Siemens Powers El Segundo Energy Center With Second Flex-Plant In The U.S.A.

BY Editor

Siemens powers El Segundo Energy Center with second Flex-Plant in the U.S.A. – Sep 12, 2013– Erlangen, Germany (Techreleased) – NRG Energy Inc. and Siemens Energy Inc. dedicated the El Segundo Energy Center located near Los Angeles, California, on September 12th. This is the second Flex-Plant to open in California after the nation’s first in Lodi that went into commercial operation last year. Siemens Energy has supplied and commissioned the two Flex-Plant combined cycle power islands. In total they have an installed capacity of 550 megawatts (MW) – enough to supply efficient and flexible electricity to approximately 450,000 Californian homes.

El Segundo is the second Flex-Plant in California

Owned and operated by NRG Energy Inc., El Segundo Energy Center is an environmentally compatible, combined cycle solution for peaking and intermediate load. With the SGT6-5000F gas turbines as their main drivers, the two units can generate 300 megawatts (MW) in less than 10 minutes, allowing the plant to back up intermittent renewable power generation, such as wind and solar power, to maintain a steady, consistent and reliable supply of power to the grid. Compared to a traditional simple cycle plant, the Flex-Plant 10 has higher efficiency and lower emissions, which makes it a cleaner solution for peak to intermediate-duty cycles.

For El Segundo Energy Center Siemens delivered two power islands – each featuring the main components, an SGT6-5000F gas turbine, an SST-800 steam turbine, an SGen6-1000A generator, an SGen6-100A-2P generator as well as a heat recovery steam generator, and an air-cooled heat exchanger. Siemens also supplied the complete electrical equipment and the SPPA-T3000 power plant instrumentation and control system. The company also provided the engineering services and commissioning of the plant.

At the core of the Flex-Plant 10 is an SGT6-5000F gas turbine, integrated with a single-pressure, non-reheat bottoming cycle. Together with an air-cooled heat exchanger for steam condensing, the Flex-Plant 10 provides a net efficiency of nearly 49 percent, making it much higher in efficiency than conventional peaking solutions. This plant is also environmentally friendly, as compared to conventional combined cycle technology with a reduction of 90 percent of startup emissions and low water consumption. Additionally, the fast start capability makes it well suited to stabilize the grid and balance fluctuating renewable power generation. This plant also recently demonstrated Siemens Clean-Ramp™ Technology which reduces transient emissions, while the gas turbines ramp up and down to meet electricity demands.

“NRG and the state of California today moved one step closer to realizing a greener future in California,” said Martin Tartibi, Executive Vice President at Siemens Energy Solutions Americas. “Siemens Flex-Plant technology is on the leading edge of where power generation in America is going in the future – fast, flexible and environmentally friendly.”

“Flex Plants with fast start technology are an environmentally friendly solution to seamlessly integrating renewable power into the grid. As a result of this project, the El Segundo Energy Center will be able to provide Californians with 550MW clean energy for decades to come,” said John Chillemi, President of NRG Energy’s West Region. “With Siemens as our partner, we were able to meet the challenges of permitting, constructing and operating in a highly populous and visible beach community in the South Bay Southern California area.”

Highly efficient combined cycle power plants are part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio. In fiscal 2012, revenue from the Portfolio totaled about €33 billion, making Siemens one of the world’s largest suppliers of ecofriendly technologies. In the same period, our products and solutions enabled customers to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by more than 330 million tons, an amount equal to the total annual CO₂ emissions of Berlin, Delhi, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo.