Swedish nuclear power plant modernizes I&C infrastructure
Ringhals Unit 3 implements a new control system during 30-day shutdown, back on line for winter demand.
Ringhals, the Swedish electric power utility, has upgraded the instrumentation and control (I&C) infrastructure for its Unit 3 in record time. Working with Alstom, the team has successfully completed the installation of a new control system in 30 days. The system has passed an exhaustive series of operational testing since it first synchronized to the grid in mid-October. This is the last important milestone of the integrated retrofit of the complete turbo group systems of Unit 3 which will boost generating efficiency. The commissioning of the new control system enabled the plant to deliver full power output in time for the increasing winter demand.
"I am very pleased with the good collaboration during the project execution” said Bertil Dihné, president, Ringhals AB. “Thanks to our joint efforts, all challenges within the project were met, and Ringhals 3 is now up and running in secure and stable commission.”
After a long period of engineering and mock-up tests, the actual installation work began in late August and was completed one month later, to meet the deadline for cold commissioning – a phase of preparation, installation, and testing, before turning the reactor steam on.
The next major step for Ringhals and Alstom is the completion of block 4 in 2011, which includes installation of the control system, erection of four new moisture separators, installation of two high-pressure turbines, and two low-pressure preheaters.
The Ringhals nuclear power plant is situated on the west coast of Sweden, 60 km south of Gothenburg, and at 3,690 MW, is the largest power plant in Scandinavia. The plant has four reactors - three pressurized water reactors and one boiling water reactor. In a normal year, Ringhals generates around 28 billion kWh – approximately 20% of Sweden’s total electrical energy consumption.
Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander(at)cfemedia.com
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