Siemens upgrades I&C units in South Korea plant

It's a pioneering development.

Siemens has received an order for upgrading the I&C system in units 5 and 6 in the Samcheonpo Thermal Power Station in South Korea.

According to a release from Siemens, this marks the first time that Siemens is upgrading the I&C system for GE steam turbines.

The goal of this upgrade is to enhance the availability of the plant and the plant's reliability during operation and to reduce the operating and maintenance costs for the plant.

The release noted that the customer is Korea South East Power Co. Ltd (KOSEP), the operator of the power plant. Unit 5 was upgraded in November 2014 during a scheduled outage. Work on Unit 6 is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2015.

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The Samcheonpo power plant is located in the South Korean province of Gyeongsangnam-do and consists of six units, with a total installed electrical generating capacity of 3240 megawatt (MWel). The plant was commissioned between 1983 and 1998.

The upgrade measures being performed by Siemens include the installation of the Siemens SPPA-T3000 I&C system for the boiler and for the auxiliary systems (balance of plant), as well as replacement of the existing turbine control system and instrumentation and controls at the turbo-generator.

SPPA-T3000 enables problem-free migration of the turbine control system and the turbine protection system not only for Siemens turbines, but for turbines from other manufacturers as well.

"This is the first time that Siemens has upgraded two GE turbines of this size successfully to the Siemens SPPA-T3000 I&C system,” stated Ute Menikheim, regional manager of the Instrumentations, Controls and Electrical business unit within Siemens Power and Gas.

"An increasing number of operators are adapting their power plants to new market conditions, which above all call for greater flexibility, higher availability, improved efficiency and lower emissions. KOSEP can enhance the flexibility and efficiency of its power plant, thanks to the SPPA-P3000 solution for process optimization which was also installed as part of this project."

"We chose the Siemens solution to ensure more reliable operation of our plant for the future following the shortest possible inspection and overhaul outage," declared Min Wan Ki, General manager I&C Team at Samcheonpo Thermal Power Station.