the other hand

underinvestment leads to the opposite situation. It is evident therefore that the economic

and reliability constraints can be competitive, and this leads to difficult managerial

decisions at both planning and operating phases (Billinton and Allan 1996). Increased

investment means; an investment plan for a new power plant on the planning phase or

adding new units such as HRSGs or duct burners to an existing plant on the operating

phase. Reliability of a system is also related to the investment cost. To be able to achieve
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a higher reliability for the generating unit to be constructed, additional investment costs

has to be incurred. The relationship between the reliability of a system (R) and the

investment cost (C) of this system is seen in Figure 5.3.

Reliability (R)

Investment cost (C)

Figure 5.3 Incremental Cost of Reliability (AccessScience)

Based on Figure 5.3, as the incremental cost (∆C) is increased, an increase in the

reliability (∆R) is observed. But there is an important point that can be learned from

Figure 5.3. Although the reliability increases with the investment cost, this situation is

actually limited, because the increment level for the reliability decreases when investment

cost increases. Basically it’s very expensive to increase reliability based on investment

continuously.

In this chapter investment costs, and the effects of fuel prices are investigated

from a construction point of view. For the reliability issue, unit operation or influence of

a new constructed power plant in the generating environment is discussed. In the

deregulated electricity markets each generator can have an influence on prices. Since

electricity demand is both time varying and uncertain, the time varying character of

electricity demand is often represented by load duration curve, the inverse of which can

be converted into a probability distribution function. These processes allow us to

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incorporate overall uncertainty for the underlying demand. Power system planning with

respect to generation planning uses different methods such as; “Levelized bus-bar”,

“screening curve analysis” and evaluation of power system reliability” (Stoll 1989).

These methods are not discussed in this thesis since they are not the main focus of this

thesis.

As mentioned before, changes in regulations governing the generation and sales of

electricity has encouraged more and more cost control over the construction. This led to

the creation of a new kind of power generators and independent power producers. These

independent power producers were focused on selling electricity at a profit, with their

selling prices reflecting the supply and demand of the electric power system. Therefore,

they were much focused on controlling costs and schedule, especially when building new

power plants which also affected the reliability of the system. Investors were forcing

owners and contractors to become extremely cost conscious and take responsibility for

not only the building of the power plant but also its output efficiency. One of the technical

results of these applications has led to a major shift in the basic type of power plant being

constructed. It led to a shift from large steam driven turbines to smaller gas fired turbines

that could handle rapid load shifts at higher machine efficiencies. These types of power

plants could be delivered, installed and commissioned much sooner than other large

turbines. As the power plants became smaller or again large but with multiple turbines

and generators associated to them, reliability calculations has changed. Instead of losing

large generating capacities, now smaller generating capacities are lost which led to an

increase on reliability of the overall system. Scheduled outages when compared to large

old power generating units became lower. Economically expensive power plants can also
 89

be substituted with the new technologies which help increase the reserve capacity to

ensure the reliability of its electricity grid.

Within CCGT power plant Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) also takes

an important role. A HRSG yields additional power which is aimed to be but on the other

hand it may decrease the availability of the system. Unsatisfactory reliability and

durability problems occur during the full range of operation of a CCGT power plant such

as at partial loads, at shut-downs and at restarts from diverse pre-start conditions. The

biggest reason of this situation is based on the selection of HRSGs. The selection is

usually from the lowest bidder. To be able to succeed in the competitive market, HRSG

manufacturers have been compelled to concentrate on developing low-cost HRSG

designs which just meet the requirements of purchasers’ specifications and boiler design

code. Design enhancements that improve reliability and durability at even a small cost are

discouraged because most purchasers will give no credit for durability and select the

lowest bidder (Pearson and Anderson 1999). This one time investment on HRSGs affects

the overall performance of the investments with an economical value of hundreds

millions in power plant industry.

Reliability issue for a new CCGT power plant is affected by economics of this

power plant, and vice versa. But reliability is more affected by the technical

considerations and technologies that are selected for a power plant. This is generally a

one way relationship between reliability and technical considerations. Finally it can be

said that there are two main factors should be taken into account: the cost of reliability

and the worth of reliability.

