Fifth combined-cycle unit in Russia launched at CMP

20.12.2006 // PR Directorate of TVEL OJSC

A new combined-cycle unit was launched at Chepetsk Mechanical Plant (CMP) on Dec 20

It will raise the plant’s capacity and will make it independent from the municipal energy system. Director General of CMP V. Filippov and First Vice President of Tvel OJSC V. Rozhdenstvensky were present at the launching ceremony.

Commenting on the launch, Filoppov said: «This is a remarkable event for both the plant and the corporation. The unit will fully satisfy the plant’s energy demand.»

The unit is based on GT-10B turbine (over 25 MW) manufactured by Siemens (Germany) and operating like a jet turbine engine. A flow of hot gas rotates turbine blades and generates electricity. The gas is not emitted into the atmosphere, but heats water in the waste-heat boiler. The generated steam is supplied to the turbine under big pressure with the extra heat collected by the waste heat exchanger and used for heating. In fact, the energy is used twice. As a result, the efficiency ratio of the unit is 50% as compared with the 35% ratio of the existing thermal power plant. In the first three years, the new unit will save CMP as much as 91mln RUR.  

The unit meets the highest European ecological standards and allows to reduce harmful gas emission by 2–3 times.

Combined-cycle plant is a new technology in Russia. Presently, the country has four CCPs. The unit installed at CMP is the first such unit used for industrial needs.

The unit will replace the five TPP boilers installed at the plant as far back as 1949. The boilers have been dismantled, the room was repaired. The plant service process is highly automated and requires not more than 10 workers. The service team has already been formed and trained at Sochi TPP.