Taiwan Power Company soars at Asian Power Awards

The company brought home four major titles during the awards programme.

State-owned utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has been lauded at the Asian Power Awards for its stellar performance in the previous year, developing various projects that are focused on improving its capabilities and energy production.

Amongst the solutions it has worked on is the installation of two additional Energy Storage Systems (ESS) in 2023. This comes amidst Kinmen Island’s growing reliance on green energy, with the penetration rate of renewable energy in daytime power generation reaching 52.26%. As the proportion of renewable energy grows, its intermittent nature has an increasingly significant impact on the operation of power plants and the stability of the grid.

To mitigate these effects and enhance the grid's efficiency, as well as to accommodate higher levels of renewable energy integration in the future, Taipower has developed smart grid plans specifically for Kinmen. These plans encompass various dimensions, such as Smart Dispatching and Power Generation, Grid Management, ESS, Demand Management, Information Systems, and Telecommunication Systems.

After a thorough evaluation, it has been determined that the addition of a 2MW/1MWh Power-type ESS will ensure that the low-frequency relay set value does not drop below the minimum threshold of 57.3Hz during power plant trips. A further 4MW/24MWh ESS will be deployed to store surplus electrical energy once the load demand has been met by diesel and renewable power generation.

Since the completion of ESS, there have been no large-scale blackouts, highlighting the efficacy of ESSs in increasing system inertia, reducing power blackouts, and enhancing system reliability.

Moreover, with the additional ESS, the minimum frequency remains as high as 59.23 Hz, ensuring robust and secure operation. It is also expected to enhance the operational flexibility of both the unit and the entire system, providing an added margin of safety and adaptability.

“The construction of the [additional] Kinmen ESS not only serves as a testbed for energy storage technology but also allows for the comparison and assessment of various ESS types and their respective application scopes. This enables Taipower to evaluate the benefits and performances of each ESS type whilst gaining valuable experience in ESS planning, operation, maintenance, and decision-making,” the company said.

This milestone was recognised as the Smart Grid Project of the Year - Taiwan award.

Meanwhile, Taipower has announced an air quality control system retrofit project for its Taichung Coal-Fired Power Plant. The innovation part of this project has been divided into dust removal, non-leakage gas-to-gas heat exchanger, desulphurisation and denitrification systems.

Under dust removal, the project plans to add wet electrostatic precipitators, whose main features include “humidification” and “cleaning.” After the particulate matter is humidified, its charging performance will increase, so it has a better treatment efficiency for PM2.5 that cannot be captured by dry electrostatic precipitators, including condensed acid mist.

Meanwhile, existing GGH plans will be updated to MGGH, including cooler, reheater and heat medium circulation system and other equipment. To sum up, the use of MGGH can improve the dust removal efficiency of electrostatic precipitators, and can also avoid the leakage of particulate matter from the untreated side flue gas to the treated side flue gas.

In improving the desulphurisation efficiency of the power plant, the main method is to increase the amount of gas-liquid contact. Updating the spraying system will help improve the desulphurisation efficiency. To increase the liquid-gas contact ratio, the methods adopted include increasing the coverage of the absorption liquid spray, adding perforated plate to increase the gas-liquid contact and improve the uniformity of the flue gas distribution.

Lastly, the improvement content of the denitrification systems plan includes flue CFD simulation, optimisation, ammonia injection grid, mixer, deflector, coarse ash blocking equipment, and updating all catalysts for all coal-fired units. After undergoing the entire process, it is expected that the discharge concentration of various pollutants in the flue gas after the project is completed.

The retrofit project of Taipower took home the Power Plant Upgrade of the Year - Taiwan award.

The company has also launched a Hsinta Power Plant Combined Cycle Renewal Project in response to the decommissioning of existing units in the face of long-term growth in power demand.

This project aims to enhance the overall operational performance and competitiveness of the power plant and reduce carbon dioxide and air pollution emissions by installing combined cycle gas units with a total capacity of 3,900MW.

Each of the three sets will have a generation capacity of 1,300 MW and a plant efficiency of about 64.1%. The main systems and equipment will include gas turbine generators, steam turbine generators, heat recovery boilers, condensers, raw water systems, cooling water systems, fuel supply systems, and a switchyard.

The gas turbines installed through this project will use dry low nitrogen oxide (NOx) burners and selective catalytic reduction systems for the waste heat recovery boilers. The NOx emission concentration will be 8ppm at hourly value. The annual average value is 5ppm, which is significantly lower than the 10ppm set by the National Environmental Protection Standard and even lower than the 6ppm – a more strictly standard set by the local government.

In addition, the power output of the three units will provide about 9.75% of the National Power System’s electricity – equivalent to an annual net power generation of 21,718 GWh – making an important contribution to the stability of the power supply and the promotion of economic development.

“The project also aimed to embrace and preserve local industrial characteristics, ecological resources, and cultural characteristics. Consequently, it established environmental education initiatives that promote an ecologically sustainable power plant that members of the local community can be proud of,” the company said.

Taipower bagged the Gas Power Project of the Year - Taiwan in the awards programme for this project.

Meanwhile, the company has also proposed a tower wrapping replacement method in its old transmission towers. This comes amidst the gradual corrosion and damage done to tower structures by natural factors over the years. The tower wrapping replacement method installs the new tower around the outer side of the old transmission tower and gradually replaces it.

The greatest advantage of the said method is that it does not involve either simultaneous outages or land acquisition. During the replacement process, power lines on at least one side of the tower can maintain a continuous power supply. These features allow this method to greatly loosen the time and space constraints on the replacement of old transmission towers, thereby increasing the flexibility of maintenance work.

The novel method aims to solve the difficulties associated with both conventional replacement methods. It not only avoids the simultaneous power outage of transmission lines but can also be applied flexibly to any location. This method enables the power transmission system to accomplish the replacement of old transmission towers with the lowest possible impact.

Asian Power Awards recognise this novel procedure, with Taipower taking home the Transmission & Distribution Project of the Year - Bronze for the solution.

The prestigious, now in its 19th year, celebrates and honours companies and projects that have taken innovative and game-changing steps to address the effects of the climate crisis and meet the growing demand for energy.

The Asian Power Awards is presented by Asian Power Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2024 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's revolutionary innovations and initiatives in the power industry in Asia, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].