Professional Documents
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11
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Top Plants:
Two Innovative Nuclear Plants
November 2009
28
TK
Large
Valve
Inventory
Petrovalve
ON THE C OVER
In January, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. replaced the steam generators in Unit 1 of its 2,300MW Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in a very short 58-day refueling outage. The contract schedule specified 58 days and 14 hours breaker to breaker for the outage. Unit 2s
steam generators were replaced last year. Steam Generating Team West, a URS Washington Division/AREVA NP joint venture company, provided services for both projects. Photo
by Jim Zimmerli, courtesy PG&E
INDuSTRY TRENDS
42 Map of Nuclear Power Plants in North america
SPECIal REPORTS
POWER IN CHIlE
45 Chile Plans for Growth with all the Options Energy Mix
Chile gets high marks for its business-friendly environment, which may in some
cases make it a more attractive location for developing power generation projects
than North American and European markets. POWER partnered with Global Business Reports to learn how a stable South American democracy is tackling the challenges we all faceand a few localized ones as well.
BENCHMaRKING
(800) 255-9527
www.petrovalve.com
sales@petrovalve.com
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FEATURES
FUELS
16th AnnuAl
NUCLEAR
Design. Build.
92
Operate. Maintain.
Discover Technologies
for All Power Plant
Lifecycle Stages
March 1-3
2010
Hilton Americas-Houston
Houston, Texas
www.digitalplantexpo.com
DEPARTMENTS
6
8
8
11
12
12
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SPEAkING OF POwER
Time Flies
GLObAL MONITOR
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CH2M HILL will work with you to meet the worlds demand for energy by
safely delivering the most challenging programs and complex projects
globally and locally. Our expertise enables us to respond to your needs
quickly.
CH2M HILL provides innovative engineering, procurement, construction,
operations and consulting solutions that span the entire power value
chain.
atmb200901.007.indd
2009 CH2M HILL
ch2mhill.com/power
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Remove SOX and other acid gases using sodium sorbents in a Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) system, a low-cost
alternative to semi-dry or wet scrubbing systems. Sorbent is stored and injected dry directly into the flue duct
where it reacts with acid gas, thus requiring no slurry equipment or reactor vessel. Spent sorbent is collected
through a baghouse or electrostatic precipitator, or through an existing wet scrubber vessel. DSI may also help
to capture mercury and reduce NOX.
SOLVAir Select 300 sodium bicarbonate and Select 200 trona are the most effective products for use in DSI systems.
Both undergo rapid calcinations of contained sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate when heated at or above
275F. The decomposition brings unreacted sodium carbonate to the particle surface, allowing HCl and SO2 to be
neutralized. Byproducts are sodium chloride and sodium sulfate, which are collected with fly ash.
Concerned about high capital and operating costs? Call the SOLVAir professionals at 800-765-8292 or go to
www.solvair.us for information you need to effectively control air pollution.
Dont miss Dr. Yougen Kongs presentation, Dry Sorbent Injection of Trona and Sodium Bicarbonate for SO2 , SO3 ,
NOX and Mercury Mitigation at Power-Gen 2009!
PRODUCTS
SPEAKING OF POWER
Time Flies
plants broke ground in 2009 and six in 2008. Next, the Russian
Federation, with 31 operating reactors, has another nine reactors under construction. Tied for third place, with six reactors
under construction, are India (17 operating reactors) and the
Republic of Korea (20 operating reactors). Japan will have 55
nuclear plants when its two units now under construction are
completed.
Heres another interesting observation that helps put the
progress of the U.S. nuclear program into perspective. The explosive growth of global nuclear power construction is determined not only by the number of projects under construction
but also by the number of projects that have been recently
completed. IAEA statistics show that the last nuclear plants to
enter commercial service (ignoring the Browns Ferry 1 restart
in 2007) were Chinas Tianwan 1 and Indias Tarapur 3, both in
mid-2006.
The number of new plants under construction grew from 33 in
2008 to more than 50 in 2009, but only two plants have been
completed since 2006. Lots of starts but few plants completed
means that the backlog of work under way is growing. Even so,
its a fraction of the peak of 233 plants under construction in
1979. The average has been around 30 to 40 plants under construction in each of the past 15 years.
Think Globally
Act Locally
The U.S. remains the largest single market for new nuclear power
plants given its 30-plus applications pending before the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. Nevertheless, the U.S. is also unable to
produce pressure vessels and key forgings, it has an unproven
new licensing system, it has an administration that seems to be
ambivalent about the advantages of nuclear power, and it has a
nuclear industry distracted by a potential quick profit from the
carbon allowances promised by passage of carbon emissions reduction legislation. The U.S. nuclear industry is producing paper
while other countries are pouring concrete.
The Roman poet Ovid is credited with observing that tempus
edax rerum (time [is the] devourer of all things). I hope he
wasnt talking about the nuclear future of the U.S.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE, is POWERs editor-in-chief.
www.powermag.com
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Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor Global Monitor
Global Monitor
Worlds First EPR Gets a Roof
1. Raising the roof. The worlds first EPR, Olkiluoto 3, in September reached a major milestone with installation of the reactor dome.
Two cranes hoisted the steel component weighing 200 metric tons and
measuring almost 47 meters across and lowered it into place 44 meters above the ground. The inner section of the reactor building is now
completely covered, and to seal it, the dome will be welded around
its circumference and covered with 7,000 metric tons of concrete. The
project, expected to come online in 2012, is three years behind schedule, plagued by planning and material delays. Courtesy: AREVA
www.powermag.com
L I Q U I D
L E V E L
M E A S U R E M E N T
AURORA
Float-based level
indicator with a
redundant Guided
Wave Radar
transmitter
ATLAS
Float-based
Magnetic Level
Indicator
(MLI)
JUPITER
Float-based
Magnetostrictive
level transmitter
shown mounted
to an Atlas MLI
Chemical Processing
GLOBAL MONITOR
June, owing mainly to a lack of public support for coal as a fuel
for future power generation.
Alstom, Dow Facility to Test CO2 Capture from Flue Gas. Alstom
teamed with the Dow Chemical Co. to start up a 2-MW pilot plant that
captures CO2 from the flue gas of a coal-fired boiler at the Dow-owned
facility in South Charleston, W.Va. The pilot plant uses proprietary
advanced-amine technology jointly developed by Alstom and Dow to
capture approximately 1,800 metric tons of CO2 per year (Figure 3). It
is expected to operate for the next two years. Data from the test will
be use to optimize the technology, the companies said.
Alstom is testing, or plans to test, three main carbon capture
technologies at 10 facilities around the world. The companys oxyfuel
combustion processa precombustion carbon capture technology
is being developed at Lacq, a gas plant in France, and at Vattenfalls
Schwartz Pumpe project. Along with developing advanced-amine
technology at the Dow pilot facility, Alstom has been testing its
chilled ammonia process at the Karlshamn oil and gas facility in Sweden and at We Energies Pleasant Prairie plant in Wisconsin.
In Octoberafter 7,000 hours of operationAlstom and We Energies announced long-awaited results for that pilot project, saying it
had successfully demonstrated 90% CO2 capture from a 1.7-MW plant
slipstream. (See our Feb. 2008 issue for project details.) The project also produced high-purity CO2 with low ammonia (<10 ppm) and
water content (<2,500 ppm). The lessons learned have been essential for the scaled-up 20-MW cpature system installed at a validation
project soon to be commissioned at American Electric Powers (AEPs)
Mountaineer plant in New Haven, W.Va., the companies said.
AEP Readies Mountaineer Validation Project for Commissioning. Meanwhile, American Electric Power told POWER in
September that it had started its 20-MW carbon capture system
2. A postcombustion pilot.
German giants E.ON and Siemens in September launched a pilot project to test postcombustion
carbon capture on Unit 5 at E.ONs hard coalfired 510-MW Staudinger
facility in Grosskrotzenburg near Hanau, Germany. Siemens process
uses a proprietary scrubbing agent to trap 90% of low-temperature
carbon dioxide from flue gases in an absorber. Courtesy: E.ON
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GLOBAL MONITOR
to confirm that it was capturing a clean stream of the greenhouse gas for the $76 million validation project at its Mountaineer plant (Figure 4).
The project will officially be commissioned on Oct. 30. The
Mountaineer project will then operate for up to five years and
help validate the effectiveness of Alstoms patented chilled ammonia process for carbon dioxide capture and the viability of
storage in the local geology. The project is being watched closely
around the world because it will be the first to capture CO2 from
a pulverized coalfired power plantas well as inject it into a
permanent storage site more than 7,800 feet underground. It has
also been hailed for its potential to provide the critical information that could scale up capture and storage technologies for new
power plants and for the retrofit of existing facilities.
5. Packing a punch. India, a country that has devoted its nuclear research and development program to making use of its abundant thorium
reserves, recently announced it had designed a special version of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), which uses low-enriched uranium
(LEU). According to a brochure distributed at a recent nuclear conference in Vienna, in comparison with modern light water reactors, the 300-MW
AHWR-LEU would require about 13% less mined natural uranium for the same quantity of energy produced. The country has indicated that this
reactor would be exported to nations with small grids. Courtesy: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Reactor building
Passive containment
cooling system
Gravity-driven water
pool (GDWP)
Isolation condenser
Passive core decay heat removal system
Passive concrete
cooling system
for V1 volume
Turbine
Poison
tank
Accumulator
V2 side
V1 side
Passive
containment
isolation
U ducts (2 Nos.)
Steam
Steam drum
GDWP
injection
Feed pump
Deaerator
Desalination
plant
Feedwater
heaters
ECC header
Condenser
High V1
pressure
Core
Process water
Cooling
Water
CEP
Passive
vavles Inlet
header
Passive
poison
injection
system
Generator
Turbine building
Moderator heat-recovery system
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11
GLOBAL MONITOR
was committed to development of its thorium fuel cycle and
that it was doing so with urgency, particularly because of climate change concerns. The matter should also be given weight
in light of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs assertion
on Sept. 29 that the nation could generate 470 GW of power
by 2050 if it managed the three-stage program well. This will
sharply reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and will be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change, he
reportedly said at an international conference on the peaceful
uses of nuclear energy.
12
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GLOBAL MONITOR
6. Treading water. Denmark inaugurated
POWER Digest
13
GLOBAL MONITOR
According to the STP Nuclear Operating Co., no other nuclear power plant has
achieved five breaker-to-breaker production runs in the five decades since the
first commercial reactor in the U.S. began
operations in 1958. The announcement is
the latest in a string of achievements for
the plant. The two-unit facilityone of
the nations largestproduced more energy than any other nuclear plant in the
U.S. in the past five years, and in 2007,
Unit 1 led all 439 reactors worldwide in
14
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FP1.B.GB
GLOBAL MONITOR
Conveying
Loading
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BEUMER conveying
technology that has
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under control.
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BEU_AZ_86x254_Foerdertech_Bau_GB.indd 1
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12.01.2009 16:25:36 Uhr
FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M
FOCUS ON O&M
Catching Faults with
Centralized Condition
Monitoring
In 2007, Exelon Corp. began the Centralized Performance Monitoring (CPM) pilot
program. The goal was to reduce downtime
costs and lost revenue associated with the
25% of unplanned forced losses across its
fleet of 17 nuclear power units without additionally taxing existing personnel or adding new personnel. Exelon determined that
at least 2% of these losses could be caught
with a centralized monitoring program.
Exelon selected InSteps PRiSM online
condition-monitoring software and interfaced it to Exelons existing real-time plant
data historian infrastructure. Together,
they provide a fleetwide centralized solution requiring only two corporate-level
individuals.
Within two months Exelon had developed 500 different models with the InStep solution and identified $540,000 in
avoided faults. According to Chris Demars,
Exelon corporate engineering CPM project
manager, a conservative annualized estimate of failure avoidance is $3.3 million.
This program also won the 2008 NEI Top
Industry Practice TIP award. Here is the
story behind this success.
Selecting the Solution
Several factors drove Exelon to look
for an alternative to the decentralized
monitoring model. As staff resources and
senior expertise to monitor its plants
shrunk, the value of intelligent monitoring grew. A solution that lessened the
burden on personnel, extracted more
data, found more faults, and was quickly
installed and scaled was necessary to increase Exelons efficiency and meet business goals. Additionally, early detection
of equipment failures prevents the creation of a hazardous environment that
accompanies rotating equipment failures
or the release of industrial gases and
process fluids; it also improves nuclear
and radiological safety.
