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Press release 10/2008

Clyde Bergemann supplies on-load boiler cleaning solution for worldwide largest new coal-fired power plant project   Wesel/Germany, December 2008 Concluded by Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (HPE), Clyde Bergemann will supply state-of-the-art on-load boiler cleaning technology for the hard coal fired power plants Medupi and Kusile, both located in South Africa. The two base-load power stations will be equipped by HPE with six supercritical boilers each. With a total generation capacity of 9600 MW, it is actually the largest project on the market. Operator is Eskom, a South African electricity public utility. Worth exceeding €18.0m, this contract represents the largest order in the history of Clyde Bergemann for the business field “Boiler Efficiency”.   The scope of supply includes water cannons and the optimisation system FACOS for the combustion chamber as well as sootblowers of type RK for the convection part. FACOS uses a sensor system to detect the position and intensity of fouling and slagging in the furnace area. The Cleaning Expert Module links these data with the current performance data of the steam generator and decides upon stored algorithms which cleaning action needs to be done and at what intensity. The sensors feed back the results of the cleaning operation. This setup makes the system an unique closed loop arrangement. The big point here is that FACOS not only regards the level of fouling but also the influence of the imminent cleaning operation on boiler performance. This demand-driven process, which Clyde Bergemann has labelled as "Smart Cleaning", results in more efficient cleaning inside the boiler’s furnace. The heat absorption improves significantly with direct positive effect for boiler performance and efficiency. Experience with past installations also shows that fuel consumption is reduced, the boiler off-gas temperature stabilised and so CO2 emissions lowered. Delivery starts in May 2009 and ends 2013, commissioning takes place until the beginning of 2015.  Both power stations are part of Eskom’s multi-billion rand expansion. Most of South Africa's power stations are coal-fired and Eskom has been struggling to meet electricity demand due to a lack of investment in new generation capacity and the country’s ageing power generating infrastructure which has been unable to cope with the rising demand.