Alstom was appointed to build, operate and maintain the integrated turnkey power facility. Under the associated operation and maintenance contract, Alstom provides full operation and maintenance services for 12 years. The company is also responsible for the civil works, balance of plant and the construction of a 13km water pipeline and 5km gas pipeline.
Construction began in July 2006 and was commissioned in May 2010. The plant became fully operational in February 2011. It supplies power to almost one million people in the Malaga area. The investment is needed to ensure the reliability of power supplies to the Costa del Sol.
“The investment is needed to ensure the reliability of power supplies to the Costa del Sol.”
GT24 and GT26 gas turbines
A market analysis in the early nineties resulted in a product specification for a new Alstom gas turbine. Besides sequential combustion, the turbine has a robust, maintenance-free, welded rotor design. There is a low NOx EnVironmental (EV) burner, and compact annular combustor with Egatrol GT controls.
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The GT24/GT26 gas turbines are optimised for combined-cycle applications. They burn natural gas as a primary fuel and fuel oil as backup. The combustion system allows a wide range of natural gas compositions to burn with high Wobbe Index fluctuations. In addition, the GT24/GT26 can burn natural gas with large high-hydrocarbon content.
With three rows of variable guide vanes on the compressor, the engine has an exceptional turn down ratio. Exhaust gas temperature is maintained to the HRSG, so part-load efficiencies are higher than normal for this engine class. The combination of sequential combustion and the EV burner also give the engine low emissions across a wide load range.
The GT24/GT26 can operate in base load, intermediate duty and daily start and stop. There are both single shaft and multishaft arrangements. Engines have also been successfully used in repowering applications.
WORLDWIDE GAS SUPPLIER
Gas Natural mainly supplies, distributes and sells natural gas in Spain, Latin America, Italy and France, where it has 11 million customers. It is also a major operator in the electricity generation and sales business in Spain. Besides the combined-cycle plant now under construction in Malaga, the company has 6,500MW of installed generating potential in combined-cycle plants worldwide, with 3,600MW in Spain and 2,500MW abroad. It plans or is constructing a further 1,600MW in Spain.
Gas Natural operates in Malaga through its distribution company Gas Natural Andalucรญa, which has over 600km of distribution network supplying almost 70,000 customers in the province.
As a result of the liberalisation of the Spanish energy market, the Gas Natural Group entered the electricity business. This activity includes electricity generation in Spain using combined-cycle plants, wind farms and cogeneration. Gas Natural Electricidad generates, buys and sells electricity; Gas Natural Comercializadora and Gas Natural Servicios commercialise the supplies, and La Energia concentrates on cogeneration.
GENERATED ELECTRICITY REACHES NEARLY 18,000GWh
Energy generated and sold reached 17,831GWh in 2006, double that of the previous year. This increase was due to the start-up of the 1,200MW combined-cycle plant at Cartagena and the favourable pool price.
“The โฌ300m Campanillas plant is 60% efficient.”
Combined-cycle generation in 2006 was 16,987GWh. That came from 400MW in Sant Adriร de Besรฒs (Barcelona), 400MW in San Roque (Cadiz), 800MW in Arrรบbal (La Rioja), 1,200MW in Cartagena (Murcia) and 800MW in Plana del Vent (Tarragona). Another 1,600MW (Port of Barcelona and Lantarรณn) is awaiting permit.
The group entered the wind power business at the end of 2004 with the acquisition of the company Sinia XXI. Following the acquisition of Dersa, Navarre, in April 2005, the group now has over more than 700MW of wind power in operation (half attributable) and over 900MW under development. They are located in nine autonomous communities: Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, La Rioja, Cantabria, Galicia, Andalusia, Castilla y Leon and Castilla-La Mancha.
