, 2009-May-27
Integrated energy company RWE npower has awarded Siemens contracts worth in excess of £18 million for major refurbishment work at its Didcot B Power Station in Oxfordshire. RWE npower cited Siemens’ proactive and structured approach to outage planning as a key factor behind the contract award. This is the fourth RWE npower major order secured by Siemens Energy Service Fossil in the last three months.
As Didcot B, a flagship site for RWE npower, has a generation capacity of 1,400 MW (enough power to meet the needs of 1.5 million people) it is essential that any maintenance work is planned well in advance to ensure continuity of energy provision. In addition, the work planned by Siemens Energy Service Fossil includes the manufacture of large and complex components, some of which must be ordered 2½ years in advance of their delivery date. Siemens has a unique, long term approach to joint planning with customers using its proprietary outage-planning tool: TMS (Total Maintenance Services).
Richard Llewellyn, Station Manager at Didcot B, commented: “Didcot B is a highly efficient, gas-burning power station that uses some of the latest generating technology. It operates four combined cycle gas turbines, two of which will be shut down for ‘mid-life refurbishment’ at which point they will have clocked up the equivalent of 100,000 operating hours.
“We began planning with Siemens for this project back in late 2007. Joint planning this far in advance is clearly of immense benefit to both RWE npower and Siemens. We welcome the joint proactive engagement with the planning process and, as a result, are looking forward to this outage commencing with all the preparation completed in a timely manner.”
Carl Ennis, Managing Director of Siemens Energy Service Fossil, added: “We are delighted that RWE npower has once again recognised our ongoing commitment to quality service and well structured advance planning with this significant parts contract award.
“The refurbishment of the gas turbines will ensure that Didcot B continues to deliver optimum energy efficiency and overall performance in the line of its duty as one of the UK’s leading power generation plants.”
In addition to this latest refurbishment contract, Siemens is to manufacture a spare generator rotor and long term storage container at Didcot B and perform outage work at Didcot A. The Company is also undertaking additional outage and maintenance work at RWE npower’s Tilbury plant.
Notes to editors:
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 166 years ago and now employs 18,402 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £3.7 billion. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
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Siemens plc
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