LONG

EVERY
UPDATE
13
Peaking
Tony Blaubaum… has ensured Cummins
is building the cleanest fossil fuel power
stations in Australia.
David Sheldon… heads up the demanding
project for Cummins.
Cummins Power Generation is
building its fourth ultra-low-emission
diesel power station in Australia.
The 60 MW peaking plant south of Adelaide is scheduled
for completion late in 2010.
The new power station is being built next to an existing
20 MW peaking plant that was built by Cummins in the
Adelaide suburb of Lonsdale in 2001.
In fact, the Lonsdale plant, which won a prestigious
award for environmental excellence from the Institution
of Engineers Australia, has been moved to an adjacent
site to accommodate the new 60 MW station.
The new plant is named Port Stanvac which is
an industrial zone within the Lonsdale precinct.
at the right time
As is the case with the other peaking plants built by
Cummins, the Port Stanvac power station will be operated
and maintained by Cummins but owned by Infratil,
a New Zealand listed company that invests in
infrastructure and utility assets.
The other peaking plants are at Kurri Kurri (26 MW)
in the NSW Hunter Valley, and at Angaston (50 MW) in
South Australia’s Barossa Valley.
These are the cleanest fossil fuel power stations in
Australia, using selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
technology to deliver near-zero emissions of nitrogen
oxides (NOx), a smog-causing pollutant and
greenhouse gas.
The Port Stanvac plant, which will comprise 36 Cummins
QSK60 generator sets — each nominally rated at 1.6 MW
— will be able to start up, synchronize and generate full
power in less than two minutes.
The plant will be connected to the national electricity
grid and operate only when market demand or pricing is
very high.
Tony Blaubaum is general manager of Cummins South
Pacific’s Energy Solutions Business unit which is responsible
for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of
the four peaking power stations in Australia.
“As an electricity retailer, Infratil is building the
Port Stanvac plant to protect it from dramatic spikes
in wholesale electricity prices in South Australia,”
says Blaubaum.
“Typical spot prices are $20 to $50 per megawatt-hour,
but in summer when there’s high residential demand
prices can spike at $10,000 per megawatt-hour.”
Infratil will remotely start and stop the Port Stanvac plant
as required. In fact, start-up will be able to be achieved
simply by sending an SMS text message to the Cummins
digital master control system for the gensets.
The SCR technology that will be used to treat the exhaust
gases of the 60-litre, V16 QSK60 diesel engines powering
the gensets will reduce NOx emissions by up to 95%. The
SCR system uses a urea spray and catalysts to convert the
oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions into nitrogen gas and
water vapour, two harmless and natural components of
the air we breathe.
In addition to producing very low emissions, the gensets
will also be very quiet. To limit maximum noise level
to only 65 dBA at the nearest commercial/residential
boundary, the 36 gensets will be housed in three special
sound-attenuated buildings.
David Sheldon is
heading up the
demanding project
for Cummins. He
has been involved in
the construction and
commissioning of the
three previous peaking
plants and is well
regarded for his
project management
expertise.
The original Lonsdale
power station built
in 2001.
Ultra-low-emission 65 MW diesel power station is due for completion late in 2010.