June 2010 Project: Image 1
June 2010 Project: Image 2

JUNE 25, 2010

OPS COOLING UPGRADE PROJECT - BERMUDA ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, HAMILTON, BERMUDA

Bermuda Electric Light Company (BELCO) is the island of Bermuda's sole electric utility and is a stationary diesel and gas turbine plant with a capacity of approximately 180 MW. The diesel plant is the primary base load generation and the fleet of diesel engines range from 5 MW units to 14.4 MW units and in age from 30 years to 6 years. While BELCO is planning plant expansion, it is necessary to retain the services of three Sulzer Z40 engines for an additional 5 years. These engine have approximately 25 years of service and while the engine themselves are in excellent working condition the auxiliary cooling systems are in need of replacement.

Northwest Electrical Services LLC executed an engineering study for BELCO which determined the performance of the existing cooling systems, and the detrimental effect on overall engine efficiency. The study revealed that by replacing the existing cooling system equipment with new coolers and circulating pumps which could be re-purposed in the future to newer areas of the generating station, the utility would increase the availability and efficiency of the diesel engines and have a return on the initial investment of 15% over 5 years.

The project commenced on January 3rd 2010, with the required design, installation and commissioning no later than June 30th 2010 before the Bermuda peak summer season. Due to the tight schedule constraints and our past performance, BELCO has awarded the $2.6M project to Northwest Electrical services LLC for the complete turnkey design and build project. The project was commissioned and placed into service June 18th 2010.

The scope of the project includes:

  • Process and Instrumentation diagrams for new and existing JW and SCW systems. (Complete)
  • Electrical Single line diagrams including full modeling using ETAP software. (Complete)
  • Sizing, selection and procurement of fifteen (15) air cooled heat exchangers, five (5) per engine for Jacket Water (JW) and Secondary Cooling Water (SCW) systems. (Complete)
  • Sizing, Selection and procurement of two (2) new JW pumps, two (2) new SCW pumps and associated valves and equipment for redundant pump operation. (Complete)
  • Detail design of all piping, structural steel, and civil works. (Complete)
  • Detail design of all electrical systems including power transformers, motor control centers, power metering and UPS systems. (Complete)
  • Detail design of control system hardware and software and integration with existing engine control systems. (Complete)
  • Detail design of all network communications between control systems, metering and instrumentation. (Complete)
  • Project Management and procurement of all equipment and construction materials.
  • Civil works for preparation of site.
  • Mechanical, Electrical and Civil construction.
  • Commissioning, training and final documentation.