HK Electric has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to commission the construction of a new gas-fired combined cycle turbine unit (L10) by a member of the Mitsubishi Group. The new L10 unit will replace older generating units due to retire at Lamma Power Station and help meet the stringent emission requirements set by the Hong Kong Government.
At the agreement signing ceremony held in Tokyo last night, Mr. Wan Chi-tin, Managing Director of HK Electric, said that the Hong Kong Government has set a target to increase the proportion of natural gas generation to 50% by 2020 in an effort to reduce the emission caused by electricity generation.
“The signing of this agreement represents a milestone for HK Electric as it marks the beginning of the construction of L10. When L10 is commissioned in 2020, it will enable HK Electric to further reduce our carbon footprint and other emissions while maintaining power supply reliability,” he said.
According to HK Electric’s 2014- 2018 Five-year Development Plan approved by the Hong Kong Government, three coal-fired units and one gas-fired unit are scheduled to retire from 2017 onwards until the early 2020’s, resulting in the need for a new unit to sustain the generation capacity.
L10 is a 350MW-class base load unit comprising a gas turbine, a steam turbine, a generator, a heat recovery steam generator, auxiliary equipment, and an air quality control system. With the advanced M701F gas turbine as its prime driver, L10 will adopt a single shaft configuration. The main components will be manufactured and supplied by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (“MHPS”) while the professional team of HK Electric engineers will ensure that the project is completed on schedule and within budget.
President and CEO of MHPS, Mr. Takato Nishizawa, said that MHPS has a solid track record of supplying key power-related components to HK Electric over the long history of cooperation between the two companies. “We will commit ourselves towards the successful completion of the project with full awareness of the environment and safety which is the highest priority in our business operation,” he added.
The “combined cycle generation technology” adopted for L10 is one of the cleanest, most popular and efficient ways to generate electricity by fossil fuels in the world. Additional power can be generated by a steam turbine using the high-temperature exhaust gas from the gas turbine, in addition to the power it produces, resulting in outstanding fuel efficiency. In addition, gas generation produces less emission than other fossil fuels thereby reducing the impact of electricity generation on the environment.
The high efficiency of 58.5% of the new L10 unit greatly surpasses the existing coal-fired as well as the gas-fired units at Lamma Power Station. Using the same amount of fuel, L10 can generate more power and reduce fuel costs. Depending on the price of gas, the annual cost saving could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars when compared with an existing older gas-fired unit.
L10 is also the first of its kind in Hong Kong to be equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system in the heat recovery steam generator. Together with the state-of-the-art Dry Low NOx combustion system, the new gas turbine will further minimise nitrogen oxides emissions beyond the levels of the existing units.
The construction of L10 was officially approved by the Government at the end of last year at an estimated total construction cost of around three billion dollars. Piling work will commence shortly and it is expected that L10 will be put into operation in 2020.