PGE/REWE 2015

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Operational Challenges and Solutions for European Combined Cycle Power Plants (Room G104, Auditorium Centre, First Floor)

In the 1990’s up to the mid 2000’s gas-based combined-cycle power generation (CCGT) was seen as the preferred technology of choice across Europe based on (i) its low emissions compared with coal, its low cost of electricity, and (ii) the high thermal efficiencies that CCGT’s can deliver. This saw a heavy substantial financial investment in new CCGT power plants across Europe. From the mid 2000’s onwards however the European power companies have seen the economic viability of their CCGT’s eroded by (i) a rise in the market price of gas globally and (ii) the European governments dramatic and rapid shift to supporting “renewable (CO2 free) energy”, offering heavy subsidies for these renewables so as to enable them to compete against the CCGT’s. Such measures in Europe has left the European CCGT operators in a quagmire and struggling to survive. Even the newest most efficient CCGT’s in Europe are being struggling in the current power market, with huge financial impact on the Power Companies. Such operators are being forced to look for all viable avenues to reduce their day-to-day operational expenditure (OPEX). European CCGT operators have come to be very familiar with the Long-Term Maintenance Programs offered by the major equipment OEM’s. This Paper looks at some of the alternative Long-Term Maintenance options that could be open to European CCGT operators that offer the potential to make significant reductions to their OPEX over the plants’ life-times, and indeed provide the solution(s) that might enable a possible stranded CCGT asset to being once again a commercially viable asset in the European power arena.