Project Digest: North Bangkok CCPP, Block 2

The capacity expansion of Thailand’s North Bangkok lies at the heart of EGAT’s development plans
Credit: Italian-Thai Development Co. Ltd

Thailand to
showcase latest
upgrade of
Alstom’s GT26 in
combined-cycle
The North Bangkok Combined-Cycle Power Plant block 2 forms a crucial part of
EGAT’s current power development plan, which spans the period from 2010 to 2030.
North Bangkok 2 is also unique in that it features the latest upgrade of
Alstom’s GT26 heavy-duty gas turbine.

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W
hen the second block
of the North Bangkok
power plant in
Thailand enters service
in 2016 it will be the
first Combined-Cycle
Power Plant (CCPP) that Alstom has built for
the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(EGAT), and the first CCPP in the world to use
the latest upgrade of the F-class heavy-duty
gas turbine, the GT26.
Alstom won the contract to build the plant
in a consortium with Sumitomo Corporation
of Japan. The latter already has a strong
involvement with EGAT, having supplied block
1 at the North Bangkok site as part of an
earlier consortium.
The Engineering Procurement and
Construction (EPC) contract for block 2 was
signed in February 2013. The contract was
plans awarded after a competitive international
o. Ltd
tendering process, which was launched in
February 2012 involving four bidders.
The scope of the project comprises two
single-shaft combined-cycle units with a
combined generating capacity of 850 MW.The
site of the power plant is adjacent to EGAT’s
headquarters in the Thai capital, making
this a prestigious project for the companies
building it, as Alstom project director, Madhu
Soothanan Velayutham, stresses.
This is not Alstom’s first contract in Thailand.
In 1992, Alstom recorded the first combined-
cycle project in Thailand with the 300 MW
Rayong CCPP. To date, Alstom has built over
7 GW of installed capacity in Thailand,
including several gas-fired power plants – the
730 MW Bowin, the 350 MW Bang Bo and the
1250 MW Kaeng Khoi 2. However, securing a
contract with EGAT is considered an important
step in strengthening its presence here.
North Bangkok CCPP block 2 will form
a crucial part of EGAT’s current power
development plan that spans the period
from 2010 to 2030. By the end of this period,
the installed generating capacity in Thailand
is expected to reach 55,000 MW, versus
32,880 MW available as of April 2013.
The total cost of the second block of
the North Bangkok CCPP has been put at
15.9 billion Thai Baht (approximately
€374 million). It is an illustration of the
competitive nature of the global power plant
industry that the first block at the site, with a
gross generating capacity of 700 MW, was
priced at a significantly higher unit price. In a
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ALSTOM_TR_4pp.indd 17
Project Digest: North Bangkok CCPP, Block 2
fiercely competitive market, price has become
one of the most important considerations.
Snapshot of Thai power sector
The supply of electricity in Thailand is
dominated by EGAT, a government-owned
utility that controls the largest amount of
generating capacity in the country. EGAT’s
overall capacity in 2012 topped 15,000
MW. This was made up of 4699 MW of
thermal capacity (primarily lignite-fired),
6866 MW based on natural gas-fired CCPPs,
3436 MW of hydropower capacity, 4 MW of
diesel capacity and only 5 MW of renewable
power generating units – the large hydropower
plants that the company owns are not
classified as renewables.
In addition to the capacity owned by
EGAT, supply in Thailand is supplemented
by ten large independent power producers
and a number of small power producers,
which between them provided 17,591 MW
of generating capacity in 2012. Power is also
imported from a series of hydropower stations
in neighbouring Laos, as well as from a
300 MW interconnector between the Thailand
grid and that of Malaysia.
Growth in electricity demand in Thailand
is expected to increase over the coming
years. EGAT’s current power development
plan (2010–30), had to be revised in 2012 to
take account of the accelerating demand
growth. Economic growth in 2012 was around
5.5 per cent and a similar level of growth is
expected in 2013 as the country emerges
from the effects of both the global economic
recession and the great flood of 2011, which
had a major economic impact across
the country.
Alstom’s latest upgrade of the GT26 offers both high efficiency and fuel flexibility
To cope with increasing demand for
power, EGAT has plans to build four new fossil
fuel-fired power plants that will enter service
between 2014 and 2019. These include two
CCPPs that will provisionally start operating in
2014, with the North Bangkok project entering
service in 2016, and a clean coal project that
is scheduled for completion at Krabi in 2019.
Except for Krabi and a 600 MW lignite-fired
plant at Mae Moh due to enter service by
2017, all the new plants will burn natural gas.
