[BETA] Fortnightly

Siemens entered a long-term service contract for the largest combined cycle power plant in Russia, the 800-MW Kirishi power plant, which was repowered in March 2012. Per the agreement, Siemens will provide maintenance of the gas turbines and generators for 12 years. Kirishi was the first combined-cycle repowering project in Russia, and it increased the unit’s capacity from 300 MW to 800 MW, and raised its efficiency from 38 percent to 55 percent.

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power sold one 625-MW block of its 1,250-MW Mesquite gas-fired power plant to Salt River Project (SRP) for $371 million. In addition to 100-percent ownership of the 625-MW power block, SRP gained a 50-percent undivided interest in plant facilities. Sempra retains ownership of the power plant’s remaining 625-MW power block and 50-percent interest in the plant facilities. As part of the transaction, Salt River Project will become the operator of the Mesquite facility.

Wood Group GTS upgraded the controls system on a GE LM6000 gas turbine at Jonesboro, (Ark.) City Water and Light’s (CWL) northwest combustion turbine site. Wood Group GTS has replaced the original controls with an open-architecture system that will enable CWL to access and configure the turbine to meet fluctuating power demands.

Siemens won a €300-million ($393-million) order to supply a single-shaft power island with H-class technology for the 600-MW Samsun Cengiz Enerji combined-cycle power plant in Turkey. The customer is Cengiz Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., an independent power producer that will build and operate the plant. Siemens says the plant will generate power with an efficiency of almost 61 percent. Commissioning is scheduled for the start of 2015.

GE and Toshiba signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a global strategic alliance, under which the two companies would jointly develop select combined-cycle power generation projects around the world. The two companies will explore the formation of a strategic joint venture for the development of next-generation combined-cycle power projects with higher levels of thermal efficiency.

Alliant subsidiary Wisconsin Power & Light (WPL) closed on its purchase of the Riverside Energy Center, a 600-MW combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power plant in Beloit, Wisc. WPL purchased the plant from Calpine for approximately $400 million.

Caterpillar will develop a turnkey power plant using 10 Cat G16CM34 natural gas generator sets, for Alberta Newsprint Co. (ANC) in Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada. Caterpillar’s medium-speed, reciprocating engine generator sets will provide ANC with 65 MW of total output capacity, making it Caterpillar’s largest power plant installation in Canada.