Tacoa Power Barge Project
Overview
In June 2010, HPI, LLC was contracted by Waller Marine, a naval architecture and maritime services firm, to provide the facility-wide Supervisory Controls System (SCS) for the barge-mounted, combined cycle power generation facility being designed for installation alongside an existing power plant in Tacoa, Venezuela. The generation facility consists of two barges, each mounted with one (1) GE Frame 7FA (each nominally rated for 171 MW) gas turbine generator as well as one barge mounted with one (1) 260 MW steam turbine generator and Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) as well as barges for fuel storage and water treatment. The new barges were transported from Orange, Texas by water to the site in Venezuela during August 2010. Upon installation they became the world’s largest floating power generation facilities. They will supply much needed power to Caracas and surrounding areas.
Project Background
The existing power plant at Tacoa has been generating approximately 1200 MW annually under stressed operating conditions. This left a deficit of about 1500 MW when compared to the actual energy needs of the greater Caracas area. In addition to this shortfall, the company responsible for supplying electric power to the area, La Electricidad de Caracas (EDC), determined that due to a host of issues at the facility, such as fuel quality problems, equipment failure was a real possibility.
If such an equipment failure were to occur, power transmission grid issues would make it impossible to generate any additional base load capacity in the area to help fill the gap. The only seemingly viable candidate would be the Guri Dam Hydropower Station which has no excess capacity to redirect, given the infrastructure available. In response to EDC’s findings, the Venezuelan government quickly pushed for additional capacity to meet Caracas’ changing needs.
A Cooperative Effort
Early on in the project, the owner of the facility, who is a major energy company in Venezuela, identified the need for an experienced project management team that could fast-track the whole project and was experienced in gas turbine power plant design, construction, and operation. In early 2010, HPI, in consortium with S&W Energy Solutions, had been selected by the owner to provide Project Management Consulting (PMC) services to include overall project management and engineering assistance, yard supervision, expediting and quality assurance. HPI has thus served in a dual role on the project—as the simultaneous provider of the Balance of Plant control systems and PMC services.
HPI’s Involvement
The HPI consortium offers the customer the requisite expertise “under one roof.” The fast track requirements stipulated by the Venezuelan agencies added to the challenge of this particular effort. The ability to quickly evaluate the true condition of the customer’s grid, identify resources and solutions highlighted HPI’s Project Management team’s value added, as the Owner’s Engineer.
The facility-wide SCS, including Balance of Plant (BOP), was designed engineered, manufactured and installed by HPI. HPI’s SCS architecture was based on the GE RX3i/7i PLC platform, utilizing Cimplicity HMI to meet the design specification, with the system acting as a web client. The individual turbine controls are operated through HPI’s Cimplicity environment. Each power plant is equipped with local control room tie in to shore-based switchyard and other BOP points. This design allows for redundant communications links for the remote control of both barge power plants from either local control room and remote monitoring capabilities from the main plant control room in Venezuela and Waller Marine offices in Houston. Additional I/O and stations are planned to be added as future site expansion continues.
With only eight weeks to design, engineer, manufacture and test the system, the aggressive timeline posed the greatest challenge. HPI’s Controls Group utilized its team’s experience with GE Frame gas turbines, ranging from the Frame 3 through Frames 7 and 9, to simultaneously complete the hardware and software design. By actively engaging the customer, HPI was able to ensure SCS design inclusive of all areas of the facility within its network, meeting end user needs. HPI’s relationship with key suppliers ensured delivery times and project milestones were met on time and on budget. Upon kickoff of work at the shipyard and Tacoa facility, HPI was again called to utilize its experienced Installation and Commissioning teams to finalize the installation of cabling. This additional effort provided a valuable service as the EPC team completed the project on time for planned summer 2011 commissioning.