 90

The cost of reliability is basically the amount of investments in terms of cost to be

able to achieve a certain level of reliability. And the worth of reliability is the economical

feedback gained by the investor, or benefits derived by the costumer.

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CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION

The need for effective management of a power plant construction is an extremely

important issue. This administrative approach to the power plant construction helps

engineers, managers and different parties involved into this process. Technical

information based on the proposed plant technology also helps make critical decisions

with the consideration of high management skills; during the planning phase and

construction phase. These management actions/decisions can save a huge amount of

money if they are taken with the technical considerations, because once parties start to

involve field work such as site preparation, erection of building, building turbines and

etc., there is no way back and every decision taken may be money saving or may cause

the loss of a huge amount of money that directly affect the construction cost and

schedule.

The CM is one of the key people in a construction team. The CM’s knowledge of

industry and the CM’s expertise in several management functions are critical in the

success of a project. However, most CMs use traditional methods to perform their duties.

Beside the duties of a CM, as we discussed in Chapter 1, the main objective of

this thesis is to investigate the construction attiributes of natural gas fired power plants,

and technical issues related to technology and construction. While a new power plant is

being constructed the steps being followed and the objective of each step is determined

and examined such as schedule of the construction, time, field construction works,

generation technology to be used. All of these steps (e.g. erection of HRSG for a CCGT
 92

power plant) were studied on the basis of the construction cost of a power plant that is

discussed in detail in Chapter 5.

Basically, traditional management process is divided into three part.The first part

is the project delivery method and sourcing the available resources for construction.

Planning process is then achieved that includes many issues such as risk management,

defining responsibilities of the parties, selection of personnel (with their supervision).

Setting up the site is the next. In fact, the whole purpose of the site setup is to facilite the

management process. Thought and great effort are given to the administrative

requirements, the actual site project management tools that will be used, the purchasing

process, the quality and its control, and the safety managed. The second part is again

managing as we discussed but here the most important is the schedule of the construction.

Control of the manpower, tools and equipment, and site services are major components

that results in succesfull power plant construction management. The third part is

composed of interdisciplinary project works such as the melting pot of electrical and

mechanical projects. Revision of the updated projects is also another action of the third

part of management process which leads the whole process to a succesfull end and to a

succesfull comissioning. These considerations of management process are emphasized in

this thesis, since these actions define the general situtation of an on-going construction

process. Computer softwares enables engineers to enter all this information to make a

better evalution during the planning phase. Feasible and time saving applications are

made from the very begining from constructual material selection to complicated

integrated sytem cost analysis based on used technology and site equipments by using

programs such as CAD. Building Information Technology (BIM) is a new era for CMs
 93

where they can be educated and make field application based on BIM that enables a

better material allocation and a better launch to different databases and their evaluation

under one roof.

Cost always takes the first place for any kind of investment. After determination

and investigation of costs related to power plant construction, we can say that investment

costs for power plant (a CCGT plant in this thesis) will keep almost the same as 2010

data which is close to $1100/kW for the next ten years. Projected future cost of a CCGT

power plant is $1000/kW at 2020 and $900/kW at 2030. Based on case study in Chapter

5., it can be said that the primary sources of the increase in construction costs are (1)

material input cost, including the cost of raw materials such as steel and as well as

increased cost of components manufactured from these raw materials (e.g. transformers,

turbines, pumps); (2) price of fuel; (3) market for large construction project managent.

Increase worldwide demand for new generating and other electric infrastructure projects,

particularly in China, has been cited as a significant reason for recent escalation in the

construction cost of new power plants. Despite these higher costs, utilities will continue

to invest in baseload generation. This increasing cost in the next decade may result in an

additional effort to develop more mature and efficent turbines. But we have not reached

this level yet, therefore this situation eventually will effect costumers, because the cost of

electricity from new plants will be higher than that from existing plants.

Beside other main parameters that affect the cost, the additional costs associated

the constructions phase can be managed by CM methods. This method helps avoid

unexpected costs during construction period and ensures a reliable construction period. A

safe and trustable construction environment also helps decrease the overall cost. Through
 94

risk analysis that is conduct with cost analysis, the risks that affect the levelized

investment cost of a power plant other than the capital investment cost can be decreased

significantly by a proper management.

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