Order for Saudi Arabia’s first supercritical thermal power plant.

Yokogawa has received an order from Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. to supply control systems, safety instrumented systems, analysis systems, and other products for Stage-1 of the Jeddah South supercritical oil-fired thermal power plant project in Saudi Arabia.

Supercritical technology involves pressure and temperature being kept above the critical point as steam passes from the boiler to a steam turbine. This allows power to be generated more efficiently and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Jeddah South will be Saudi Arabia’s first supercritical thermal power plant, and is being built by a state-owned enterprise, the Saudi Electricity Company, at a site south of the city of Jeddah, which is on Saudi Arabia’s western coast, facing the Red Sea. Stage-1 of this project involves the construction of four 723 MW units producing a total of 2892 MW. Unit 1 is scheduled to start operation in 2017.

For each of the four units, Yokogawa will supply a CENTUM(R) VP R5 integrated production control system for the control of the boiler and its auxiliary facilities, including all IEC61850-based electrical systems; a ProSafe(R)-RS safety instrumented system (SIS); an Exaquantum(TM) plant information management system (PIMS); and a plant operation training simulator. Also included in the contract are PK200 current-to-pneumatic converters; a liquid analysis system consisting of conductivity, pH, and residual chlorine analysers; and a duct gas analysis system consisting of oxygen, infrared gas, and TDLS200 tunable diode laser analysers.

The TDLS200 boasts a fast response time and is used in combustion processes. One such application is the continuous measurement of residual NH3 in the denitrification process, which removes NOx from the exhaust gas produced as a result of the combustion of fuels in a boiler. There is a rising need for such continuous measurement solutions as they help to reduce corrosion to plant equipment and also protect the environment by reducing the emission of large amounts of ozone depleting gases.

Based on the IEC61850 international standard defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), electrical systems throughout this plant, including more than 750 intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) as well as all statistical and tariff energy meters, need to be integrated with the CENTUM VP DCS. Yokogawa is thus providing an integrated operational platform for this very large power plant.

Yokogawa Saudi Arabia will be responsible for the engineering and commissioning of the production control systems, safety instrumented systems, and plant information management systems. Yokogawa Electric and Yokogawa Electric Korea Co., Ltd. will be responsible for the engineering and delivery of the current-to-pneumatic converters and the analysis systems.

Yokogawa has executed a number of large oil & gas and petrochemical projects and has provided more than 80 control systems for power plant and power plant utilities throughout the Middle East. Furthermore, the company has set down deep roots in the region through such initiatives as the establishment in 2006 of Yokogawa Saudi Arabia. Yokogawa believes that this strong track record was a key consideration in its selection for this project.

Supercritical thermal power plants are highly efficient and produce fewer greenhouse gases than conventional power plants, and it is expected that more plants of this type will be constructed in Saudi Arabia and other countries. In anticipation of growing demand for its highly reliable products and services, Yokogawa will step up its efforts in the global power sector.