This program covers the building of new capacity (like Kusile and Medupi) and optimising existing fleets (such as retrofitting nuclear and coal plants such as Koeberg and Arnot)
– By Linton Levy –
Alstom has won a contract worth $122.4 Million (€90 Million) for the automation of Eskom’s latest thermal power plant project, Kusile. Alstom Power will engineer, supply and install its latest ALSPA Series 6 Distributed Control System (DCS).
This program covers the building of new capacity (like Kusile and Medupi) and optimizing existing fleets (such as retrofitting nuclear and coal plants such as Koeberg and Arnot). Alstom’s flexible control system will help Eskom maximise its fleet’s efficiency and stabilize the system by enabling real-time information exchange between baseload and renewable power plants.
Koeberg ensures a reliable supply of electricity to the Western Cape one of the fastest growing regions in South Africa. It has operated safely for more than 21 years and efficiently for a decade and has a further active life of 30 – 40 years.
The stations' two reactors supply 1 800MW or 6% of South Africa's electricity needs. Koeberg has produced more than 81 000 million kWh of electricity since 1984 using seven and a half tonnes of uranium.
The contract follows a similar order in November 2009 for Kusile’s sister plant, Medupi and forms part of Eskom’s multi-billion rand expansion program to double South Africa’s electricity capacity in the coming decades. Koeberg Power Station is the only nuclear power station on the African continent. It is situated at Duynefontein, 30km northwest of Cape Town in South Africa on the Atlantic coast.
“Eskom is rising to the challenge of meeting South Africa’s growing power needs as the country continues to industrialize while simultaneously meeting the energy security challenges of the 21st century. Our integrated power control solutions will allow them to manage their assets more efficiently and with added flexibility,” said Laurent Demortier, Senior Vice President of Alstom Power’s Energy Management Business.
The ALSPA Series 6 DCS is designed to ensure consistent and safe control for all parts of a power plant. The system includes the critical controls for turbines, generators and balance of plant (BoP) components. It also provides an advanced control and optimization application module.
Alstom has had a presence in South Africa for 100 years and its turbines generate 80% of the country’s installed capacity. Most recently, the companies have collaborated on an integrated retrofit project to increase the capacity of the Arnot power plant by more than 300 MW, and a retrofit of the Koeberg nuclear facility to increase the power output by over 65 MW, improve the availability and reliability of power supply and also extend the lifetime of the plant.