Energy efficiency audit reveals substantial reliability & energy savings performance uplift

Customer
 480MW Combined Cycle Power Plant
Location
 Greece
Industry
 Power Generation
Key Services

FORECASTED OPERATIONAL COST SAVINGS /YEAR

160-360K euros

FORECASTED ENERGY SAVING POST RETROFIT

28 %

FORECASTED CARBON REDUCTION/YEAR

320 tonnes

FORECASTED PROJECT LEAD TIME

5 months

The Challenge

In a bid to drive operational and energy efficiency for the power plant in alignment with the local government’s push for reducing carbon emissions in energy intensive industries, the 480MW combined cycle power plant in Greece took proactive action on this regard. The plant’s engineers also saw the opportunity for an expert to evaluate their critical pumps’ efficiency and reliability since both attributes have strong correlation.

While evaluating its big machinery, pumps were evaluated as well. The plant approached Sulzer for initial audit coupled with proposal with regards to its pumps as its OEM of Italian origin were not able to offer a comparable technical advisory.


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The Solution

An in-depth evaluation was made using PumpWise for the pumps’ operating conditions using its past 12 months’ data. 2 bespoke technical options were proposed after an in-depth assessment:

  • Hydraulic de-staging
  • Hydraulic VSD with variable frequency drive

The proposed approach was to go for option 1 as the shorter-term plan due to its relative execution simplicity and quick-win while option 2 will be executed as part of the medium to longer term plan, if the plant decides to go ahead.

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The Customer Benefit

The plant's O&M team were presented with a elaborate proposal which spelt out the technical offering. They also had a clear ideal of the tangible benefits such as potential savings in terms of energy costs and carbon reduction potential. This eased the case for budget approval with senior management with explicit cost and benefit analysis.

The project was slated to be delivered in 5 months, aligned with the plant's scheduled shutdown. The potential monetary cost savings also meant that funds could be channeled for new cleaner energy investments to future-proof the energy group's business.
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