Section B: Lessons learned in new build-projects and O&M

Thursday, 14 September 2017, 09:30-10:00h/B02

European best practices and standards ensure security of supply and power quality from Africa´s largest thermal power plant

Markus John, ABB AG, Germany; Ingo Wagner, ABB Switzerland Ltd, Switzerland

Kusile, South Africa, belongs to a new generation of clean coal projects comprising six units of 800 MW each. The automation system, being one of the largest installations globally, is designed based on latest best practices and standards, thus forming a reference for similar plants worldwide. 207.000 I/O and 755 panels illustrate the DCS dimension and complexity.

Key goal of the project was the implementation of the Eskom turnaround strategy and project management techniques deployed on site that enabled the Owners team to mitigate schedule impact of onboarding a new I&C contractor against an aggressive target date for first unit synchronization. The required fast track implementation demanded a global project setup with a strong local presence, using latest project and document management techniques allowing concurrent engineering and site work with close customer integration.

The paper will present the design for the functional requirements as well as the engineering, project and site management approach applied. The requirements lead to several “automation firsts” in the region:

• In line with the functional specification, a unified and seamlessly integrated control system was designed. This allows ESKOM to minimize spare-part warehousing and maximize interchangeability. The life-cycle management gets simplified, because maintenance and migration strategies are common throughout the station and greatly simplify training and support needs.
• The national grid has some unique attributes, requiring plants to be extremely flexible in operating range and provide grid-support during fault situations. This resulted in the need for an advanced, model-based unit control utilizing condensate and extraction steam stop.
• Documentation demands were the most comprehensive ever required on such a project. These were clearly defined for every activity, from engineering, installation, commissioning to maintenance and training. All documentation must comply with IEC61355 and VGB-B103, VGB-R170 C and VGB-R171 standards. In response to the training requirements two high-fidelity simulators had to be supplied and in service prior to the plant startup for staff upfront training.
• The strict performance requirements for DCS, including a system availability of 99.99% (equal to downtime of less than 53 minutes/year), had to be demonstrated through RAM (reliability, availability, maintainability) and FMECA (failure mode, effects and criticality analysis) analysis. Being a critical infrastructure, the implementation of comprehensive cyber-security and intrusion protection compliant with VGB-R175 was required.