OREANDA-NEWS.  DTEK continues retrofitting its thermal power plants (TPPs). Engineering company Elektronaladka will re-equip unit 2 at the DTEK Zuivska TPP. Under its contract with DTEK, in 2014, Elektronaladka will prepare a project feasibility study and then carry out the retrofit in 2015. The scope of works includes replacement of the electrostatic precipitator and installation of an advanced digital workflow control system. DTEK will invest the total of UAH 220 mln in the project.

This project is the final stage of the unit upgrade at the DTEK Zuivska TPP: the first stage of the retrofit was completed in 2008; the second one will start in 2015. In 2008, DTEK upgraded the turbine, the boiler, the electrostatic precipitator (ESP), the integrated switchgear, 6 kV auxiliary equipment, and electric drives of the raw coal feeders. The installed capacity of unit 2 increased from 300 MW to 320 MW and the flexibility ranged expanded by 25 MW. The unit became much more cost effective with the 0.6% reduction in the production cost.

The final stage of the retrofit that will be conducted by Elektronaladka in 2015 will include the installation of a digital control system (DCS) for better control over the equipment, enhanced efficiency and safety, and less space for human error, and, consequently, better unit reliability. The upgrade of the electrostatic precipitator will bring flue gas treatment in line with the standards set forth in EU’s Directive 2001/80/EC, reducing the solid particles content to the prescribed 50 mg/Nm3. The ESP replacement and the installation of the DCS will take up six months of 2015.

"DTEK is responsible for the reliability of its operating companies," says DTEK’s Acting Electricity Generation Director Duysen Mergaliyev. "This year we will maintain the scope of repair works and the relevant investments at the set level. Since 2008, DTEK has retrofitted 13 power units, including three at the DTEK Zuivska TPP. Over this period we have invested the total of UAH 4.8 mln in equipment retrofits, which allowed us to increase the overall capacity by 320 MW. From 2014 to 2022, DTEK plans to retrofit another 24 units."

"The Zuivska TPP is the newest plant in Ukraine", says Elektronaladka’s Deputy Director Kostiantyn Yeshchenko.  "Yet, 30 years is a long time for any power equipment. This is why since 2008 the DTEK Zuivska TPP has been upgrading all its power units. The retrofit has extended the units' service life by 15 years, increased the plant’s capacity by 70 MW, and reduced the plant’s dust emission from 406 to a mere 166 mg/Nm3. After the retrofit of unit 2, the DTEK Zuivska TPP will be one of the best Ukrainian power plants: all its four units will be equipped with the DCS that improves efficiency and cost effectiveness of the entire plant and mitigates the human factor."

The DTEK Zuivska TPP has four units of 300, 320, 325 MW, commissioned in 1982-86. From 2007 to 2012 DTEK retrofitted units 1, 2, and 4, spending UAH 536 mln. The retrofit of unit 3 will start in April 2014.