Genesal emergency power for the largest combined cycle power plant in Latin America

As part of our expansion plans in Latin America, at Genesal Energy we have designed, manufactured and supplied three generating sets of 1705 kVA, 300 kVA and 110 kVA, aiming to reinforce safety in the largest combined cycle plant in Latin America, which is located in Mexico.

The three units have been manufactured after studying the specific requirements and terrain conditions, and their function will consist of guaranteeing the energy supply in phase II of this huge electricity generation plant, which has a capacity of 1,187 MW and is composed of two generation modules, two gas turbines and a steam one.

This kind of installation always requires special loads that must be supplied permanently for the correct operation of the plant. Based on this premise, the main mission of the three Genesal generator sets will be to support the construction works of this second phase, strictly complying with the current regulations and client’s specifications.

Tailor-made solution

The solution provided by Genesal Energy consisted in equipping the plant with bespoke generators. In addition to the 300 kVA and 110 kVA gensets, the third unit (1705 kVA) has been designed to carry out a safe shutdown of the entire system in the event of an emergency.

In this sense, the client requested that the generator set was fully managed, controlled and monitored from the control panel itself, and that it was also able to start up in the event of the failure of two supply networks that the essential busbars could supply.

Thus, if the essential bus is de-energized and the external ATS system cannot recover it, the generator set starts up and takes control of the transfer system to supply the essential loads in less than ten seconds. Upon mains return, and provided that the operator validates it, the loads are returned to the network without zero crossing, guaranteeing the continuity of power supply of the loads during the process of returning from the network. Likewise, the automation of the generator allows the necessary integration with the external ATS and with the various switches that the generator set has to operate, so the starting and stopping sequence provided by the customer is followed at all times.

Like the other two gensets, this 1705 kVA unit – which has been designed to start without the need for any type of external voltage and without the need for safe voltage for the voltage circuit – has been mounted on a bespoke soundproof container with specially designed air conditioning system, motorized louvers and fans, amongst others.

On the other hand, given the space limitations of the generator set, a 4,000 liters double walled fuel tank was integrated into the container, guaranteeing a continuous operation for more than ten hours at 100% load.

Respect for the environment

Since the project was launched in 2005, the construction of the combined cycle plant generated more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs, which has contributed to the economic development of the area as most of the jobs are local.

Combined cycle power plants generate electricity through the coexistence of two thermodynamic cycles: one uses water vapor and the other uses flue gases. In addition, combined cycle plants are considered clean energies and very low polluting, as the discarded gases are reused to produce more energy from water vapor.