The utility is also expecting to expand its
portfolio of renewable power generation with
an addition 700 MW of new capacity, much of
based on small hydro.
Development of
North Bangkok site
The North Bangkok site for the new power
plant has housed a power plant for many
years. The earliest power plant at the site, with
a generating capacity of 238 MW, was retired
in 2001.
Its replacement, the North Bangkok power
plant block 1, was proposed for construction
in the 2004 Power Development Plan and
the contract for it was placed in 2007. The
station entered service in 2010. This plant
comprises two 221 MW gas turbines and one
262 MW steam turbine in a combined-cycle
configuration and has a generating capacity
of 704 MW. It burns natural gas supplied by
PTT Public Company Limited.
When the first block was constructed at
the site, adjacent to the EGAT headquarters
on the banks of the Chao Phraya river, the
environmental impact assessment for the site
included the possibility of an expansion to
the project.This expansion is now proceeding
Credit: Alstom
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 Project Digest: North Bangkok CCPP, Block 2
The upgraded GT26 gas turbines will be manufactured at Alstom’s factories in Europe.
in the shape of the North Bangkok CCPP
block 2.
Located close to residential areas at
the Nonthaburi Provice in the northern
part of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, specific
environmental requirements were stipulated.
These included cooling tower with plume
abatement system, exterior cladding
integrate the power plant to the environment
and stringent requirements for noise.
The proposal to build the plant was put
forward by EGAT to the government as a
matter of urgency as it became clear that
power demand was rising faster than had
originally been anticipated when the power
development plant 2010-30 was first published.
In addition to this, delays in independent
power producer projects and new schemes
being developed by small power producers
meant that the power reserve in the country
was expected to be 9.7 per cent below the
standard level by 2014.
The North Bangkok CCPP block 2 will help
alleviate this situation. It was approved by
the government in November 2010 and put
out to international tender in February 2012.
As already noted, the contract was awarded
to the consortium comprising Alstom and
Sumitomo early in 2013. The original startup
date in the 2012 revision of the power
development plan was late 2015. However
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ALSTOM_TR_4pp.indd 18
Credit: Alstom
with contract signing in February 2013 and
a 36-month construction schedule, start-up is
now expected early in 2016.
to
“With 850 MW
generating capacity,
located in the
heart of the Thai
capital, this is a
prestigious project”
Consortium structure and scope
of contract
The structure of the consortium between
Alstom and Sumitomo makes the former
the technical leader, while Sumitomo is the
commercial leader.
This means that Alstom will be responsible
for engineering, design, supply and delivery
of the complete power island, as well as the
commissioning of block 2. Sumitomo will,
provide engineering, supply and delivery of
the balance of plant, and be responsible as
lead contractor for the civil works at the site.
The Japanese company also takes the lead
role as principle contractor responsible for
construction of the entire new CCPP.
Under the terms of the contract, Alstom
will supply the gas and steam turbines,
the generators, the heat recovery steam
generators (HRSG) and condenser, while
Sumitomo will provide the balance of plant.
Alstom also has a 12-year service agreement
for the power plant under a separate contract.
Alstom will supply the gas turbines for
the plant from its manufacturing facilities in
Switzerland and Germany. The steam turbines
and generators will be manufactured in
Switzerland and Poland. However the two heat
HRSGs are being manufactured at Alstom’s
subsidiary in Surabaya, Indonesia. This boiler
manufacturing facility in East Java was
established in 1996. The condenser will come
from Indonesia too.
Plant design
The North Bangkok CCPP’s block 2 will
comprise of two single-shaft combined-
cycle units, a different configuration to that
employed in block 1 at the site, where the
exhaust heat from two gas turbines is used
to raise steam for a single steam turbine.
The single-shaft configuration allows the gas
turbine and the steam turbine to share a shaft
with the generator, providing a compact and
tightly integrated unit. Alstom refers to its GT26
in a combined-cycle configuration as KA26.
Each generator will be a hydrogen-cooled
unit and the gas turbine for each unit will be
the latest upgrade of Alstom’s 50 Hz F-class
GT26. Each shaft will also have its own HRSG
so that each can operate independently
if necessary. The HRSG is a horizontal flow,
triple-pressure design with reheat. The steam
turbines are Alstom model STF15C units.
The GT26 units will be equipped with
sequential combustion, featuring Alstom’s
unique Dry-Low-NOx EV-/SEV-Combustion
System, which allow low emission levels over
the widest operational range. There will be
a 230 kV gas insulated switchgear from
which power from the new block will travel
underground for a distance of 500 metres to
the North Bangkok substation.
