- Massive upgrade of FPL’s St. Lucie and Turkey Point nuclear plants
has added the equivalent of a new, medium-sized plant capable of
powering more than 300,000 customers
- The added capacity is expected to save FPL customers billions of dollars over time by reducing the use of fossil fuels
- Clean energy investment was made possible by Florida’s nuclear cost recovery framework
JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Florida Power &
Light Company today announced the successful completion of a five-year,
multibillion-dollar investment to upgrade its Turkey Point and St. Lucie
Nuclear Power Plants, adding more than 500 new megawatts of clean
energy capacity.
At
approximately 1:30 yesterday afternoon, Turkey Point Unit 4, the final
unit to undergo an upgrade as part of the project, was connected to
Florida’s electrical grid. The upgrades of Turkey Point Unit 3, located
in Miami-Dade County, and St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, located in St. Lucie
County, were completed in 2012.
“With consistently low fuel costs,
zero emissions and the ability to operate around the clock, nuclear
power is a critical component of our state’s energy mix today and
tomorrow,” said FPL President Eric Silagy. “By increasing the amount of
power that our nuclear plants can generate, this investment added the
equivalent of a new, medium-sized power plant to Florida’s generation
fleet, without having to build one.”
Read More...
Showing posts with label Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. Show all posts
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Massive transformer makes long voyage to FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear plant
Tugboat captain Nick Colomero pulled up to the barge landing at Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant last month with a special shipment: a $10 million, 592,000-pound transformer from Europe.
The behemoth electrical device was designed with an oddly shaped top to fit through the railroad tunnel near Weiz, Austria, where it was built by Siemens Energy. No manufacturer in the United States had the capability to construct the “extra high voltage” transformer when it was put out to bid several years ago.
The journey took 10 weeks and covered 7,200 miles by train, cargo ship and barges averaging 7 miles per hour. The route traversed the Danube River, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Moser Channel, which runs under the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys. Thousands of extra miles were required for a stop in Mobile, Ala., because local ports couldn’t lift the 33-foot long, 14-foot wide, 15-foot high unit, made primarily of steel and copper.
Five days were unexpectedly spent holed up in Apalachicola, riding out Tropical Storm Beryl. The last half-mile was aboard a German-machine called the Goldhofer, which looks like a caterpillar with 144 tires and features a hydraulic system to handle the 268 tons — far too heavy for most roads.
And all this for a “spare.”
“Absolutely, it was worth it,” said Cara Smith, project manager for Florida Power & Light.
The transformer is an integral part of the nuclear power plant’s $1 billion, head-to-toe makeover. Nearly 6,000 components are being replaced or upgraded: pipes, valves, generators, rotors, fans and turbines. All are important, even the backups, in the complex puzzle.
When the upgrade — the most ambitious ever attempted at a U.S. nuclear power plant — is done in spring 2013, Turkey Point’s two nuclear units will be able to produce about 15 percent more electricity, enough to power about 270,000 more residential homes in South Florida and elsewhere on the grid. This will be done using basically the same amount of uranium fuel, consisting of solid ceramic pellets that produce electricity through a process called fission. Not a drop of fuel oil or natural gas is used.
“It’s almost like building another power plant,” Smith said. “But here you are taking existing units and running them more cleanly and efficiently. And nuclear fuel costs are dirt cheap compared to natural gas or fuel oil.”
The number of additional residential homes to be powered could increase if the new spare transformer from Austria is ever called to duty to replace one of the two existing transformers. While the new transformer (1,028 mega volt amps) is rated higher than the two existing upgraded ones (now at a maximum 970 mvas), it was not practical to make the switch now due to the logistics nightmare of the overall upgrade, Smith said.
READ MORE....
The behemoth electrical device was designed with an oddly shaped top to fit through the railroad tunnel near Weiz, Austria, where it was built by Siemens Energy. No manufacturer in the United States had the capability to construct the “extra high voltage” transformer when it was put out to bid several years ago.
The journey took 10 weeks and covered 7,200 miles by train, cargo ship and barges averaging 7 miles per hour. The route traversed the Danube River, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Moser Channel, which runs under the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys. Thousands of extra miles were required for a stop in Mobile, Ala., because local ports couldn’t lift the 33-foot long, 14-foot wide, 15-foot high unit, made primarily of steel and copper.
Five days were unexpectedly spent holed up in Apalachicola, riding out Tropical Storm Beryl. The last half-mile was aboard a German-machine called the Goldhofer, which looks like a caterpillar with 144 tires and features a hydraulic system to handle the 268 tons — far too heavy for most roads.
And all this for a “spare.”
“Absolutely, it was worth it,” said Cara Smith, project manager for Florida Power & Light.
The transformer is an integral part of the nuclear power plant’s $1 billion, head-to-toe makeover. Nearly 6,000 components are being replaced or upgraded: pipes, valves, generators, rotors, fans and turbines. All are important, even the backups, in the complex puzzle.
When the upgrade — the most ambitious ever attempted at a U.S. nuclear power plant — is done in spring 2013, Turkey Point’s two nuclear units will be able to produce about 15 percent more electricity, enough to power about 270,000 more residential homes in South Florida and elsewhere on the grid. This will be done using basically the same amount of uranium fuel, consisting of solid ceramic pellets that produce electricity through a process called fission. Not a drop of fuel oil or natural gas is used.
“It’s almost like building another power plant,” Smith said. “But here you are taking existing units and running them more cleanly and efficiently. And nuclear fuel costs are dirt cheap compared to natural gas or fuel oil.”
The number of additional residential homes to be powered could increase if the new spare transformer from Austria is ever called to duty to replace one of the two existing transformers. While the new transformer (1,028 mega volt amps) is rated higher than the two existing upgraded ones (now at a maximum 970 mvas), it was not practical to make the switch now due to the logistics nightmare of the overall upgrade, Smith said.
READ MORE....
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