The Exelon CPM pilot focused on monitoring a 17-unit fleet without hiring additional personnel. The software vendor
selection process lasted three months,
from March to May. Eight vendor products
using a variety of different technologies
were reviewed and assessed on 35 different factors.
InStep Softwares PRiSM online condition-monitoring software was chosen for
16
The top graph indicates a 25% deviation from normal condensate pump operation as determined by the multidimensional PRiSM model analytics. The
second graph indicates that measurement sensor readings BRW01V_T2560 (inboard bearing
temperature) and BRW01B_T2561 (outboard bearing temperature) are the main contributors to
the deviation. Source: InStep Software
focus on o&M
interface, web-based alarm management,
and easily read anomaly visualization.
One of the critical elements for success
with this project was the speed at which
we are able to model. It was literally a
half an hour or less and a model would be
ready. We put together 500 models and the
pilot began, says Demars. PRiSM was developed for installations like Exelons with
many distributed, complex assets and a
premium on personnel. The PRiSM technology provides for the ability to best capture
and use the knowledge of a few key senior
personnel, allowing their experience to be
applied across a fleet of assets in place of
just a single plant, says Sean Gregerson of
InStep Software, who worked with Exelon
on the project.
Due to the design of the technology
infrastructure and the integration of project functions within an existing corporate
engineering group, the centralized performance monitoring concept was implemented with comparatively little staffing.
Fault Catching and Cost Savings
Personnel savings were just the beginning. Within two months, the catching
of one major fault and two smaller faults
saved Exelon over $500,000. The following descriptions of these faults were provided by Demars.
First Catch. We discovered that a condensate pump motors bearing oil temperatures were not within the allowable range
as defined by the multidimensional PRiSM
model. The cause was found to be an improperly assembled coupling that was seizing and approaching mechanical failure.
Had this gone undetected, the coupling
would have resulted in damage to both the
motor and the pump, requiring a replacement time of four to six weeks.
Replacement cost, expediting fees, and
craft overtime were estimated at $700,000.
The probability of this failure was estimated as 0.70 or $490,000. Online loss of the
pump with a failure of the standby pump
to start would have resulted in a power
reduction of 34% for 12 hours or about
$100,000. The probability of this failure
scenario was estimated as 0.10 or $10,000.
Additionally, potential fatalities or injuries
resulting from the ejection of coupling material were completely avoided.
Second Catch. The second significant
catch was a service water temperature
controller failure that would have result-
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Third Catch. The third catch was a
reactor feed pump (RFP) lube oil cooler
temperature controller failure that would
have been a $20,000 loss. A nuclear unit
was recovering from the effects of a transformer failureinduced voltage transient
that caused some system isolations and
momentary power losses. Shortly after the
transient, the RFP bearing the models for
all three pumps went into alert. The plant
was notified the following day that one of
the controllers did not recover from the
initial transient and was continuing to cycle significantly. The station determined
that the controller for the RFP oil cooler
had failed; staff were able to stabilize
temperatures manually until the controller was replaced.
The worst case scenario is bearing damage due to rapid overheating and loss of
the RFP. The physical damage was estimated at $100,000 with a probability of 0.10
and lost generation of 33% for 24 hours, or
$200,000 with a probability of 0.05.
Avoided Costs Add Up
According to Demars, The total avoided costs for the two-month period was
$540,000. If detected failures of a similar
Corrosion of steel water pipes in the safety-related piping systems of aging U.S.
nuclear power plants is fast becoming a
safety concern and a significant operational cost, not to mention an indication
of potential future liability for nuclear
utilities currently constructing new plants
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2. A nuclear industry first.
3. Plastic replaces steel. HPDE pipe and joint fittings were required to be tested to confirm that they met the quality and safety specifications of ASME Class 3 nuclear service piping
systems. AmerenUE submitted a special Relief Request to the NRC in 2008 demonstrating that
HPDE pipe could be used instead of carbon steel pipe. Courtesy: Dow Chemical Co.
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focus on o&M
engineers began to work closely with
members of the HDPE pipe value chain.
These players included The Dow Chemical
Co. (Dow) as the HDPE supplier, WL Plastics Corp. as the pipe manufacturer, and
Independent Pipe Products Inc. for the
manufacture of special pipe fittings. The
consultant, Frank Schaaf, Jr. of Sterling
Refrigeration Corp., was also instrumental
in the work necessary to gain approvals
from the NRC (Figure 3).
After an evaluation of available options,
and based on the service condition and
stringent requirements for HDPE pipe performance, the Callaway team selected CONTINUUM DGDA-2492 Bimodal Polyethylene
Resin from Dow as the raw material for its
new ESW secondary water pipe system.
Given the groundbreaking nature of the
application for HDPE pipe, no American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code
and standard is available. Callaway needed
to obtain approval from the NRC through a
Relief Request. In order to be approved for
use by the NRC, water pipes manufactured
from HDPE had to demonstrate that they
could match the quality and safety specifications of ASME Class 3 nuclear service
piping systems. AmerenUE submitted a
special Relief Request to the NRC in 2008
with documentary evidence proving that
the specified HDPE pipe could be used in
lieu of carbon steel Class 3 pipe.
The Relief Request asked for NRC approval for using HDPE pipe based on the
specified CONTINUUM DGDA-2492 resin.
Callaway engineers knew that the HDPE
pipe would need to meet water pressures
of 161 psig at 95F and 45 psig at 176F.
CONTINUUM DGDA-2492 has a 2.5-year
pressure listing by the Plastic Pipe Institute, exceeding the application of a
three-month requirement, at 176F.
Initially, the NRC had a concern regarding the effect of increased stress
intensity on the slow crack growth (SCG)
resistance of the proposed 36-inch pipe.
This concern was mitigated because CONTINUUM DGDA-2492 resin has >10,000h
PENT, more than 20 times better than the
most stringent ASTM SCG requirement for
PE4710 (a higher performance standard
for HDPE pipe); it meets and exceeds the
requirement at the adjusted higher stress
intensity. In addition, the NRC requested
that Callaway conduct extensive testing
on the joint to ensure the integrity of the
pipeline. As a result, a total of 168 pieces
of fusion joint samples were tested using
NRC-recommended test methods. All joints
passed the test without a single failure.
The request was officially approved by the
NRC on October 31, 2008.
The ECCS includes a variety of different pump designs: some are singlestage centrifugal, some are multi-stage
pumpsand the latter are very intolerant
to air ingestion, says Bryan Meyer, principal engineer in the Primary Systems Engineering Group at Duke Energys McGuire
Nuclear Station.
To demonstrate that its cooling systems could operate safely, Duke Energy
21
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4. Vortex classification. Vortex types 1 through 4 are common and usually dont cause
damage to the pump. Vortex types 5 and 6 ingest air into the pump and can cause significant
damage to a pump. Source: Alden Labs
Surface swirl
Surface dimple:
coherent swirl
Dye core to
intake: coherent
swirl throughout
water column
Air bubbles
face tension effects, by keeping Fr constant, the flow patterns in the hydraulic
model will simulate those in the plant.
For nuclear tank draw-down models, a
scale of 1:2 to 1:5 generally meets these
requirements.
Building the Model
Duke Energy Corp. owns and operates three
nuclear stationsCatawba, McGuire, and
Oconeeand opted to perform physical
scale model testing for all three stations.
The system design requires that the
RWST suction piping remain water-filled
during drawdown, such that no air ingestion occurs, says Meyer. We must transfer pumps from the tank prior to the pipe
becoming voided.
The company considered using CFD but
eventually opted for hydraulic modeling.
Alden was ultimately selected to perform
the scale model testing. Alden proposed
the most rigorous modeling and technical
approach, says Meyer.
Alden, which has been conducting
hydraulics research for more than a century, has an established reputation with
the NRC and has an on-site calibration
laboratory to ensure that all measurements are accurate. Flow meter calibrations are done using equipment that is
NIST (National Institute of Standards and
Technology) traceable and accurate to
within 0.25%.
Because several different tanks with
different geometries needed to be modeled, Alden utilized a circular tank with
a diameter of approximately 10 feet at
the bottom and a depth of approximately
5.5 feet, which would allow simulation of
different depths. For the McGuire station,
which consists of two 1,100-MW Westinghouse pressurized water reactors with
wet/ice containment, a model-scale of
1:4.073 was used.
The 24-inch primary outlet pipe, which
is installed at a 45 degree angle, with the
elliptical entrance 12 inches above the
tank bottom, was modeled using acrylic
pipe. The installation of clear acrylic piping enabled visual observations of air
entrainment. A flow loop could operate
closed, fully open, or partially open. Partial return flow controls the rate of drawdown in the water tank, with the rest of
the water going to the laboratory sump.
Because water and acrylic have nearly
identical refractive indexes, a rectangular
acrylic viewing box was installed around
the outlet pipe to compensate for the visual distortion of the curved pipe and to
allow for good viewing and videotaping of
the air bubbles (Figure 5).
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focus on o&M
5. Scale models. Alden
A series of 10 tests were run at prototype flow rates from 1,600 gpm to 19,700
gpm. Five of the tests were conducted
with a return flow rate representing a water level drop of about 0.5 inch per minute, and five were done with the return
pipe closed.
The tests showed that the tank could
safely operate at much lower water levels
than required by ANSIs Hydraulic Institute Standards (HIS). Whereas the HIS
specified a submergence of 2.85 feet for
a flow of 1,600 gpm and 8.70 feet for
19,700 gpm, the hydraulic model testing
showed that the tank was free of air entrainment to depths as low as 0.045 feet
at 1,600 gpm and 0.705 feet with no return flow at 19,700 gpm.
Similar results were achieved on the
tests for the tanks at the two other Duke
stations. As a result, Duke was able to
demonstrate that prior vortex allowances
were conservative and avoided the need
for additional vortex suppression devices
priced at roughly $50,000, without plant
down-time expenses included.
Contributed by Drew Robb, a Los
Angelesbased writer specializing in
engineering and technology issues.
Weve discovered
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Steven F. Greenwald
Jeffrey P. Gray
These questions are not discrete; rather, they are inextricably intertwined with the climate change/energy future issues being debated nationally. Furthermore, no well-settled principles
are available to guide the district court. The remand for further
proceedings order offers no criteria to resolve whether the generation of electricity, fully compliant with operating permits and
other regulatory requirements, may constitute an actionable tort.
With respect to the possible remedy the district court may
impose, the Decision again retreats into legal abstractionsthe
district court may not set across-the-board domestic emissions
standards or require any unilateral, mandatory emissions reductions over entities not party to the suit. How the district court
is to adhere to this mandate and yet fashion a meaningful remedy and reduce emissions in the eight plaintiff states that stretch
from coast to coast is never intimated.
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Potential is limitless.
An idea has no momentum until talented people start
chasing it. Its then that one begins to glimpse whats
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TOP PLANTS
1. Pacific powerhouse. The 2,300-MW Diablo Canyon Power Plant is located near Avila
Beach in central California. The installation of eight generators in 2008 and 2009 was the largest project in the history of the plant since initial construction was completed in the 1980s.
Courtesy: PG&E
Project Profile
The Steam Generating Team West (SGT), a
URS Washington Division/AREVA NP joint
venture company, provided services for replacing the four steam generators at Unit 1 during
a planned refueling outage that began in January 2009 and was completed in 58 days.
Steam generators are replaced as part of
a power plants long-term maintenance program. Inside the steam generators used in
pressurized water reactor power plants, heated water that has passed through the reactor
is pumped through thousands of small tubes.
The heat is then transferred through the walls
of the tubes to water in a separate system,
which then boils and turns into steam. The
energy in the steam is used to turn a turbine
generator to generate electricity. The steam
generators used at DCPP are each 70 feet
long and weigh 350 tons.
Each of the two DCPP units produces
1,150 MW, and each unit was designed with
four steam generators. SGT provided project management, planning, engineering, and
construction services to prepare and install
the four new steam generators. In 2008 the
SGT team had successfully replaced the
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Top planTs
try performance for radiological exposure.
