ABB has won three separate contracts from the German-based general contractor, Kraftanlagen München, to supply turnkey instrumentation, control and electrical (ICE) packages for a new combined heat and power (CHP) unit at the Kladno 1 power plant in the Czech Republic. The plant is owned by Alpiq Generation, a subsidiary of Alpiq, the Swiss-based energy company.
Currently under construction and scheduled to start production in January 2014, the new CHP unit will provide 135 megawatts (MW) of electric power and 105 MW of thermal energy. The electricity will be fed into the local power grid and the thermal energy will provide district heating for Kladno, a city with a population of 110,000 located close to the capital, Prague.
The new CHP unit replaces an obsolete coal-fired unit from the 1970s, which no longer meets emission regulations. Using a combination of lignite and biomass as fuel, the new unit will be significantly more efficient and environmentally friendly than the old unit, and will increase the generating capacity of the entire plant.
ABB has provided similar turnkey ICE solutions for all the existing units at Kladno 1, which currently comprises two 135 MW generating units, a 67 MW combined cycle unit and a 43 MW peaking power unit. The existing units were built between 1998 and 2000. ABB was selected by Kraftanlagen München for its ability to supply a fully integrated ICE solution for the entire unit including grid connection and integration of the CHP control system with the plant-wide Kladno 1 control system. ABB is also responsible for design, engineering, project management, installation and commissioning.
On the electrical side the solution includes 110 kV gas insulated switchgear, power transformer, generator circuit breaker and protection system to ensure reliable and uninterrupted power supply to the power grid. And for the plant electrical system it includes distribution and auxiliary transformers, low and medium voltage switchgear, and low and medium voltage drives to maximize reliability and safety and minimize the plant’s own energy consumption.
The instrumentation package covers the boiler house (including the Foster Wheeler boiler), machine house (including the Skoda Power turbine) and common facilities. The unit will be controlled by an ABB distributed control system, which will be integrated with the existing ABB distributed control system that controls all the existing units at the plant. ABB will equip the unit with a comprehensive package of cyber security features and operating procedures to ensure that the distributed control system, control room and critical electrical equipment will be secure against unauthorized access or attack.
Equipping Kladno 1 with integrated ICE solutions is only part of ABB’s commitment to Alpiq Generation. For the past 12 years, ABB has been providing the plant with extensive life cycle management services for the whole ABB installed base – distributed control systems, electrical balance of plant, variable speed drive systems, instrumentation, switchgear and transformers.
The extent of the service agreement includes software evolution, maintenance and support for the distributed control systems, as well as upgrades, repairs, remote monitoring and preventive maintenance of the electrical systems to ensure that the plant continuously meets the high performance and environmental standards that Alpiq Generation demands.