Siemens turbines tapped for coal power plant conversion
David Wagman | January 28, 2019Siemens said it will supply natural gas power generation hardware, software and service support to re-power Cooperative Energy’s R.D. Morrow, Sr. Generating Station facility in Purvis, Mississippi.
The project will use an SGT6-9000HL natural gas-powered turbine, an SGen6-3000W generator and SPPA-T3000 turbine controls system to re-power the facility’s existing coal-powered steam turbines.
The natural gas-fueled combined cycle power plant will have a gross installed electrical capacity of nearly 550 megawatts (MW) and will supply electricity to Cooperative Energy’s 11 member cooperatives, which serve around 430,000 customers.
Siemens also was awarded a 20-year, long-term service agreement to cover the gas turbine and generator. The contract includes service on parts, repairs, field services, program management and offerings from Siemens’ Omnivise Digital Services portfolio, including remote monitoring and diagnostics. Siemens already services SGT6-5000F units at Cooperative Energy’s Batesville, Mississippi, facility.
In June 2018 Cooperative Energy announced a five-year plan to convert the Morrow station from coal to a natural gas-fired combined cycle plant. Efficiency and improved economic factors led to the repowering decision.
The Morrow facility began operation in 1978 with two 200 MW units fueled by Appalachian coal. Cooperative Energy said it plans to retain most, if not all, employees at Plant Morrow for construction, plant conversion and future plant operations. Employees not retained at the site will have the option to transition into available positions within the organization.
Source: EIADecommissioning of coal equipment at the plant was slated to begin before the end of 2018. The new unit is expected to be in service by early 2023.
Coal consumption in the U.S. during 2018 is on track to fall to 691 million short tons (MMst), a 4% decline from 2017 and the lowest level since 1979.
In December, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that U.S. coal consumption was on track to be 44% lower than 2007 levels, mainly driven by declines in coal use in the electric power sector.
That sector is the nation’s largest coal consumer, accounting for 93% of total U.S. coal consumption between 2007 and 2018. The decline in coal consumption since 2007 is the result of both the retirements of coal-fired power plants and decreases in the capacity factors, or utilization, of coal plants as increased competition from natural gas and renewable sources have reduced coal’s market share.
According to EIA, in 2007, coal-fired capacity in the United States totaled 313 gigawatts (GW) across 1,470 generators. By the end of 2017, 529 of those generators, with a total capacity of 55 GW, had retired. The agency said that around 14 GW of coal-fired generating capacity was expected to retire by the end of 2018.