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ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
December 2011/January 2012 www.esb.ie/em
over 160,000 work-hours and a very positive approach to near-miss and incident reporting.
Additionally, Poolbeg was successfully recertified for OHSAS 18001 by the external auditor with no major or minor non-conformances–two full years without any non-conformance.
In recognition, Poolbeg Station & Overhaul Project jointly secured a category award and the overall Excellence Award in the 2010/11 Generation Operations safety awards.
Project Life-Cycle
Planning for the overhauls commenced in 2007 with the identification of planned work-scope items, development and issue of tenders and advance purchase of long lead time spare parts.
A project and management team structure was developed comprising staff drawn from Production Overhaul Group, Poolbeg, Asset Technology and ESBI.
The overhaul was carried out in two significant outage phases: Phase I in April/May/June consisted of major inspection of Gas Turbine CG14, major inspection of Steam Turbine and its associated generator, replacement of Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRS G) low pressure super-heater, overhaul and testing of significant balance of plant items, an extensive Non Destructive Testing (NDT)/Integrity Assessment Programme and re-commissioning.
Phase II in July/August/September consisted of major inspection of Gas Turbine CG15 including replacement of static frequency converter/static excitation/generator protection systems, overhaul and testing of significant balance of plant items and recommissioning.
The outages were carried out according to a very challenging schedule and all units returned to service within the planned time, except for the Steam Turbine which was delayed due to vibration issues. These were addressed in August by the main contractor, Siemens, with significant input from ESBEI staff. Of particular note is the return to commercial operation of Gas Turbine CG15 which, due to the planned electrical upgrades, had to carry out an extensive suite of Grid Code Tests involving the Transmission System Operator (TSO), EirGrid.
Post-overhaul testing identified two significant enhancements compared to pre-outage figures: a 7MW increase in output returning the plant close to initial commissioning figures and a 27% and 47% reduction in NOx emissions in CG14 and CG15, respectively.
The overhaul programme was delivered within budget and represents a significant commitment to the future of Poolbeg. The project team and station staff have now embarked on a Lessons Learned exercise, both within the project and also with Siemens. All aspects of the project are under review and the findings, both positive and negative, will be communicated extensively to ensure the knowledge gained is shared widely.
Cooperation and Integration
It would be impossible to deliver such a substantial and complex project without the total cooperation of a large number of staff throughout the various project stages. Significant assistance was received throughout the project planning and execution from Generation Operations/ESBI management, project, technical and procurement specialists. The project and station structures and staff were closely aligned at all times and the integration of various station staff into the project structure and cooperation received from all was notable.
“The dedication, commitment and effort of all involved in successfully delivering such a large and complex project is recognised and much appreciated,” said Martin McConnon, Project Manager.