This feat was accomplished while working
in a 30% higher radiation dose field compared with the Unit 2 SGRP performance
while achieving a radiation dose that was
only 15% higher. The team was committed
to keeping radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) and employed
innovative ideas to minimize the radiological exposure, such as additional shielding
and work sequencing.
Pre-outage work included installing temporary facilities for craft, trailers for the staff,
and warehouse storage. To provide storage
for the old steam generators coming out of
containment, SGT built a large concrete
structure that could house up to eight steam
generators and two reactor vessel heads.
Before the outage, major equipment was
procured and tested on-site, and major lifting and transfer systems were installed and
tested. Temporary power and scaffolding
were installed at accessible areas in containment. Personnel were qualified and tested
for site access, radiation worker and welding
requirements, and other job-specific needs.
The team challenged station conventional
outage preparations by maximizing work inside the containment while the unit was still
at 100% power.
Like every SGT replacement outage, the
DCPP project comprised multiple integrated
scopes of work that all required careful and
exact schedule adherence to ensure successful implementation. The major work scope
included, but was not limited to, the cutting,
rigging, and removal of the old steam generators as well as transporting them to the
concrete storage facility.
Next, the new replacement Westinghouse
steam generators were transported, rigged,
set, and welded (Figure 2). Using photogrammetry and computer modeling, SGT
was able to position the 70-foot-long, 350ton replacement steam generators to within
1/16th inch of the required design criteria, an
accomplishment recognized industrywide.
Platform upgrades, instrumentation reroutes,
interference removal and installation, and
other plant system modifications were per-
2. Team work.
At its peak, more than 1,100 SGT personnel worked at the plant on alternating 12-hour
shifts running 24 hours per day. The outage
schedule included 7,226 SGT activities, with
1,500 relationship ties to client activities.
The defueling, replacement of four steam
generators, refueling, and successful start-up
of the reactor and plant at DCPP Unit 1was
performed in 58 days breaker to breaker.
The contract schedule duration was 58 days
and 13 hours.
Complex planning and coordination began before the outage was under way. During the pre-outage period, the team prepared
for a seamless transition from normal operations to the major replacement outage scope.
30
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Top planTs
3. Out with the old. An old steam generator leaving the containment area perched on
top of a self-propelled modular transporter. The generators had to be tied down during transport to prevent them from rolling off the self-propelled transport in the event of an earthquake.
Courtesy: Robert De Haas
ging system and an innovative assembly process were required to remove the four steam
generators. The heavy rigging subcontractor, Mammoet, worked with SGT to provide
these unique lifting and handling systems.
Managing the rigging operations through
DCPPs challenging configuration required
handling all components three times, rather
than the usual two times.
This major handling system included the
temporary lifting device, utilizing a containerized winch system (CWS) mounted on the
existing plant containment polar crane; the
installation of temporary lifting trunnions
on the generators; an upending/down-ending
device; the hatch transfer system; the singlepoint lifting system on the auxiliary building roof to transfer the generators from the
HTS to a self-propelled modular transporter
(SPMT) (Figure 3); and the outside lifting
system with the second CWS to lower the
generators to the ground. Finally, a second
SPMT moved the generators to the old steam
generator storage facility (OSGSF).
Once the steam generators were placed
on the SPMT by the SPLS, restraints were
used to tie down the generators The SPMT
then drove across the auxiliary building roof,
through the fuel-handling building (FHB),
and onto a specially designed, elevated platform outside the FHB. The drive engine on
the SPMT had to be removed and reinstalled
in a specially designed configuration due to
very tight clearances. Further considerations
required the SPMT to be designed to withstand an earthquake at any time while traveling with a steam generator load.
The OLS was installed outside the FHB
and was used to lift the steam generator from
the SPMT located on an elevated platform
and lower the steam generator to another
SPMT located on the ground. The OLS also
included a CWS to speed up the handling
process. Finally, the steam generators were
placed on and tied down to another SPMT for
transport to the interim storage building. The
transport covered approximately 1.5 miles,
most of which was up a 7% grade (Figure
4). The SPMT drove into the OSGSF and
offloaded the steam generators. The old generators will remain in this long-term storage
location until their final disposal as part of the
plant decommissioning and disposal. The rigging and handling process for installation of
the replacement steam generators was similar to the process described above, in reverse
(Figures 5 and 6).
Top planTs
4. Uphill climb. An old steam generator begins a trip up the hill; most of the trip to the old
steam generator facility was up a 7% grade. Courtesy: PG&E
new generators were manufactured in Spain by the Westinghouse division Design/Equipos Nucleares S.A. (ENSA) and shipped to California. Then they
were transferred to barges in Port Hueneme and delivered to the dock near Diablo Canyon
Power Plant. Courtesy: Robert De Haas
6. Getting ready. Pre-outage activities included receipt of the replacement steam gen-
erators (RSGs), followed by preparation activities to ready the RSGs for installation and welding
to permanent systems. Courtesy: Robert De Haas
Promoting Prevention of
Dropped Objects
Building on the success of the previous
steam generator replacements, SGT enhanced its already robust dropped object
prevention strategy. Dropped objects, which
can range from tools to scaffold parts, can
pose a hazard to employees or structures and
are directly attributed to poor housekeeping practices. SGT formed a hand-selected,
full-time team called the Red Hat Team,
which functioned as the frontline defense for
eliminating dropped objects and maintaining good housekeeping practices. Though a
Red Hat Team had been in place during the
earlier DCPP outage, for the Unit 1 outage,
the Red Hat Teams charter was to improve
the project teams overall housekeeping and
safety practices through active surveillance
and real-time feedback to the site manager.
Red Hat personnel, nine per shift, constantly monitored all areas of containment with a
32
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Top planTs
primary focus: to monitor and report housekeeping deficiencies and
to aid and assist in the mitigation and prevention of dropped objects.
Red Hats were tasked with reporting and taking corrective action immediately when they observed any unsafe condition.
Wed Like
to Welcome
Metering
to the 21st
Century.
FULLY
I
AMR/AM
ble
Compati
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TOP PLANTS
1. Leading by example. Through the years, the Oconee Nuclear Station has excelled in
providing safe, reliable energy. For example, it is the first U.S. nuclear plant to successfully deliver more than 500 million MWh of electricity to its customers. Courtesy: Duke Energy Corp.
Looking Back
Duke Energy Corp. designed and constructed Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS)
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Units 1
and 2 began commercial operation in 1973,
and Unit 3 began operation in 1974. The
units have a common Babcock & Wilcox
pressurized water reactor design, and each
has a rated electrical generating capacity
of 885 MW. The original control systems
were analog systems, based on standard
power plant engineering practices of the
time, with no redundancy designed into the
systems. During the course of operation
through the mid-1990s, plant trips and transients were experienced due to single-point
vulnerabilities in the nonsafety control systems. Another problem became evident in
the 1980s when original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for control and protection systems began to discontinue support
for that equipment.
Recognizing the economic and environmental benefits of operating ONS beyond the
original 40-year license, Duke applied for and,
in 2000, received a license extension from the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
34
The obsolescence of control and protection systems due to discontinued OEM support was another issue being addressed at
the same time as the trip and transient report
recommendations. Facility personnel determined that digital system upgrades were
the best options to address obsolescence of
the reactor protection system, engineered
safeguards system, Keowee Hydroelectric
Plant exciter, Keowee governor, turbine supervisory instrumentation, and pneumatic
controllers and instrumentation.
The last input to the modernization project derived from the need to isolate feedwater during specific design basis events in
order to improve plant response and prevent
excessive cooling. To address this concern, a
new safety-related digital automatic feedwater isolation system was designed.
Westinghouse is focused
on nuclear energy.
The nuclear energy renaissance has already
created thousands of new jobs. By providing
reliable and affordable electricity, nuclear energy will help keep American
business competitive, and will power future worldwide job growth.
Westinghouse and its 13,000 global employees are proud of our
leadership position in this important industry. Our technology is already
the design basis for well over 40 percent of the worlds operating nuclear
power plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.
The Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plant is the most advanced
of its kind currently available in the global marketplace. Four AP1000s
are now under construction in China, and the AP1000 is the announced
technology of choice for no less than 14 new plants planned for the
United States.
TM
W E S T I N G H O U S E E L E C T R I C C O M PA N Y L L C
Top planTs
A thorough modernization overhaul was
approved to perform all identified upgrades
over the course of a decade. These upgrades
have positioned ONS as a leading U.S. nuclear power plant in the application of digital
electronic technology. The remainder of this
article provides a summary of each upgrade.
sulted from ICS equipment failures following this upgrade. Historically, it was not
uncommon to have two reactor trips a year
due to ICS component failures.
This installation of a digital ICS was the
first in the industry for nuclear power plants.
input. Digital upgrade of the ICS was performed by Duke Energy personnel using
proven digital STAR modules from AREVA.
In addition, Duke Energy developed the
control software by converting existing analog plant control algorithms and then implementing experience-based enhancements
to improve plant operations. As part of the
upgrade, redundancy was built into the hardware and software design.
This installation was completed by late
1998. No plant trips or transients have re-
2. Triple hitter.
4. Keeping things under control. Heres what the control rod drive system cabinets
look like after the upgrade with a triple-modular-redundant system. This picture shows processor modules and input /output modules. Courtesy: Duke Energy Corp.
5. Strength in numbers. The facility has redundant single-rod power supplies for each
3. Touch-smart equipment. The new
36
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Top planTs
turbine control system involved installation
of a Triconex triple-module-redundant system
(Figures 2 and 3). The triple redundancy built
into the modular design dramatically increased
the fault tolerance of the system and eliminated
plant trips and transients due to main turbine
control system equipment failures. For example, the turbine valve position indication is
now performed by redundant position demand
indication such that the failure of an indication
does not result in a plant transient. This new
feature has prevented several reactor trips.
The improved performance of the digital
system has also been evident during required
equipment testing during power operation.
With the original main turbine control system, the facility experienced reactor power
swings of 3% to 4% during main steam stop
valve tests, but with the upgraded digital system the reactor power typically varies 0.5% or
less during a test. This more stable reactor response provides both operational and nuclear
safety benefits. In addition, the main turbine
control system design automated numerous
manual operator activities to minimize the
need for operator actions during chest warming, shell warming, and turbine start-up.
The main turbine control system digital
upgrade was completed in 2004.
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37
Top planTs
planned design incorporates redundancy
in the control system to address equipment
failure single-point vulnerabilities.
tion and isolates feedwater to a steam generator for specific design basis events. For the
Babcock & Wilcox station design, steam generator isolation is required during some postulated accidents to prevent excessive reactor
cooldown. Because AFIS is a new system
added to address plant response during specific design basis events, a redundant safetyrelated digital platform was designed for the
upgrade (by AREVA) using safety-related
STAR modules. The installation of AFIS on
all three ONS units was completed in 2002.
Turbine Supervisory
Instrumentation
Automatic Feedwater
Isolation System
The automatic feedwater isolation system
(AFIS) performs a safety-related design func-
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Top planTs
6. Hardware holders.
7. Continuous connection.
Each unit at the plant has a network/power cabinet that provides uninterruptible power and network
connection between field cabinets and system servers for the process control system. Courtesy: Duke Energy Corp.
tal modernization of the water treatment system helped ensure a reliable source of plant
make-up water for the extended life of the
facility. In addition, the water treatment systems efficiency was improved by the digital
modernization.
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Industry trends
Monticello (N
Pra
Fort Calhoun
Cooper Station
United States o
Diablo Canyon
San Onofre
Arkansas Nuc
Palo Verde
Comanc
Mexico
42
www.powermag.com
Industry trends
Canada
Gentilly 2
Point Lepreau
Darlington (OPG)
Pickering Ginna James A Fitzpatrick
Seabrook
Vermont Yankee
airie Island
Pilgrim Nuclear
Nine Mile Point (COOPSE)
Nantioke
Donald C. Cook
Millstone
Palisades (NMC)
Indian Point 3
Indian Point 2
Byron (EXGEN)
Fermi
Perry (FINUOP)
Susquehanna
Duane Arnold
Three Mile Island
Limerick (EXGEN)
Dresden (EXGEN)
Oyster Creek
Davis-Besse
Peach
Bottom
Braidwood
Salem
(PSEGN)
Quad Cities (EXGEN) La Salle
Beaver Valley
Hope Creek (PSEGN)
Clinton (AMERGEN)
Calvert Cliffs
North Anna
Callaway (UNIEL)
Surry
Wolf Creek (WCNOC)
NMC)
Bruce (2)
Kewaunee
Point Beach
of America
clear One
Harris (CPLC)
McGuire
Catawba
Brunswick (CPLC)
Robinson
Nuclear plants
by status
Edwin I. Hatch
che Peak
Grand Gulf
Joseph M. Farley
River Bend
Waterford (ELA)
Operating
Planned
South Texas
Turkey Point
Courtesy: Platts
Data source: POWERmap. All rights reserved.
www.powermag.com
43
Big Ideas!
Big Results!
COAL. GAS. NUCLEAR. SOLAR.
WIND. BIOMASS. GEOTHERMAL.
TIDAL/WAVE.
Plan Now to Be a Part of the
One Power Industry Event that
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POWER in CHILE
A special report from Global Business Reports and POWER
Chile gets high marks for its business-friendly environment,
which may in some cases make it a more attractive location
for developing power generation projects than North American
and European markets. Heres how a stable South American
democracy is tackling the
challenges we all face
and a few localized
ones as well.
Power IN CHILe
1. Price spike. The cost of power in Chile increased roughly tenfold between mid-2006 and
early 2008 due to the combination of droughts, gas reductions, and high oil prices. Source: CNE
Hydro
Thermal
Marginal cost
350
3,500
300
3,000
250
2,500
GWh
200
2,000
150
1,500
100
1,000
50
500
0
46
US$/MWh
4,000
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
www.powermag.com
2008
Power IN CHILe
2. GDP per capita vs energy consumption. As Chiles economy grows, so will its
energy consumption. Source: International Energy Agency, 2006
40,000
US
35,000
Canada
UK
25,000
Japan
OECD
Italy
20,000
15,000
Chile
10,000
Latin
America
Brazil
China
5,000
India
0
8
10
MWh per capita
12
14
16
18
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Power IN CHILe
Enviable ranking. Chile ranks highest
of all Latin American countries and #30 in a
field of 133 countries in global business competitiveness, according to a 20092010 World
Economic Forum report. Source: World Economic Forum
Country
Rank
Switzerland
Chile
30
Brazil
56
Peru
78
Argentina
85
Ecuador
105
Bolivia
120
Chiles Attractiveness
as an Investment Location
Chile is generally considered to offer one of
Latin Americas most business-friendly environments, as the table indicates. It is an associate member of MERCOSUR, the South
American regional trade organization, and is
an ideal location for regional headquarters.
Since 1992 it has had an investment grade
bond rating and in March 2009 (in the middle of the financial crisis) the ratings agency
Moodys actually upgraded the governments
foreign currency bond rating to A1. Moodys
Vice PresidentRegional Credit Officer
Mauro Leos stated at the time that Chiles
fundamentals are supported by solid institutional and policy frameworks.
Its relative cash-rich position convinces
analysts that it is well positioned in comparison to its Latin American neighbors to
weather the current crisis. Indeed, in a recent
competitiveness stress test by the prestigious
Swiss business school IMD, Chile was ranked
highest in the whole of the Americasone
place above Canada.
Javier Garca of CORFO, the state investment body, argues that three factors make
Chile a good place to invest in the energy sector: a developed legal framework, stable political conditions, and a strong platform from
which to launch Latin American activities.
Edwin Chvez, country head of Siemens
Chile, believes, It is a very interesting time
for the energy sector in Chile. I feel that there
are opportunities for investments.
49
Power IN CHILe
WWW.MAINSTREAMRP.COM
SANTIAGO BERLIN CAPE TOWN CHICAGO
DUBLIN GLASGOW LONDON TORONTO
GBR: Chile hasnt traditionally had a specific minister of energy. What impact has this change had on energy policy development and implementation in the country?
MT: When this government came to power, the Energy Ministry was combined with the Mining Ministry. There wasnt
a specific minister of energy. Whoever had been in charge
of energy was also in charge of something else at the same
time, and there was a tendency only to focus on energy when
we had a crisis.
Once the crisis had passed, the minister started concentrating on other issues in one of their other areas of responsibility. At the moment I have political responsibility, but
the tools necessary are in various departments. This change
will help to unify the decision-making structure and concentrate power.
GBR: Does the current bill enjoy sufficient support and signify
a change regardless of who wins the upcoming election?
MT: This bill [an ammendment to LEY No. 2224, which created the Ministry of Mines and Energy] has already gone
though the House of Deputies without a single vote against
it. In the Senate the progress has been slower than we had
hoped. However, a large majority of the senators have expressed their support to the idea of creating a Ministry of
Energy and to transfer some faculties which are currently
spread through different ministries to the Energy Ministry.
GBR: How important is the role of renewable energy in Chiles
energy matrix?
MT: If you compare Chile to the rest of the world, using the
broad definition, which includes hydro-power, we compare
very well, with 40% of the electric mix being renewable.
Renewables play a much stronger role in Chile than most
other parts of the world. If you exclude conventional hydro
though, nonconventional renewables had a very small participation (2.4%) at the beginning of this government three
years ago.
We find this strange due to the enormous availability of
natural resources which Chile has (small hydro, wind, solar
radiation, biomass, and geothermal). Given our natural resources and the fact that technology has been improving
rapidly, there seem to be restrictions that are not allowing
these technologies to deploy as much as they could. We have
been working very hard to find what are the barriers preventing higher penetration of the nonconventional renewables
and designing and implementing policies to eliminate these
barriers.
In just four years of our government the use of renewables will have more than doubled. There were certain
types of renewables which werent present at all, such as
wind and geothermal. Now we have geothermal exploration
being carried out in several places of the country and by
the end of this governments current term, just taking into
account wind parks in operation or under construction, we
www.powermag.com
Power IN CHILe
www.powermag.com
51
Power IN CHILe
3. Taxing transmission. Chiles two major grids have had to respond to an enormous
increase in capacity over the past 26 years. The two grids are not connected. Source: CDEC-SIC,
CDEC-SING
12,000
10,000
MW
8,000
6,000
3,581
4,000
2,713
2,000
428
0
1982
2008
Regulatory Framework
Chile was one of the first countries to privatize its power generation and distribution
system, which is now the global norm.
These reforms stem from the 1982 Electricity Reform Act, which was designed to break
up the state monopoly, ENDESA. Renato
Agurto, one of the architects of the Chilean
www.powermag.com
Power IN CHILe
in investment in generation. Dr. Hugh Rudnick, director of Systep, an engineering and
design consultancy, explained to us that the
risk exposure to generation companies was
too great, and there followed a general halt
in investment and contracting in the generation section.
The Ley Corta or Short Law, passed in
January 2004, was seen as a milestone by
many in the energy industry. The Short Laws
reforms included a revision of the charges for
transmission, a modification of node prices,
and a reduction in the eligibility category for
unregulated users from 2 MW to 0.5 MW.
Christian Arnolds, general manager of
Chilquinta, a distributor in the 5th region
of Chile, argues that this regulatory change
allowed the distributors to get together and
enter long-term agreements with the generation companies. The security that the power
generation companies experienced due to this
reform allowed the long-term investment that
was necessary to increase generation capacity in Chile. The new contracts consisted of
a bidding process whereby distribution companies bid for energy. Importantly, however,
the bid prices were linked to the underlying
commoditybe it gas, coal, or anything
elserather than a fixed cost. This meant
that the risk was passed from the generation
company to the end user.
Since the Short Law, investments in generation, transmission, and distribution have
significantly increased, helped by the strong
rate of economic growth and high copper
prices. Gaston Fontaine, country head of
SANTOS CMI, an Ecuadorian engineering,
procurement, and construction (EPC) provider now moving back into the Chilean market,
argues: In Chile we had a gap of investment
for 10 years. We didnt have any clear rules
as to how investments could take place. Now
we do.
Later, Short Law II was passed, affecting
the transmission sector. Andrs Kuhlmann,
general manager of Transelec, argues of the
Short Law I and II: These laws made possible a huge increase in investment that wasnt
possible previously. Sergio Correa, general
manager of Besalco Construcciones, one of
the three largest construction firms in Chile,
says that his company entered the Chilean
energy market due to this change in the law.
As this report is being written, given all
of the aforementioned changes, the power
generation sector is technically a competitive sector. Final prices reflect the marginal
cost of production, and the Chilean government does not prevent new competitors from
entering the market. As per the international
standard, generation companies in Chile will
receive payment for both their power capacity and the power that they supply. Genera-
53
Power IN CHILe
tors can also enter an internal market and
purchase power surplus capacity in order to
meet their obligations.
Generation Ownership
The power generation sector is dominated
by three companies: ENDESA, Colbn, and
AES Gener. Together they control around
65% of the market. If the controversial
HidroAysn project were to go ahead (a joint
venture between ENDESA and Colbn), this
figure would increase.
ENDESA is the formally state-owned giant that was fully privatized in 1989. Upon
privatization it went through an ambitious period of expansion throughout South America.
ENDESA has around 4,800 MW in installed
capacity within Chile and around 8,500 MW
of installed capacity throughout South America, including Peru, Brazil, Columbia, and Argentina. ENDESA is the central figure in the
Chilean energy sector and, despite frequent
changes of ownership, it remains at the top.
ENDESAs portfolio is made up of a mix
of gas-fired and hydro plants. The company
also owns ENDESA Eco, its renewables subsidiary, which is developing a 60-MW wind
farm in Canela, the largest wind farm under
development in Chile to date. ENDESA also
controls Ingendesa, an EPC company, created
when ENDESA was taken private. Ingendesa
doesnt just supply services for ENDESA but
also is a vibrant player in the national market.
Rodrigo Alcaino, the general manager of Ingendesa, states: We stand ready to offer our
expertise to the market.
Colbn is the second-largest player in the
market, with around 2,500 MW in installed
capacity, and is the only major generator remaining in Chilean hands, being controlled
by the Matte family. Currently, around 50%
of Colbns capacity is hydro, with the other
50% coming from thermal sources. Colbn is
currently working on a 144-MW hydro plant
in San Pedro at a cost of $202 million. It is
also developing a 350-MW coal-fired plant
in Coronel. In addition, it is planning some
smaller, nonconventional renewable projects,
the most advanced of which is a 7-MW project in San Clemente.
AES Gener is the smallest of the three big
players. It currently has around 2,500 MW in
installed capacity but has no involvement in
the HidroAysn mega plant. AES Gener suffered a severe setback when the environmental permit for its 270-MW coal-fired plant
Campiche was invalidated by the Chilean
Supreme Court.
Compaia General de Electricidad (CGE)
is a vertically integrated energy group holding stakes in generation companies, distribution companies, and even transformer
manufacturer TUSAN. Founded in 1905, it
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Generation Mix
Chiles generation technology portfolio consists largely of combined-cycle plants, now
mostly running on imported diesel, and hydro
resources located in the Andes. The country
has some coal-fired plants (mostly in the
north) dating from the prenatural gas days,
as well as a few new ones being built.
Chiles strong hydro sector is what distinguishes it from most other countries, but it is
a sector that still has some distance to go before it reaches maturity. Ricardo Quezada,
general manager of DESSAU INGENTRA,
a specialized EPC firm, argues: Chile has
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4. Gas explosion. This chart shows how the availablilty of natural gas profoundly affected
the mix of generation technology on the SING grid. Source: CDEC SING
4,000
Diesel-fuel oil
Coal
Natural gas
Max demand
3,500
1999: Last coal
power plant
3,000
2,500
1999: Natural
gas arrived
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
5. Gas shutoff. Significant restrictions in the supply of natural gas shipped from Argentina
created problems in Chiles energy market. Source: CNE
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
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6. Future home of huge hydro. The HidroAysn projects five
planned hydropower plants are expected to have a capacity of 2,750.
Two plants would be built on the Baker River and three on the Pascua
River (pictured). The project is jointly owned by Colbn and ENDESA.
