Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 8/2007

New Power Plants – Forming the Future with Innovation

Reinhardt Hassa

The VGB- Conference “Power Plants in Competition“ brings together operators and manufacturers of power plants. Experiences are exchanged and steps to address present and future problems in the sector discussed. The current major task is to orientate power plant operation towards the challenges of the future. Alongside security of supply under cost-effective conditions, the topic of climate protection by reducing CO2 emissions is the focus
of activities. Concepts, initiatives and general conditions are discussed.

Electricity trading in Europe – the Role of the Power Plants

Günther Rabensteiner

Against the background of the development of electricity trading in Europe, it should be noted that the strong technical nature of electricity – as a grid-bound product which cannot be stored – has been largely underestimated. An increase in grid bottlenecks is limiting physical trading activities, and decreasing reserve capacities and increasing consumption growth rates are aggravating the situation. It is not the local electricity requirements but primarily the price trends in primary energy sources relative to the price of electricity (spark and dark spreads) which are currently determining the use of power plants.

Innovations to Meet the Challenges of the EDF Power Fleet in France

Francois Giger, Olivier Vailhen and Veronique Arrondel

The current challenges facing all electricity suppliers essentially result from market requirements, market liberalisation and the requirements for environmental and climate protection. EDF is accordingly focussing its activities on innovative areas in terms of individual generation options – such as nuclear energy, fossil-fired power plants and
hydroelectric power generation. The challenges require both technical and organisational solutions, as shown by the grid instability in western Europe on November 4th 2006, for example.

Energy-Policy Prospects for Europe and Germany and the Role of Hard coal in the Energy Mix

Erich Schmitz

Climate and environmental protection have become the new major topics. In recent times the much talked about topics of climate change and scarcity of raw materials have cast doubt on the global political and economic system. At the 2007 EU Summit, decisions were made which represent an initial marker for climate and energy policy. However, only the objectives were defined – the ways in which they can be met still need to be found. The energy mix of the future continues to be the subject of controversy and a definitive framework is still not yet in sight. Decisions on investment are difficult to make in this situation.

Power Plant operation with Feed-in from Wind Parks

Torsten Haase, Friedrich Gottelt, Jürgen Nocke, Egon Hassel and Harald Weber

The CO2-free generation of energy in onshore and offshore wind energy plants is playing an increasingly important role in Germany. The main problem with the use of wind energy plants is their weather-dependent, variable and rapid output fluctuations. The thermodynamic and regulatory background material required to cope with the necessary routine tasks are being prepared using the Rostock hard coal power plant. The first results of the VGB research project 283 “Interaction between large offshore wind parks and conventional thermal power plants” are presented here.

Field Experience from the 2nd Generation Low Emission Combustion Chamber

Mats Blomstedt, Olle Lindman and Vladimir Navrotsky

In 1991, a new and then unique DLE (dry low emission) combustion system was introduced on the 25 MW SGT-600 gas turbine. Since then, the SGT-600 fleet has been running for a total of over 3.5 million operating hours. A special calibration system for combustion chambers has been developed and integrated as standard into the quality controls which take place before delivery. Inspec-tion and re-calibration are not required. There has been a positive response to the combustion of a medium calorific gas (MBTU) in an LNG plant in China.

Optimisation of the Control system at the DHS Lichterfelde in Liberalised Markets

Christiane Jahn and Lutz Lehmann

Adaptation of existing power plants to the requirements of the liberalised electricity market is the challenge which operators of older plants must face more and more often. In the area of control technology, through careful interventions in exis-ting configurations improvements in performance can be achieved and the benefits of modern control technology can be exploited. Regulation has been optimised at the Lichterfelde CHP, and Vattenfall Europe, Berlin, is also involvedin secondary regulation in the unit.

The RDS-PP – Innovation from the KKS to an International Standard

Harry Königstein, Heinz Müller and Jörg Kaiser

A range of factors has led to the necessity to adapt the KKS to current rules and regulations. The new standardised reference designation system is called Reference Designation System for Power Plants – RDS-PP. The development of the new reference designation system from the point of view of standardisation is described as well as the main features and offers of support, also from tue perspective of the transition from the KKS to RDS-PP. Recommendations for future use com plete these accomplishments.

Tasks and Methods of Condensate Polishing

Michael Lormies, Karol Daucik, Hans Duve and Heinz Thiemann

The VGB-Working Panel “Chemistry of water treatment” has been revising the “Tasks and methods of condensate polishing” instruction sheet – VGB-M412 L – since April 2005. This instruction sheet describes the requirements for condensate preparations for power plants which are fossil- fired and which must not produce any industrially contaminated condensate. Reports on the status of the current draft.

Improved Efficiency of Demineralization Plant and DOC Reduction by Reverse Osmosis in the Lippendorf Power Plant

Thomas Hörtinger, Michael Köhler, Karla Georgi-Kruggel and Thomas Meyerhoff

The operating method of the cooling tower water treatment system of the Lippendorf Power Plant has not been adequately adapted to the requirements of the demineralisation plant by the contractor. An extensive testing programme to determine suitable technologies for demineralised water production was set up based on other unsatisfactory measures in 2002. The aim here was to reduce the organic content of the demineralised water so that there are unlikely to be problems in the water-steam cycle. Work to improve the efficiency of the demineralisation plant was started in 2003.

Training Engineers in Germany after the Creation of a European Higher Education Area

Markus Bieder

After the ground-breaking decision in Bologna in 1999 to create a European Higher Education Area, German universities, students and potential employers will face particular challenges over the next few years. The decision to replace traditional engineering graduate programmes with bachelor’s and master’s programmes will also confront energy suppliers with various issues when recruiting graduates with technical qualifications.