Construction Challenges
Siemens handed over the new natural gas–fired Timelkam CCPP to Energie AG Oberösterreich and the Swiss Groupe E in December 2008 after an approximately two-year construction period that began in October 2006. Construction of the plant involved a total of 725,876 man-hours. At peak times, a workforce of more than 600 was employed at the site.
In addition to turnkey construction of the power island, Siemens also delivered the SGT5-4000F gas turbine from its Berlin plant. The SGT5-4000F was launched in the early 1990s with a capacity of 240 MW and 37% efficiency. Through optimization, it now has a capacity of 292 MW and an improved efficiency of 39.8%. Timelkam’s SST-5-5000 steam turbine comes from the factory in Mülheim, Germany.
The generator was built in Charlotte, N.C. Transporting the 348–metric ton generator from the Charlotte plant to Timelkam represented a special technical challenge. The massive weight of this packed generator is roughly comparable to an Austrian Railjet train with one locomotive and seven coaches.
The first part of the 7,000-kilometer journey for the generator, which measures more than 12 meters in length, was via ship across the Atlantic Ocean. Then it traveled from Antwerp to Linz on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. The final leg of the journey to Timelkam was by rail, in a specially constructed transport device that took about a year to design and build. The total length of the unique 32-axle train car, traveling mostly at low speeds through Upper Austria, was 64 meters—not including the locomotive.
Transporting the gas turbine from the Siemens plant in Berlin required additional logistical prowess. Because the turbine could not be transported in one piece, it had to be dismantled after initial assembly and tests in Berlin and then transported in individual sections to Upper Austria, where the final assembly was completed.
The upright waste-heat boiler with NOx catalytic converter was delivered by the Austrian company Balcke-Dürr, which was recently acquired by Siemens. In addition to the auxiliary and secondary equipment, Siemens delivered the electrical systems and SPPA-T3000 control system, and also integrated them into the customer’s systems.
A 12-year maintenance contract worth €71 million was signed for the turbine unit. Interface problems were minimized by commissioning Siemens ELIN GmbH & Co KG to install the entire technical building systems.
High Achiever
The new Timelkam gas-fired power plant’s performance makes it one of the most efficient and cleanest power plants not only in Austria but also worldwide. Its annual production of approximately 2,500 GWh, which corresponds to the electrical consumption of about 700,000 households, helps to stimulate the regional economy and is a welcome addition to the Vöcklabruck District.
—Angela Neville, JD, is POWER’s senior editor.
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