Source: SANTOS CMI
Huge Hydro
The HidroAysn Project (Figure 6) involves the construction of five
electrical power stations in the Aysen region of Chilean Patagonia.
The proposed mega-project would produce 2,715 MW, which would
be carried through 2,000 kilometers (km) of transmission lines to be
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Power IN CHILe
distributed on the SIC. The scheme is currently projected to cost $3.2 billion. It would
tap the power of two virgin riversthe
Pascua and the Bakerwith three dams on
the former and two on the latter.
The project was first mooted in the 1950s;
by 1975 a new proposal involving the flooding of 30,000 hectares was floated. In 2005
the project was reinitiated by the current
consortium; their initial proposal was for the
flooding of 9,300 hectares, whichafter public consultationwas reduced to 5,910 hectares, of which 1,900 are natural riverbed.
The HidroAysn scheme will be highly efficient in terms of output relative to dam area:
2.15 hectares per MW. The HidroAysn company submitted its Environmental Impact
Assessment to the Aysen Region National
Environmental Commission in mid-2008,
and the evaluation process was still under
way as this was written.
Hernn Salazar, managing director of the
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structure. HidroAysn is extremely far from
end users and requires 2,000 km of new transmission linesmore than any high-tension
line currently in operation. The lines would
cut through a number of national parks and
areas of natural beauty and, as such, are highly contentious. It is likely that HidroAysns
transmission partner, Transelec, will have to
employ submarine cables and other less-visible but more expensive forms of transmission
for certain parts of the route if permission is
to be granted. Within the Aysn region itself
it is likely that the construction process and
associated infrastructure will open the door
for further development and industrialization.
The scheme has drawn criticism from environmental organizations around the world as
well as nationally and locally.
Within the industry the issue is also divisive, though because the project will be a
competitor for some and a client for many,
this is to be expected. Rodrigo Dans of SW
Consulting, one of HidroAysns competitors, who favors a movement to carbon-fueled
generation, argues: My opinion is that the
project will have a substantial impact on the
environment. Im not against hydro facilities
in general, but I am against this kind of investment, which is bad from an environmental point of view for Chile. We are publicly
saying that Chile needs to look for an alternative and not to proceed with HidroAysn.
Many argue that greenhouse gas emissions, which per capita are less than one-third
of the G-7 average, should not be the main
determinate of Chiles energy future. Assuming the nonconventional renewables threshold is met and rises to 10% as intended, and
that Chiles generation capacity does grow
to 25,000 MW by 2020, there will only be
2,500 MW of nonconventional power in the
mix. Given that Chile already has double this
figure of installed hydro capacity, some argue that the wind and solar counterbalance
argument should not be allowed to influence
the outcome of the HidroAysn debate.
Like all power plants, HidroAysn has
many pros and cons. The outcome of the application will, however, help determine the
future of the generation sector in Chile and
will help shape both future hydro policy in
the country and investors attitude toward
hydro projects.
7. Run of the river. The Ralco Plant, a two-unit 690-MW hydroelectric plant commissioned in 2004 and the largest hydroelectric plant in Chile, is owned by Empresa Nacional de
Electricidad S.A. The Bio Bio River supplies water to the 1,200 million cubic meters, man-made
reservoir. Courtesy: Enersis
rhona.cl
Smaller Hydro
There are several other, slightly less controversial hydro projects taking shape in Chile
(Figure 7). One new player, Pacific Hydro,
gained entry to the market by buying two
Codelco-owned properties in the north of
the country. Currently, the company has 550
MW of projects under development, the first
of which to come online will be the Chacayes
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Power IN CHILe
8. Building the future. This new coal-fired power plant in Mejillones, on the Pacific
Ocean, will use circulating fluidized bed technology, which will enable the burning of biomass
and other fuels. When it goes online in 2010, it will be the first coal unit in Chiles SING interconnection. This project, along with the LNG import and regasification terminal in Mejillones, and
the Horniots thermoelectric power station, will contribute decisively to fuel security and diversity on the SING network. That enhanced security will benefit residential customers as well as
mining, industrial, and services activities in Chiles Norte Grande region. Courtesy: SalfaCorp
fourth- or fifth-largest generator in Chile, focusing on large hydro projects but also developing wind projects in the future.
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Power IN CHILe
solution for the Argentinean gas, which has
since disappeared. We have invested considerable amounts of capital in gas-fired plants,
and this infrastructure remains today. LNG
is a more expensive solution to our energy
problems but allows the existing infrastructure to be used. This doesnt have an impact
on transmission, as the infrastructure will already be there.
Renewables in Chile
Although Chile has a very strong hydro sector, nonconventional renewables arent yet a
large contributor to the market. All of this is
expected to change in the near future due to
the implementation of Law 20.257, which
compels all power generators that have a
total installed capacity of above 200 MW to
produce at least 5% of their output from nonconventional renewable sources. That percentage will rise beginning in 2014 by 0.5%
increments until it reaches a ceiling of 10%.
Unlike many other countries, Chile has no
subsidies on the delivered price of renewable
power and no price guarantee. Incentives are
limited to fully or partially releasing nonconventional renewables stations with power outputs of less than 20 MW from transmission
tolls, ensuring that a minimum percentage of
the demand for nonconventional renewables
energy comes from regulated customers, and
altering the rules regarding the connection
of plants smaller than 9 MW to facilitate the
connection of small, nonconventional projects to distribution grids. The new renewables legislation obliges generators to meet
the targets or face fines.
Renewables offer Chile a way to gain
its long-sought-after energy independence,
which other potential sources dont. The LNG
terminal being built in Quintero and the movement to coal in the north merely diversify the
risk, whereas renewables offer Chile a way to
reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers.
Generators do not have to generate power
from renewable energy sources directly, and
are free to purchase from a third party or pass
on the obligation to their nonregulated clients,
subject to the terms of the specific power purchase agreements (PPAs). As a consequence,
smaller, niche players are entering the market, and mining companies are being put in
the unlikely situation of becoming wind farm
developers. This is a nascent market, and deal
history is scarce. How the market evolves is
still very much open to debate.
Juan Carlos Jobet of Asset Chile argues
that it is not natural for mining companies to
develop and own alternative energy plants,
and that new companies specializing in renewables will enter the market and seek to
sell their power directly to mining clients:
Mining companies are being forced by gen-
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Power IN CHILe
9. New wind farm under construction. Endesa Chiles subsidiary Endesa Eco
installed the first of 40 wind turbines at the Canela II wind farm project located in the Region of
Coquimbo in July. Each of the 1.5-MW wind turbines, supplied by Acciona Windpower S.A., is
79 meters high and can turn at a maximum speed of 15 rpm. Courtesy: ENDESA Eco
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Julio Friedmann, country head of French
service company Alstom, sees great potential
in renewable projects, specifically wind. He
calculates that in the long term, 10% of revenue will come from renewable sources. He
explained that the two main drivers behind
this focus on renewables: the governments
long-term plan to enforce generation companies to produce 10% of their revenue from
renewables and the consistent demand from
the export-orientated mining sector.
Mainstream, the Irish renewables company, has started the development of Leguna
Verde, a 37-MW farm due to begin construction in 2010. Mainstream was founded by
Eddie OConnor, who was the CEO of Irish
renewable company Airtricity before moving on to focus on his own investments. As
Mainstream was deemed to have experience
and a strong financial basis, it has entered the
global market feet first.
Jos Escobar, CEO of Mainstream Chile,
sees the potential in Chile: Chile was one of
the first countries which Mainstream looked
at for investment, though Mainstream intends to use Chile as a base from which to
work in other South American countries as
well. He explained Mainstreams business
model in Chile: We conduct all of the greenfield activity, all of the feasibility studies, we
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Power IN CHILe
for concessions, inflating the price, while having no intention of developing any project.
Small Hydro. Law 20.257 distinguishes
between large- and smaller-scale hydro projects on the basis that large hydro is an already
well-established part of the generation equation and also perhaps reflecting a widely held
belief that large hydro projects have more of
an impact on local environments than their
smaller cousins.
Law 20.257 states that only hydro plants
below 20 MW will be considered nonconventional renewables and count toward the
5% target. The law also fails to distinguish
between run-of-river and conventional dam
hydro schemes. Many in the industry feel
that the 20-MW ceiling is too low and that it
reflects misperceptions of the impact hydro
projects have on the local environment.
Alan OBrien, global managing director
of renewable energy at the international energy-to-mining consultancy Hatch, notes that a
200-MW run-of-river scheme need only have
a very limited visual impact on its site. The
law does not prohibit larger-scale projects,
but generators are going to struggle to meet
the 5% target, and therefore it is inevitable
that there will be some form of premium attached to energy generated from nonconventional renewable sources. By placing the bar
so low, attention will be shifted away from
the numerous midsize opportunities that exist in Chile.
Due to Law 20.257, small hydro and the
wider energy crisis in Chile has been attracting interest from across the globe and
considerable recent investment. OBrien
said that Hatch has experienced a surge in
interest for its hydro services recently in
Chile. The tight current supply of electricity, combined with the need to fulfill the 5%
target, has resulted in some healthy reported
returns on investment.
Santiago Castro, head of power at the
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Transmission Challenges
The Chilean transmission sector is facing a great challenge. Transelecs CEO Kuhlmann explains: Our challenge was to take this technically well-managed business and adapt it to the new climate.
Since it was spun off from ENDESA in March 1993, Transelec
has remained the dominant, though not monopolistic, player in the
market. The transmission sector mainly consists of three interlinking sectors: the trunk system, which is 100% owned by Transelec
and permits the transmission of electricity across the majority of the
country; the sub-transmission systems that connect the main grid to
areas of the distribution commissions; and the transmission facilities,
designed to supply nonregulated customers, mainly mining and large
industrial users. Transelec retained 100% of the market for 500-kV
transmission lines. It has 46% of 220-kV lines, and competition from
the distribution companies leaves just 6% for Transelec at the 154-kV
level. Since the Short Law was implemented, Transelec bids have
won three out of five transmission contracts.
Chile benefits from a dynamic industry that services the transmission sector. PROINGESA, a multidisciplinary engineering company
based in Concn, has gone through a rapid period of growth based on
its focus on the transmission sector. CEO Ivan Rivero explained, This
is a market that has seen explosive growth. Our company grew 100%
every year for the past three years. Samual Jerardino, associate director of KAS Ingeneria, a engineering and consultancy company, said,
There are many opportunities for niche players such as ourselves.
Transelecs Kuhlmann believes that the most difficult challenge
has been the change in the generation mix: When Chile was importing gas from Argentina, one of the advantages was that the combined-cycle units used to generate electricity could be built close to
the points of consumption. So for example, if your end customer is
based in Santiago, there is nothing stopping them from building a
combined-cycle plant in a close, convenient location. With other technologies this kind of approach just isnt possible. The hydro plants
are located near to the resource, which can be anywhere in Chile!
The coal-fired plants would preferably be located near to the sea, as
the pollution factor is extremely important. When we could no longer
rely on Argentinean gas, we had to look at these other technologies,
which wouldnt be located close to the consumption point and would
mean a more sophisticated transmission grid. Given the challenges
that the transmission sector faces, and the opportunities in supplying
the unregulated market (mainly mining companies) Transelec cant
afford to fail (Figure 10).
As mentioned previously, to date the central SIC is not connected
to the northern SING system. This means that Chile does not have one
national system whereby deficits in one area can be complimented by
excesses in the other. Instead, it has a consumer-dominated central
system and an industry-dominated northern system. This means that,
although Chile has a wealth of hydro resources in the center and south
of the country, should industrial demand pick up again, these cannot
be exploited. Instead, future generation on the northern grid is likely
to be fossil-fueled.
Chiles distribution networks are split into concessions with permanent licenses granted to operators. These licenses are transferable with the price of energy in the regulated market (>0.5-MW
consumers) being determined nationwide by a simple node price
plus operators commission (or value-added distribution allowance).
The distribution market is inherently monopolistic by design. As
holder of four concessions, SAESA Group CEO Francisco Mualim
observes that distributors can only add value by improving efficiency and the quality of services and reducing outages. Where there
is population growth, the distributor stands to gain, especially if it
can accurately predict the location of this growth and develop the
requisite infrastructure accordingly.
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10. A Transelec substation. AREVA constructed a major substation for Transelec, Chiles main transmission company. Located in Charrua,
520 km south of Santiago, the 500 kV/220 kV substation is designed to incorporate the nearby Ralco 570-MW hydro power plant, and is a key
element of a project to strengthen Transelecs 500-kV transmission system. Courtesy: Transelec
The distribution licenses make for extremely attractive investments. The stability
of the country, market transparency, and security of these regulated but private monopolies
combine to offer a low-risk investment with
relatively predictable returns. It is testament
to Chiles risk profile and the distribution
concessions that SAESA was purchased in
mid-2008 by The Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Fund and the Ontario Teachers Pension
Plan. Teachers, not known for making rash
investments or expecting rapid returns, has
publicly stated that it hopes to hold its 50%
stake in SAESA for 70 years.
Market Risks
Critics have argued that Chile doesnt have
an energy generation problem; instead, it
suffers from an efficiency problem. Instead
of focusing on increasing its capacity, it
should increase its efficiency, in both the
generation and mining sectors. Alfredo De
La Quintana, development head of Conecta,
an energy solution provider, told us of the
opportunities for generation companies: If
I can manage a 1% of improvement in the
efficiency of a generator, we would be talking of millions of dollars.
Maria Gonzales, director of energy efficiency company, Energetica, told us that her
company can help regulate energy demand in
Chile by restructuring companies so they use
as little as possible electricity during peak
hours, thus reducing strain on the grid.
Claudio Ramirez, commercial manager
of EDYCE, suggests that there are too many
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Power IN CHILe
ny that is seeking opportunities in the energy
sector, said that one of the main attractions
of his company as a partner are the financing opportunities that Atlas Copco can offer:
We believe this gives us an advantage over
our rivals.
The problem of funding is particularly
acute for the nonconventional renewables
sector. Not only do investors and financiers
have to deal with volatile spot prices, but in
Chile there also are no top-ups or guaranteed
base prices for renewable energy. For the European or North American investor, used to
markets structured to encourage renewable
generation and generous state subsides for
construction and operation of green plants,
this can be difficult to deal with.
Environmental Concerns
The huge expansion of projects that Chile is
now experiencing doesnt come without consequences to both the environment and the local
population. Chile has moved from combinedcycle plants, which can be built in a number of
locations because the fuel is imported, to coal
and hydro plants, which need to be located either near the sea or near the natural resource.
This has resulted in greater resistance toward
new projects. Local populations argue that
Manufacturing
for the Power Industry
Chile is not known for its manufacturing
industry. Its small population and relatively
high labor costs have made it less attractive as an outsourcing location compared to
Asian countries or Brazil, and local efforts
have been focused on the mining and processing sectors. Felipe Andrews, General
Manager of HBSE, which provides solutions to the electricity sector, argues: We
have noticed that most companies which
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Power IN CHILe
11. High-level teamwork. Kipreos is a low-, medium-, and high-voltage transmission line erector that has developed sophisticated helicopter operations for erecting transmission lines in challenging terrain. Courtesy: Kipreos
Multinationalism
and Chilean Exports
A notable feature of Chile is its growing
intraSouth American trade and investment
model. As well as having representation from
the full range of multinationals present in
most countries around the world, Chile also
hosts various South American multinationals.
An example of a foreign company that has aggressively and dynamically moved into Chile
is SANTOS CMI. The Ecuadorian EPC offers
a different solution than most companies in
the market. Unlike its competitors, it comes
from a construction background rather than
an engineering background. Gaston Fontaine,
country head, said, Our engineers are practiced and experienced in the field, and that
gives us a relative advantage in the market.
Another South American multinational is
WEG, the Brazilian service company. Fernando Cardozo, WEGs country head, told us
why WEG decided to enter the Chilean market: Financially, Chile is absolutely secure.
It is an extremely competitive market in spite
of its size. I could say that in terms of the way
Power IN CHILe
it operates it is very similar to bigger countries, like the United States, for example.
Some Chilean companies have built, or are
in the process of building, substantial overseas operations. The open market culture in
Chile, something lacking in many other Latin
American business communities, has aided
this process as Chilean businessmen throughout the power value chain are use to dealing
with foreign clients and meeting their tendering processes and standards. Pablo Bosch,
general manager of BBosch, explained that
through consistent annual growth of 13% to
16%, his company has grown from a simple
erector and maintainer of transmission lines
into the tower fabrication sector. BBosch
is now a Latin American leader in the fabrication business and has galvanizing plants
(serving sectors beyond power) in Chile and
Brazil. For Bosch, a keen free trade and globalization advocate, building his export business is essential: I know I can not depend
only on my Chilean customers. Therefore
BBosch is developing the network and engineering capacity to sell structures all over the
world. The company, which had a turnover
of approximately $100 million last year, sells
to Peru, Brazil, and Costa Rica and is even
bidding on a project in the Arctic.
Chilean companies are gaining market penetration in other Latin American markets because they have built strong relationships with
European and North American EPCs, and
their clients are confident that they will meet
their requirements regardless of the location of
the project. BBosch was a key subcontractor
on the SIEPA project to build an international
Central American grid because of this reality.
Fernando Zuiga, energy head of SalfaCorp, explained his strategy for expansion:
Presently, we are the biggest construction
company in Chile. Two years ago we acquired a company in Peru. We have been
present two years now in the Argentinean
market and we have recently opened an office in Colombia. To be able to reach those
countries you need investments or to buy
domestic companies.
Although many Chilean service companies
are moving into foreign markets, there is considerable confidence in the domestic market.
This is due to the rising demand for energy
and the fact that the many of the new plants
coming online are typically located far from
the load and therefore require more transmission infrastructure than the gas-fired plants
built in the early part of this decade. Local operators are building relationships with foreign
manufacturers in order to service the Chilean
market. Sergio Palacios, general manager of
transformer engineering and service company
Jorpa, said, We have a strategic alliance with
an Argentine company called Los Conce S.A.,
Chile at a Crossroads
Ricardo Quezada, DESSAU INGENTRA
Human Resources
Industry chiefs are keen to emphasize that
the Chilean service sector is a sophisticated
market with a labor force as skilled as in any
Western market. For example, Kipreosa
low-, medium- and high-voltage transmission line erectorhas developed a substantial helicopter operation in order to undertake
complex operations in some of the worlds
most adverse terrain (Figure 11). Chilean
companies are focused on developing the
knowledge base of their employees and adding value through transferring their expertise
to their clients. Oscar Jimenez, general manager of the precision instruments distributor
Intronica, believes that What we have to do
is add value by training the users.
Due to its topography and well-established
hydro sector, Chile has strong, established expertise in this field. Though the ill-conceived
regulatory changes of 1999 effectively stifled
new hydro developments and triggered a brain
drain as engineers emigrated to more promising markets, it also forced Chilean engineering companies to enter new foreign markets.
The 2004 revision of the law reopened the
gates to new hydro developments and has put
Chilean EPCs in a strong position.
Executive Vice-President of Chilean/Canadian EPC DESSAU INGENTRA Ricardo
Quezada claims: DESSAU INGENTRA is
set to expand through all of Latin America.
We currently have projects in Central Amerwww.powermag.com
Benchmarking
1977, the NRC has approved some 124 nuclear power plant uprates, representing about
5,640 MW of added capacityroughly
equivalent to constructing another five complete nuclear power plants. (See Nuclear
Uprates Add Critical Capacity in the May
2009 issue of POWER.) If you consider the
enormous increase in the industrys average
capacity factor over the past 20 years, improved plant operations are equivalent to at
least another dozen plants (Table 1).
The nuclear uprate program that is driving these upgrades remains strong. There are
currently nine power uprate applications in
the NRC queue awaiting approval that total another 949 MW. In addition, the NRC
expects nuclear operators to submit a total
of 40 uprate applications between now and
2013, representing another 2,075 MW of
installed capacity. For example, Exelon announced in late September a series of power
uprates across its fleet that will increased the
rated capacity of its plants between 1,300
and 1,500 MW within eight years without
turning a spade of earth, said Exelon Nuclear President and Chief Nuclear Officer
Charles (Chip) Pardee at the press conference. With these uprates, we will be able
to produce the equivalent output of a new
Year
Total electricity
generation (MWh)
Nuclear
generation
(MWh)
Nuclear
fuel
share (%)
Capacity
factor (%)
Summer
capacity
(MW)
Number of
operating
units
1988
2,707,411,177
526,973,047
19.5
63.5
94,695
109
1998
3,620,295,498
673,702,104
18.6
78.2
97,070
104
2007
4,156,744,724
806,424,753
19.4
91.8
100,266
104
2008
4,110,258,881
806,181,935
19.6
91.5
100,266
104
74
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with Intergraph
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Intergraph and the Intergraph logo are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corporation. 2009 Intergraph Corporation. 10/09
benchmarking
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benchmarking
1. Operating costs for 2008. The EUCG defines operating costs as the sum of plant,
support, and other related costs, without fuel or capital investment expenses. Note that the
data are reported by each of the 65 nuclear plants in the U.S., not by individual units. Individual
unit data are available to members of the EUCG Nuclear Committee. Source: EUCG
$50
$40
$20
Each of the nine processes is further divided into 46 sub-processes or level one processes in the NIID. Member companies can
define additional sub-processes into activities
(level two) and tasks (level three). However,
$0
Plant
2. Total operating costs for 2008. The EUCG defines total operating costs as the
sum of operating costs plus fuel, but not capital investment expenses. The average cost of
fuel for plants in each quartile can be found by subtracting Figure 1 data from that of Figure 2.
Source: EUCG
$50
$40
Minimum plant
Maximum plant
Average plant
$/MWh
$10
$30
$20
$10
$0
Plant
$50
$18.65
$23.98
$21.53
$24.26
$29.64
$26.82
$29.92
$35.56
$32.44
$36.38
$60.32
$44.47
$40
$/MWh
$30
Minimum plant
Maximum plant
Average plant
$/MWh
$30
$20
$10
$0
Plant
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77
benchmarking
4. Operating costs, average for 20062008. Source: EUCG
$50
$11.24
$14.88
$14.91
$17.14
$17.36
$21.49
$21.58
$38.69
$13.01
$15.97
$19.30
$26.52
$/MWh
$40
$30
$20
$10
$0
Plant
$15.69
$19.58
$17.44
$19.64
$21.94
$20.69
$22.10
$26.13
$23.95
$26.84
$41.90
$30.99
$/MWh
$40
$30
$20
$10
$0
Plant
Minimum plant
Maximum plant
Average plant
$17.67
$23.97
$20.78
$24.03
$27.44
$25.65
$27.86
$34.71
$30.83
$34.83
$57.42
$40.12
$40
$/MWh
The EUCG Nuclear Committee is the nuclear industrys preeminent organization for
economic and performance benchmarking
data and has the most comprehensive and
accurate nuclear industry cost and staffing
database in the world because the data come
directly from plant operators. Therefore,
those who rely on other sources of nuclear
industry performance data do so at a risk.
For example, the NEI presents data on nuclear plant operations developed by a database vendor that interprets Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission Form 1 filings and
$30
$20
$10
$0
78
Cost data. Nuclear operating and generating costs are collected for most level one
and level two functional processes or subprocesses. The differences between operating and generating costs are discussed
later in this article.
Key performance indicators. KPIs measure process characteristics in quantifiable
terms and usually are economic in nature.
KPIs are tracked throughout each level
of the hierarchy or may be derived from
or consist of combinations of other KPIs,
cost data, or staffing data and be reported at the appropriate level. For example,
Unit Capability Factor is reported at the
unit level, whereas Productivity Factor
(MWh generated/full-time employee) is
reported at the plant level. This difference
is important when there is more than one
unit at a plant site.
Staffing data. Staffing data allow human performance calculations and cost
comparisons. For example, both cost and
staffing data are required to compare utilities that outsource with those that rely on
permanent employees to perform different types of work. Staffing data allow the
user to make comparisons between similar plants and processes. Staffing data,
like cost data, are reported at the plant
level and include on-site utility employees, off-site corporate support, and baseline contractors.