Fuel supply
The new North Bangkok plant is designed
to operate on natural gas. Natural gas is
the primary source of power generation in
Thailand, accounting for 67 per cent of total
plant output.
Thailand has significant natural gas
reserves, mainly located offshore in the
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20/09/2013 15:18

Gulf of Thailand. Production has increased
steadily over recent years though not
enough to cope with rising demand.
Consequently, the country has had to seek
gas from other sources too. These include
imports by pipeline from Myanmar and a
recently constructed liquefied natural gas
(LNG) terminal to import LNG from across
the world. Sources have included Qatar,
Russia, Peru and Nigeria, purchased on both
a contract and spot basis.
With natural gas coming from a variety of
sources, the quality and composition of gas
supplied to consumers is bound to vary. This
is a factor which gas turbine manufacturers
have to take into account when designing
new machinery. Alstom’s GT26 turbine is a
pioneer of fuel flexibility allowing the highest
fluctuation in natural gas compositions in
the industry..
Features of upgraded GT26
The GT24/GT26 gas turbine gives power
providers unmatched operational versatility,
with the unique ability to switch on line
between two operational modes – Power
Optimisation for higher performance or
Maintenance Cost Optimisation for up to
30 per cent more operation time between
scheduled inspections.
Alstom’s GT26 gas turbine is the latest in
a line of gas turbines based on a two-stage
sequential combustion system, essentially
similar to the reheat design used in steam
turbines. In this case, however, the gases
undergo a second stage of combustion
part way through the turbine. For over 50
years Alstom has been developing and
perfecting alternative design features,
and was the first to introduce sequential
combustion technology.
The GT26 and its 60 Hz companion, the
GT24, were originally introduced in the mid
1990s. Since then performance has gradually
been improved so that net efficiency in
combined-cycle configuration (when it is
referred to as KA26) reached 57 per cent in
1999 and 58.7 per cent in 2006. The latest
version is expected to be capable of close
to 60 per cent net efficiency. Over the same
period the net power output of the KA26
configuration has increased from 378 MW in
1999 to 431 MW by 2006. At North Bangkok,
the nominal output of the single shaft
combined-cycle configuration is 425 MW.
Efficiency remains a major design goal
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Project Digest: North Bangkok CCPP, Block 2
Thailand boasts the largest fleet of GT26 power plants in Asia,
with seven commercially operational units, including Bang Bo CCPP
for modern heavy-duty gas turbines in
combined-cycle configuration but other
factors have become important too as the
market has changed. One of these is the
need to be able to operate efficiently not
only at base load, but also at part load. The
second is the capability of he plant to follow
the load demand, even for very low loads,
while staying emission compliant. The KA26
has been designed so that it can stay on line
at a load as low as 20 per cent from which it
can ramp up to 350 MW in 15 minutes.
As for fuel, the combustion system used
in the GT26 has been adapted so that it
can respond to changes in fuel composition
rapidly. A gas composition monitoring sensor
is to be placed in the gas pipeline close to the
plant from where it can signal any change in
quality before the fuel reaches the turbine
combustors. Combustion conditions are then
adapted to maintain stable combustion with
the different fuel composition.
At North Bangkok, the new combined-
cycle units are initially intended to provide
baseload power with a duty cycle similar
to that of block 1 at the plant. However as
Thailand introduces increased amounts of
renewable power generation it is possible
that units such as those being installed for
block 2 may one day be required to play
more of a grid support role.
Credit: Alstom
Project schedule
The issuing of a letter of intent for the North
Bangkok project took place on 15 January
2013 with the signing of the contract between
EGAT and the consortium taking place on
4 February 2013. Civil work has now started at
the construction site adjacent to the existing
power plant. Delivery of the main power
island components from the manufacturers is
expected in mid 2014.
The two single-shaft combined-cycle units
will be delivered on separate dates; each
delivered by ship. The first set of gas turbine,
steam turbine and generator are expected on
site in May 2014. These will be followed by the
components of the second shaft in July 2014.
The HRSGs will be delivered in parts for erection
at the site. The first group of components are
due to arrive in February 2014 and the second
in April 2014. Commissioning of the combined-
cycle units start in October 2014 and will be
completed in January 2016.
North Bangkok CCPP block 2 is unlikely to
be the last CCPP that EGAT builds. Generating
capacity is expected to expand by more than
20,000 MW between 2013 and 2030. While
the government hopes some of this will be
provided by new renewable energy sources,
natural gas-fired plants are set toremain
a mainstay of the supply system for the
foreseeable future.
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