Trinidad power

Control system for combined cycle power plant

Yokogawa Deutschland GmbH, has received an order from MAN Ferrostaal Industrial Projects GmbH to supply an automation and control system for the La Brea Combined Cycle Power Plant that is being built by MAN Ferrostaal and Eisenbau Essen GmbH for Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU).

This power plant is being built near La Brea, a town on the south side of Trinidad Island. With a capacity of 720 MW, this will be the largest power plant in Trinidad and Tobago, a country with a vibrant economy that is rich in oil and natural gas resources. Scheduled to be completed in July 2011, the plant will meet the country's rising demand for electricity.

This new power plant will have six gas turbines, six exhaust gas heat recovery steam generators, two steam turbines, and auxiliary facilities. Yokogawa will provide a range of systems and products including a CENTUM® series integrated production control system to control all of these facilities, the ProSafe®-RS Safety Instrumented System for detecting abnormal conditions and safely initiating emergency shutdowns, the Exaquantum™ Plant Information Management System for recording and retrieving historical data, and the PRMT integrated device management software package, as well as engineering and commissioning services.

The PRM™ software remotely monitors the status of various types of plant measurement and control devices and executes diagnostic routines that detect potential faults before a malfunction can occur. PRM gives the plant operators a comprehensive overview of the measuring devices used throughout the plant. PRM supports the FOUNDATION™ fieldbus, HART®, and PROFIBUS digital communication protocols. HART is used in the La Brea project.

Yokogawa was able to win this large project because it demonstrated the following strengths:
1. An extensive track record with combined cycle power plants, including MAN Ferrostaal's control system order in 2005 for the Termozulia Combined Cycle Power Plant (total capacity 500 MW) in Venezuela

2. A project approach that utilises the combined strengths of the Yokogawa Group to provide optimal solutions to customers

While the global market for power plant control systems is growing at a decreased rate following the economic downturn that began last year, robust growth is expected over the long term due to the increasing demand for electricity in newly industrialised countries. In recent years, Yokogawa has received a large number of orders for electricity projects around the world. Encouraged by the success in winning this order, Yokogawa aims in fiscal year 2010 to achieve sales of 30 billion yen (230 million euros) in the global power plant control system market.