Plant
www.powermag.com
L I Q U I D
L E V E L
M E A S U R E M E N T
SIL 2
benchmarking
80
Industry average
1st quartile
2nd quartile
30
$/MWh
25
20
15
10
$14.76
$12.00
$15.76
$16.81
$16.65
$13.62
$13.17
$17.28
2005
$18.17
2006
$14.24
$17.31
$15.30
5
0
$16.07
2004
$18.32
2007
$19.49
2008
Industry average
1st quartile
Source:
2nd quartile
30
$/MWh
25
20
15
$19.24
$16.41
$20.96
$21.47
$17.71
$17.86
$18.44
$21.46
2005
$22.41
2006
$22.84
2007
$20.05
$22.62
$19.94
10
5
0
$20.27
2004
$24.43
2008
EUCG
35
Industry average
1st quartile
2nd quartile
$29.64
30
25
$/MWh
models the costs of unregulated plants to estimate nuclear plant production costs. Those
data sets also exclude any indirect costs.
Determining indirect costs is very difficult
because it requires a detailed understanding
of the peculiarities of utility economics and
cost reporting processes at each plant. The
EUCG database has none of those shortcomings.
Heres an example of the differences
between data from the EUCG and the data
source used by the NEI. The NEI nuclear
plant operating data presented on its web site
show that production costs (defined as all
operating costs plus fuel) for the top quartile
of plants, averaged for the period 2006 to
2008, were $16.1/MWh (1.61/kWh). The
EUCG data, as reported directly from its
members, average $17.44/MWh, as youll
see in Figure 5about an 8% difference. The
lesson learned here is to carefully consider
the source of your data.
The nuclear industry continues to have
the lowest cost of electricity generation
in the power industry, so examining those
costs is a good demonstration of the NIIDs
capability. The data were accessed by performing a series of queries on the NIID to
determine the available operating cost data
on a per-MWh basis. The NIID has a webbased query and reporting toolthe same
tool used by plants to add their latest performance data to the master database. (You
will note that the actual plant names are
blinded, in compliance with anti-trust rules.
The complete data set is only available to
members on a give-to-get basis: You provide your plants data sets, by unit, and then
you have access to the entire database.)
The cost and performance data are available by unit, enabling the user to select relevant and accurate peer groups (plant, unit,
technology, region, and the like) for benchmarking studies. (Although the database
includes several plants in other countries,
we provide data for just U.S. plants in this
article for easier comparison of plants with
similar operating constraints.)
POWER made a series of queries of the
NIID to obtain detailed production cost
data. The three key queries were for 2008
data, industry average data for 20062008,
and five-year industry data (20042008).
Within each key query, detailed cost data
were requested using standard EUCG definitions: operating costs (sum of plant, support, and other related costs), total operating
costs (operating costs plus fuel), and total
generating costs (total operating costs plus
capital investednormalizing the various
capitalization policies among utilities)all
in $/MWh. The data from each query were
then automatically formatted into bench-
$23.58
20
$25.02
$19.44
$19.69
$25.30
2004
$27.04
2005
$25.88
$21.17
$26.06
$22.81
$24.12
15
10
5
0
$28.05
2006
$28.56
2007
$31.24
2008
an optional purchasing power parity feature that accounts for international currency
fluctuations. Clearly, the EUCGs worldwide
reputation as the source of the most comprehensive nuclear benchmarking data available
is well deserved.
1. Moving a real pump. In the physical world, a reactor coolant pump motor similar to
the one in the Waterford 3 project is taken out of a utility company warehouse (left) and loaded
on a flatbed truck (right) for transport to a shop for refurbishing. Courtesy of BCP Engineers &
Consultants
82
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The impact of a potential fire on equipment located in a key area of the plant.
The replacement of a reactor coolant pump
(RCP) motor (Figure 1, p. 82) rated at
9,700 hp and weighing 115,000 pounds.
The replacement of thimbles and in-core
instrumentation (ICI) sensors that monitor
reactor fuel. ICI sensor replacement requires working underwater close to irradiated reactor components when cutting out
and reinstalling new units. This simulation
is heavy on ergonomics and radiationexposure monitoring.
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1-412-279-1149 (International)
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84
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Other utility companies have embraced laser scanning on a few projects, but none are
as focused as we are on using it for risk mitigation, Mahoney noted.
There is great value for power utilities
in using DELMIA and PLM tools in general
to build an up-to-date, dimensionally exact
model of everything inside the containment,
said Chris Staubus, general manager, utility
2. Tight fit.
This 3-D model of the Waterford 3 containment building with its roof
removed was built in CATIA from Dassault
Systmes. The compact arrangement of
the equipment illustrates the challenge
in removing a 9,700-hp motor through
the access hatch in the containment vessel. Courtesy: Entergy, BCP Engineers &
Consultants, and Dassault Systmes Industry Services
3. Heavy lift.
5. Thread the needle. Here the reactor coolant pump motor is being lowered to
the floor of the Waterford 3 reactor containment building through existing structures.
The motor will then be removed through the
cylindrical port (lower left). Installing the replacement motor follows the same path in
reverse. Courtesy: Entergy, BCP Engineers
& Consultants, and Dassault Systmes Industry Services
86
www.powermag.com
One
of two interferences detected by modeling and simulating the task in DELMIA is
the beam structure between the simulated
workers in the yellow hard hats. The motor
(brown and pink, lower center) is about 10
feet in diameter and stands about 20 feet
tall. Courtesy: Entergy, BCP Engineers &
Consultants, and Dassault Systmes Industry Services
Developing operational and engineering databases with 3-D PLM to track and
manage all changes, starting with Waterford 3. Modifications of the plant as it was
designed, as it was built, and as it has been
maintained are being documented with
plant lifecycle management. File-based
data management systems will be phased
out as Dassault Systmes ENOVIA is
implemented.
Taking longer-term risk mitigation company-wide. It is not far-fetched to link
the use of this 3-D technology to a plants
asset management program and longrange planning, Mahoney noted. This
would provide Entergy the opportunity
to continue to effectively shrink outage
schedules through critical path scenario
optimization. This approach has not yet
been widely accepted in the nuclear power
industry, but Entergy is embracing it. We
expect it to re-baseline the expected costs
of modernization projects.
out that mockups do not readily accommodate engineering changes and plant modifications, nor are they easily modified for reuse
in other facilities.
A sheet metal mockup of the motor was
made and moved in and out of containment,
said Gerald Butts, Waterford 3 project manager when the RCP project started. But the
necessary comfort level of really being able
to move the motor was not reached. The 3-D
modeling and simulation gave us an extra
[reassurance] factor we had to have to start
the project.
Many thanks go to John M. Mahoney
PMP (jmahone@entergy.com) innovations
leader, Entergy Nuclear Operations; Chris
Staubus (cls@bcpengineers.com), general
manager of utility services, BCP Engineers
& Consultants; Al Casas (al.casas@3ds
.com), senior consultant, and William Butcher
(william.butcher@3ds.com), director, Worldwide Marketing and Communications, Dassault Systmes; and Ren Pronovost (rene
.pronovost@3ds.com), engineering project
manager, Dassault Systmes Industry Services for their kind assistance in the preparation
of this article.
www.powermag.com
87
International Track
FUELS
POWER magazine has served the generation industry for more than 125 years. Now POWER is making
it easier than ever for industry professionals to find career opportunities and for hiring authorities to
find the best candidates for open positions. The Careers-in-POWER job board on powermag.com allows
visitors to post resumes anonymously, view the latest job positions, post job listings, and set up personal
job alerts.
JOB SEEKERS:
Access the most recent positions available to engineers, operations and maintenance managers, and
corporate and general managers at coal, nuclear, combined-cycle, and alternative power facilities.
EMPLOYERS/RECRUITERS:
Attract highly qualified candidates by posting open positions on the Careers-in-POWER job center.
Visit Careers-in-POWER on powermag.com to become part of the fastest growing site dedicated to
connecting power generation employers and employees. Contact: Diane Hammes at dianeh@powermag.com;
832-242-1969.
www.CAREERSinPOWER.com
nuclear
1. Peach of a plant. The Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generation Plant is located on a 3,100acre site along the Savannah River, 25 miles south of Augusta. Its two units entered commercial
service in the late 1980s and together produce over 2,200 MW. Courtesy: NRC
2. Twins. Southern Nuclear is moving forward with plans to build two new AP1000 Generation
III+ nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. The two new plants are expected to enter commercial service
in 2016 and 2017. This artists concept drawing illustrates the placement of the two new units in
the foreground with the two existing units in the background. Courtesy: Southern Nuclear
www.powermag.com
B
Sanechtel
Francisco Power
London
u
San Francisco
BP_TOWER_POWER_10_09.indd 1
London
u
u
bechtel.com
bechtel.com
New Delhi
1-800-946-3632
1-800-946-3632
New Delhi
10/6/09 1:42 P
nuclear
Table 1. Timeline for Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Source: Southern Nuclear
Date
Stage
August 2006
August 2007
March 2008
April 2008
March 2009
April 2009
Full notice to proceed issued to Shaw for site clearing and preparation
Summer 2009
August 2009
Summer 2011
2016
2017
3. Early site works begins. Displacement in below-grade soil and rock is being moni-
tored using an integrated system of highly accurate Geokon extensometers, displacement transducers, and pore pressure transducers. Other applications of this instrumentation include the
measurement of ground movements around tunnels and behind retaining walls. Data obtained
from the instrumentation at each monitoring location are collected several times each day and
transmitted on-site by wireless radio from data loggers at each monitoring point, and then transmitted off-site via an IP phone to a central bank of data servers. Courtesy: J.M. Hylko
process for obtaining a combined construction and operating license (COL), but it has
evolved into one of the critical success factors
necessary to support the actual deployment
of a new nuclear plant in the U.S. Jones said,
NuStart was very valuable from the standpoint of standardization. The advantage is that
follow-on projects can in the future just reference those portions of the Plant Vogtle project
COL application that contain standard licensing, engineering, technical, quality, and safety
information, and develop their own applications much more efficiently. This alignment
of resources creates a valuable experience
base that can be used in the standardization
of new plant construction and bring new technologies to market in a timely manner. This
process allows the NRC [Nuclear Regulatory
www.powermag.com
nuclear
4. New PWR ready for business. The AP1000, based on the proven performance of
Westinghouse-designed PWRs, is an advanced 1,154-MWe nuclear power plant that uses the
forces of nature and simplicity of design to enhance plant safety and operations and reduce
construction costs. Source: Westinghouse
Auxiliary building
Turbine building
Annex building
Radwaste building
Annex
building
Diesel
generator building
to the placement of engineered backfill, retaining walls, lean concrete, mudmats, and a
waterproof membrane (Figure 3).
On August 26, 2009, the NRC issued an
ESP for the two new units at the Vogtle site.
Southern Nuclears ESP is the fourth such
permit approved by the NRC but the first
based on a specific technology: the Westinghouse AP1000 PWR (Figure 4).
Although the ESP, LWA, and COL processes can be combined, Southern Nuclear
decided to treat each process separately.
Jones explained: We chose to do this in
order to manage our construction and licensing schedules concurrently. Also, there
are certain types of construction activities
that can be performed prior to receiving
NRC approval. For example, workers have
been proceeding with excavation activities
for Unit 3, which are expected to continue
through February 2010. The excavation will
consist of a hole about 90 feet deep, several
hundred feet wide, covering about 42 total
certification, together with the NRC staffs safety evaluation report, in a public meeting. Upon determining that the application
meets the relevant standards and requirements, the commission
drafts a rule to issue the standard design certification that is
valid for 15 years. The NRC can grant a renewal for another 10 to
15 years.
Combined Licenses. The COL is a one-step licensing process designed to reduce regulatory uncertainty through which the NRC
approves and issues a license to construct and operate a new
nuclear power plant. The COL must contain the same information as was required for a construction permit under the old
two-step process. Then, not less than 180 days before the date
scheduled for initial fuel loading, the NRC will publish a notice of intended operation of the facility in the Federal Register.
There is an opportunity for a hearing at this time. However, the
NRC will consider petitions for a hearing only if the petitioner
demonstrates that the licensee has not completed required inspections, tests, and analyses, or will not meet the acceptance
criteria that are necessary to provide reasonable assurance that
the plant has been constructed and will be operated in conformity with the license and applicable regulations. The NRC
then authorizes operation of the plant after verifying that the
licensee has met the required acceptance criteria. A combined
license is issued for a specified period not to exceed 40 years.
