Haberler

Ormat supports lifespan extension for 25-year old Svartsengi geothermal plant

Ormat unit at Svartsengi plant, Iceland (source: Ormat)
Alexander Richter 16 Kas 2015

This month, Ormat successfully upgraded the control systems of three geothermal units at the Svartsengi geothermal plant of HS Orka in Iceland. This supports the the lifespan expansion of these 25-year old units.

Strategic modular design, diligent maintenance and thoughtful operating practices all promote consistent, high availability generating lifetimes for geothermal power plant facilities. It’s an approach that Ormat recently demonstrated in Iceland, on behalf of their long-term client HS Orka.

“We are committed to making sure that any unit Ormat supplied in the world is in operation, even if it is 30 years old,” says Ormat Executive Vice-President Nir Wolf.

This month, Ormat successfully upgraded the control systems of three of the geothermal units it supplied to HS Orka, one of Iceland’s leading producers of geothermal electricity. The Svartsengi units were originally supplied in two stages; Ormat commissioned three synchronous 1250 kW water-cooled Ormat Energy Converters in 1989 and commissioned an additional four asynchronous 1300 kW air-cooled Ormat Energy Converters in early 1993. All units use low-pressure steam delivered from an operating backpressure turbine.

“In the last 20 years we kept in periodic contact with HS Orka, because their operators had gained enough experience with the Ormat units that our support was rarely required,” says Gilad Cohen, Ormat’s After Sales manager. He adds, “Ormat learned a lot from its local customers about their daily experience with our equipment and the necessary skills our customers needed for successful operation and maintenance.”

Thanks to the strong operating stewardship by HS Orka’s employees, each of the seven units was in close to pristine condition, thus HS ORKA stated that the only support they needed to maintain continuous operation was a control system upgrade, as most of the control components had become obsolete over the past quarter century and were not available on the market.

“From a design perspective, Ormat doesn’t see any limitation to how long our units can continue operating, if they are correctly maintained and monitored,” says Cohen. “Since Ormat is the designer and manufacturer of its equipment, we are able to offer our customers full unit retrofits with the most advanced design available in the cases that some mechanical or electrical equipment requires major maintenance or is obsolete.”

“I was amazed,” smiles Cohen. “When we arrived on site to estimate the work, I couldn’t believe the units had been operating for more than 25 years with 99% availability. They looked as if they had just left the factory and were ticking like a Swiss clock. I couldn’t even find a mechanical scratch that was not maintained by HS Orka.”

HS Orka decided to split the upgrade into two stages, starting with the three water-cooled units in 2015 and the four air-cooled units in 2016.

“We decided to equip the units with the latest GE RX3i model controllers. These are identical to the ones we used when we upgraded two Ormat-owned mature units in Guatemala and Kenya,” explains Al Brailovsky, Ormat’s Control Engineer responsible for the upgrade. “We built modules equipped with new hardware so they fit into the existing boards. This allows an easier connection to the existing equipment and easier debugging of any unexpected issues.”

Brailovsky continues, “The most challenging part, after identifying all elements, was to replicate software from the existing controller to the new ones,” adding, “the old programmed software was printed on a pin printer using an old decoder owned by the client. We created the same software using the newer software modules. Luckily, some of the original designers of the units are still working at Ormat”

“We selected the team for this upgrade so the technician who assembled the hardware modules for installation will arrive to site together with the engineer who designed and programmed it”, says Cohen. “Dealing with mature equipment, you know exactly where you start but never know where you are going to finish.”

The effort has, so far, gone like clockwork. The first unit was synchronized after two days of installations and troubleshooting. After the client tested the first unit, the second and third units each required only a single day to fully commission.

“After Sales services is not Ormat’s core business,” says Cohen, adding, “but we want to keep our clients satisfied while they are operating their existing power modules, in order to make sure that when the time comes, they will know that Ormat units are the best in this market. We strive to ensure every power module we design and manufacture can still operate at peak efficiency, even if it left Ormat’s factory 25 years ago.”

Among other upgrades, Ormat is now offering long-standing clients an upgrade package for the control systems in their geothermal facilities.

Source: Ormat release by e-mail