Los Angeles Moves Forward with Cleaner Power from GE

Los Angeles Moves Forward with Cleaner Power from GE

Feb 22, 2014  | Energy 

Los Angeles Moves Forward with Cleaner Power from GE
(Photo by: General Electric Company)

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is losing the weight of old technology and exercising its right to use a more environmentally friendly approach.

The utility is upgrading the Scattergood Generating Station to cleaner power generating technology from GE. LADWP plans to phase out Scattergood’s 460-megawatt (MW) Unit 3 conventional steam boiler, in operation since 1974, and replace the capacity with cleaner, faster, breakthrough technology from GE.

For the Scattergood repowering project near El Segundo, LADWP chose the combination of GE’s advanced heavy-duty and aeroderivative gas turbines, integrated using GE’s modern distributed control system (DCS). This is a pairing of one GE GT-7F.05 gas turbine in a “Rapid Response” combined-cycle power island, with two LMS100 gas turbines into a hybrid power plant, specifically configured to meet LADWP’s unique requirements. The result?

  • GE technology reduces carbon emissions by using less fuel and reacting faster to changing grid conditions.
  • The combined technology eliminates the use of ocean water for cooling and requires minimal water use, providing over 500 MW of output using air-cooled condenser technology.
  • The new plant can start up and ramp up quickly to meet the demands of LADWP’s dynamic system and support the use of renewable energy.
  • The compact equipment footprint fits the unique site layout.

“Older units can take all day to reach full power, causing us to lose the window of opportunity we have to capture electricity produced by wind,” said Aram Benyamin, LADWP senior assistant general manager—Power System. “With the GE technology generating power, we can achieve the intricate balancing act required to maintain a steady flow of power to our customers.”

Victor Abate, president and CEO, Power Generation Products at GE Power & Water, says the innovative approach should help LADWP balance the energy grid more cost-effectively.

“The LADWP project provides unprecedented flexibility and efficiency by bringing together one of the world’s most efficient F-class platforms with the most efficient simple cycle gas turbine,” said Abate. “With the ability to ramp up fast when it’s needed and turn down when it’s not, GE’s advanced technology will help the utility balance the grid, utilize natural gas to expand the role of renewables and better meet its pressing energy and environmental challenges.”

The package behind the power

GE’s ecomagination qualified advanced combined-cycle power island with “Rapid Response” technology will feature a 216-MW 7F.05 gas turbine, a GE ST-A650 steam turbine operating in combined-cycle mode and a heat recovery steam generator.

GE also will supply two of its ecomagination qualified 104-MW intercooled LMS100 aeroderivative gas turbines. With their rapid startup capabilities, the turbines are ideally suited to meet the grid’s need for highly responsive and flexible units. In addition to being the most efficient simple-cycle gas turbine available, the LMS100 can change load at 50 MW/minute per unit as well as start and stop multiple times per day to suit rapidly changing grid loads.

The monitoring and control of the new power generation equipment is unified under GE’s innovative power plant DCS, based on robust and proven Mark* VIe control technology.

When the Scattergood site comes on line, the state of California will have 25 LMS100 units with more than 1,250 MW/min of regulation capability in California. Commercial operation of the Scattergood station’s new power generating equipment is scheduled to begin by the end of 2015. GE’s equipment will be manufactured at its facilities in Greenville, S.C., Schenectady, N.Y., and Houston, Texas.

* Trademark of General Electric Company.

Via General Electric Company
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