The COL application may incorporate by reference a standard
design certification, an ESP, both, or neither. The advantage of
this approach is that the issues resolved during the design certification rulemaking and the ESP hearing processes are excluded
from reconsideration later, at the COL stage. However, if an ESP
and design certification are not referenced, then the NRC reviews
the technical and environmental information as described for the
two-step licensing process.
www.powermag.com
95
nuclear
5. Inherently safe design. The inherent passive safety of the AP1000 derives from its
modular construction design, which has fewer pumps and valves than the typical plant operating in the U.S. today. This increases reliability and reduces maintenance and operating costs.
Source: Westinghouse
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
45% less
seismic building
volume
85% less
cable
Structural modules
Piping modules
Containment
41
20
12
73
Auxiliary building
42
34
29
105
Total
88
Turbine building
29
45
14
Annex building
10
NA
NA
10
Total modules
122
99
55
276
2008, Southern Nuclear filed an application with the NRC for a COL. The NRC has
scheduled completion of the Vogtle final
safety evaluation report in April 2011. Southern Nuclear expects to receive its COL later
in 2011 and then immediately begin safetyrelated construction.
NuStart is working with Southern Company toward demonstrating the nations new
process for licensing a nuclear power plant.
For instance, Vogtle recently became the reference plant for the AP1000 under NuStart
in June 2009. What this means is that Vogtle
Units 3 and 4 will be the first to implement
the NRC-approved AP1000 technology, and
the Vogtle license application will serve as
the reference COL.
96
nuclear
6. Reduced construction required. The AP1000 plant arrangement consists of five principal building structures: the nuclear island, the
turbine building, the annex building, the diesel generator building, and the radwaste building. Source: Westinghouse
1. Shield/containment
2. Auxiliary building
3. Fuel area
4. Diesel generators
5. Service water pumphouse
6. Emergency fuel oil storage
7. Refueling water storage tank
8. Demineralizer/potable water plant
9. Condensate storage tank
10. Radwaste building
11. Annex building
Note: Darker areas shown are Seismic I category buildings
NUCLEAR
1. Prefabricating rings. Construction pads located adjacent to a project site are used for
prefabricating containment vessel sections. Courtesy: CB&I
How Modular
Construction Works
One construction methodology that works particularly well with this standardized approach is
modularization. By definition, modularization
is the process of engineering and fabricating
construction projects into shippable packages
or segments that can be installed economically
at the job site. The task of fabricating and assembling these segments can be carried out in
a shop environment or on a nearby construction
pad, if on-site space is available (Figure 1).
There is precedent for modularizing components and systems of nuclear plants. Containment vesselsthe leak-tight steel structures
used to enclose the reactor and contain any
radioactive release in the event of an accidentare particularly well suited for modular
construction. Because of the shape of the vessels, they can be fabricated in large rings or
panels and then lifted one on top of the other
to assemble the structure (Figure 2).
98
CB&I used this technique in the construction of nuclear containment vessels built from
the 1950s to the 1980s, although it was not
called modularization at that time. Construction pads were built adjacent to the nuclear
island. Large pieces were assembled on these
pads and then lifted into final position. A number of countries have used these techniques
since that time, most notably Japan, where
modular construction techniques have been
enhanced to include structural segments that
include mechanical components, piping, and
electrical and control wiring.
Benefits of Modularization
In addition to the benefits of standardization,
modularization can provide advantages of its
own. Space on the job site remains an imporwww.powermag.com
nuclear
3. Stacking rings. A modularized ring of a containment vessel is set on the nuclear island
just made sense to do as much of the fabrication as possible away from the crowded activity at the nuclear island. When portions of a
plant are modularized, either in a shop or on a
nearby construction pad, the portions built re-
Using modularization for constructing containment vessels has many advantages, but
it is not the solution for every situation. For
all the advantages of modularization, this
technique does not guarantee lower cost or
Squirter DTIs
applied
bolting
email: info@appliedbolting.com
TECHNOLOGY
ht t p: //w w w. app l i e d b ol t i n g. c o m
99
Nuclear
a shorter schedule. Each new project must be
evaluated individually to determine whether
the advantages of modularization can be used
to reduce cost and shorten the schedule.
At times, modular construction may not be an
option. But whenever modularization is considered for a construction project, a complete analysis must be performed and a number of factors
must be evaluated, such as those that follow.
Site evaluation. How much space is
available for on-site construction? The more
congested the site, the more desirable modularization becomes.
Site access. What transportation options are
available for accessing the plant via truck, rail,
or barge? Certainly, barge access provides the
optimal situation for modularization. If both the
shop and the plant are connected via a waterway, enormous modules can be fabricated in the
shop, shipped to the plant, and lifted into place.
If barge access isnt an option, the size of the
modules will need to be orders of magnitude
smaller to ship by truck or rail. Nevertheless,
these modules are still quite large and require
careful planning to transport, as permits for using roadways and bridges must be obtained.
Module lifting. What is the lifting capacity
at the site? Large, heavy modules that are constructed in a shop or on a nearby construction
pad must be lifted into place. Ideally, if a con-
power plant concepts in the U.S. include standardized designs and support modularization of
the containment vessels, careful analysis will
be necessary for each individual project to determine if modularization is the best approach.
If modularization is used, that decision must be
made early to realize optimal benefits.
Engineering of the modules must be done
early in the engineering phase so that all the
details of transporting and lifting the modules
can be considered and planned. Tolerances
for containment construction are critical and
must be established during the design phase.
If due consideration is not given during the
design phase, the erected modules could conceivably not match up to the piping and other
connections.
Additionally, all of the parties must be involved in developing and coordinating the modularization effort, including owners, nuclear
steam supply system manufacturers, fabricators, erectors, the logistics team, and even the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, whose staff
will need to perform inspections in an off-site
shopa challenge not encountered during construction of the currently operating facilities.
TURNING LEMONS
INTO ORANGE-AID.
The Pre-Cleaner
www.powermag.com
new products
Nexen has launched the TL Series, a pneumatically engaged, singleposition torque limiter for improved overload protection for industrial
machinery. The TL Series uses a ball/detent interface and proximity
sensor to immediately disengage the machine shaft when excessive
torque or a machine jam occurs, effectively protecting downstream
equipment and product from damage and decreasing downtime. Upon
detecting the overload condition, the sensor instantly sends a signal to
the torque limiters control valve, exhausting the air and disengaging
the unit for a clean disconnect of power to the driven components.
By using pneumatic actuation, TL Series units facilitate remote
trip-out torque adjustment via an air regulator, allowing operators
to optimize overload protection while the machine is in usethus
eliminating the need for inconvenient onsite adjustments. Each
torque limiters interface has five ball/detents arranged in an
asymmetrical pattern, ensuring that each engagement occurs in
the same position and that machine components are accurately
synchronized. (www.nexengroup.com)
www.powermag.com
101
NEW PRODUCTS
Tregaskiss has upgraded the design of its TOUGH LOCK retaining heads so that they
now feature the companys Dual Taper technologya second rear taper between the
gooseneck and the contact tip. This design improves electrical conductivity and heat
dissipation to provide consistent welding performance and extend the life of the TOUGH
LOCK consumables. The upgrade also complements the existing taper design between
the retaining head and contact tip, which helps keep the tip secure, centered, and cool.
Tips are machined with tight tolerances and feature a dual-lead thread design that
allows the tips to be rotated 180 degrees to create a new wear position and extend tip
life. The retaining heads are useable on both semi-automatic and robotic MIG (metal
inert gas) guns. (www.tregaskiss.com/dualtaper)
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products announced the addition of conventional and self-aligning rollerbeds to its line of
automated handling equipment products. The durable rollerbeds are grit-blasted with a polyurethane finish coating to
endure abrasive environments. They also feature solidstate inverter technology for precise speed control to
ensure welding accuracy. The rollerbeds are available in
a variety of sizes and driver/idler rail bogie versions for
a broad scope of applications. Depending on the project,
fabricators can choose from conventional rollerbeds with
load capacities from 2.5 tons to 60 tons or selfaligning rollerbeds with load capacities from 2.5 tons
to 50 tons. These workpiece-handling solutions are
ideal for wind tower fabrication and for offshore
and shipyard, pressure vessel, and pipeline work.
(www.esab.com)
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POWER PROFESSIONALS
Opportunities in Operations and Maintenance,
Project Engineering and Project Management,
Business and Project Development,
First-line Supervision to Executive Level Positions.
Employer pays fee. Send resumes to:
P.O. Box 87875
Vancouver, WA 98687-7875
email: dwood@powerindustrycareers.com
(360) 260-0979 l (360) 253-5292
www.powerindustrycareers.com
800-866-6247 www.naisinc.com
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Number
Proyersa Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Rhona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Atlas Copco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Siemens AG E CC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Baker Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Soletanche Bachy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 . . . . . . . . . . . 39
bbosch Industrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Bechtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Superbolt Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 . . . . . . . . . . . 53
CH2M HILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Swagelok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chromalloy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Transelec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 . . . . . . . . . . . 30
CleaverBrooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Colbn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Tusan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 . . . . . . . . . . . 31
DESSAU Ingentra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . . . 34
U R S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Wrtsil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Edic Ingenieros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Westinghouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . . 21
www.abb.com/powergeneration
www.appliedbolting.com
www.atlascopco.cl
www.babcock.com
www.bakerconcrete.com
www.bbosch.cl
www.bechtel.com
www.beumer.com
www.ch2mhill.com/power
www.chromalloy.com
www.cleaverbrooks.com/engineered
www.colbun.cl
www.conocophillipslubricants.com/power
www.dessauingentra.com
www.doosan.com
www.edic.cl
www.proyersa.cl
www.rhona.cl
www.siemens.com/energy
www.siemens.com/energycontrols
www.soletanche-bachy.cl
www.solvair.us
www.swc.cl
www.superbolt.com
www.swagelok.com/training
www.transelec.cl
sales@turbineenergysolutions.com
www.tusan.cl
http://pow.ts-tm.com
www.urscorp.com
www.wartsila.com
www.westinghousenuclear.com
Endesa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 . . . . . . . . . . . 33
www.endesa.cl
GDF Suez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 . . . . . . . . . . . 32
www.gdfsuez.com
G E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.ge-7fa.com
Hatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 . . . . . . . . . . . 25
www.hatch.ca
HidroAysn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 . . . . . . . . . . . 47
www.hidroaysen.cl
Hurst Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
www.hursttech.com
Ingendesa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 . . . . . . . . . . . 41
www.ingendesa.cl
Intergraph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 . . . . . . . . . . . 48
www.intergraph.com/power
Intronica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 . . . . . . . . . . . 29
www.intronica.com
Jeffrey Rader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . . . 14
www.jeffreyrader.com/pow
Jorpa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 . . . . . . . . . . . 44
www.jorpa.cl
Presentations
Event Collateral
Media Kits
Direct Mail
Online Marketing
Recruiting Packages
KAS Ingeneria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 . . . . . . . . . . . 35
www.kasing.cl
Kipreos Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 . . . . . . . . . . . 45
www.kipreos.cl
Ludeca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . 10
www.ludeca.com/centralign
9RO1R2FWREHU
Magnetrol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 . . . . . . . . . . . 50
www.magnetrol.com
Membrana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 . . . . . . . . . . . 51
www.liqui-cel.com/industries/power-boiler-feed-water.cfm
Orion Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
www.orioninstruments.com
Petro-Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 10 . . . . . . . . . . 4, 8
ww.petrovalve.com
Plymouth Tube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 . . . . . . . . . . . 52
www.plymouth.com
Proingesa Ingeneria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 . . . . . . . . . . . 36
800.290.5460 I POWER@theYGSgroup.com
The YGS Group is the authorized provider of custom reprint products from POWER.
www.proingesa.cl
www.powermag.com
107
Commentary
www.powermag.com
ABB Inc.
29801 Euclid Avenue
Wickliffe Ohio, US 44092
E-mail: pspmarketing@us.abb.com
10/13/09 2:39 PM