Dec 2011 - Parsons Brinckerhoff

Powering
County Cork
Parsons Brinckerhoff
POWER
continues to support Whitegate
Power Station during its first year
of commercial operation
Courtesy of BORD Gáis Energy
On Ireland’s west coast in County
Cork, an area replete with history
and natural beauty, small
villages, fine harbors, and rolling
farmland, a very modern industrial plant is
now providing a much-needed resource:
power. The Whitegate Independent Power
Plant (IPP), a 445-MW combined-cycle gas
turbine (CCGT) plant with the capacity
to power 440,000 homes, marked its first
anniversary of commercial operation on
November 8, 2011, and has exceeded operational
expectations.
As one of the most efficient
electricity generating plants
in Ireland, Whitegate was constructed
in just over three years
from greenfield site to commercial
operation by leading
Irish energy provider Bord Gáis
Energy (BGE), under a lump
sum turnkey contract by the
consortium of General Electric,
based in the U.S., and Gama from
Turkey. Parsons Brinckerhoff was
engaged by BGE as owner’s engineer
to provide specialist support
during the contract negotiation,
construction, and commissioning
period, during which the two
companies developed a close
working relationship—one that
continues today.
Efficiency Plus
Nearly everything about the Whitegate IPP is
efficient. The plant uses high-pressure natural
gas as the main fuel, with fuel oil from the
adjacent refinery as a back-up supply. Having
successfully passed extensive grid code testing
on both fuels, Whitegate is generating
power into the national grid at 220 kV with
high availability. “The plant has exceeded my
expectations in terms of a number of key
operating parameters. These are mainly in
the areas of availability and reliability,” says
George Martin, Head of Asset Operations for
BGE. “We have enjoyed a very low forced
outage rate and high starting reliability. Both
of these have helped us to build a very good
reputation as a dependable plant and have
exceeded the targets we set for ourselves for
the first year of operation.”
“With environmental considerations
and reductions of greenhouse gas emissions
becoming increasingly important,
Whitegate’s efficiency of around 58 percent
sets a benchmark for providing an efficient
and reliable electricity supply to the national
Whitegate’s efficiency
of around 58 percent
sets a benchmark for
providing an efficient
and reliable electricity
supply to the national
grid in Ireland.
grid in Ireland,” says Judith Packer, Parsons
Brinckerhoff’s Project Manager. “It also means
that it is one of the preferred units to be dispatched
when power is needed and complements
intermittent wind generation.”
Parsons Brinckerhoff is also providing
ongoing technical support to BGE during the
current two-year defects notification period,
and assisting in developing technical service
agreement contracts for the next 30 years of
plant operations. “This is the time we get real
feedback on projects, when we see the effects
of good design as well as areas that can
be improved,” Packer says. “It is also really
satisfying to maintain the relationship and
to know that we can be of real value to the
client at every stage of the project.”
Owner’s Engineer:
Collaboration to Achieve
Excellence
Parsons Brinckerhoff was appointed owner’s
engineer in March 2007 with prime
responsibility for the technical oversight,
quality surveillance, project management,
commercial support, and site supervision
of the engineer-procure-construct (EPC)
contractor. It also provided support to
BGE on other matters, particularly safety
and risk management aspects.
“Whitegate was strategic in BGE’s
development as an electricity generator
in Ireland. Parsons Brinckerhoff had a
strong reputation from earlier projects in
Ireland as well as internationally and BGE
wanted to utilize this expertise to ensure
that this new project added real value to
its traditional business of gas supply and
distribution,” says Packer.
“Parsons Brinckerhoff played a
‘privileged role’ as owner’s engineer, acting
on BGE’s behalf. We looked out for
the client’s interest in a technical sense,
certainly. So it was really beneficial to
understand their thinking, objectives,
and preferences; all that became second
nature to us.”
Packer notes that BGE and Parsons
Brinckerhoff shared an extremely high expectation
on safety standards that permeated
the entire site construction team including
the contractor. “Making sure everyone went
home safe each night was top priority and
this influenced how we all worked on a dayto-day
basis.”
Throughout the project, Parsons
Brinckerhoff engineers worked as a seamless
team with BGE staff on the same
issues and in the same building. “We
drank the same coffee and took turns to
buy the milk and biscuits,” quips Packer,
6 • Notes
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