Energy Development Corp. (EDC) brings another unit of its geothermal plants online in the Philippines after the typhoon Yolanda in November last year.
It now reports to having recommissioned Unit 1 of the Bacon-Manito (BacMan) geothermal power plants.
“Recommissioning of BacMan’s Unit I had commenced as its turbine unit was rolled, slowly loaded up to its rated capacity of 55 megawatts [MW] and subjected to a reliability run period. While a tripping event has occurred, the unit has—since January 30, 2014—been operating at rated capacity, even as it remains subjected to close monitoring and/or to additional tests,” said EDC.
The 55-MW BacMan unit 1 went offline in May last year for inspections after Unit 2 was shut down because a turbine blade was sheared off, causing damage to the equipment. As a precaution, EDC suspended the operation of Unit 1.
“Further to an interim inspection conducted on BacMan Unit 1 [in] September 2013, management decided to extend its shutdown after hairline cracks were detected in two turbine blades of Unit 1. As an interim solution, a third party contractor was commissioned to repair the unit,” EDC added.
A permanent solution being considered is the replacement of a turbine motor which, EDC said, should take place by the last quarter of the year until early 2015.
“Targeted delivery dates of the brand-new turbine rotor and diaphragms from Toshiba for both BacMan Units 1 and 2 [are on] the fourth quarter [for the first unit] and the first quarter of 2015 [for the second unit],” it added.
The BacMan facility straddles the towns of Bacon in Sorsogon and Manito in Albay. The geothermal power plant consists of BacMan 1 (with two 55-MW units] and BacMan 2 [with two 20-MW units].”
Source: Business Mirror Philippines
