(ProcessingTalk, Oct 24, 2006) Invensys Process Systems has announced that Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) will implement Foxboro I/A Series distributed control systems (DCS) for a hydro power generation and pumped storage automation upgrade project.

Located at the 1,088-megawatt Takuan Hydro Power Station in Nantau County in central Taiwan, the new implementation will utilise the Foxboro high-speed mesh control network backbone to maximise system availability and reliability. Invensys Taiwan will also provide a range of professional services.

The new systems at Takuan will control Plant 1, comprising four 22-megawatt hydro-electric generation units, and Plant 2, which consists of four 250-megawatt hydro-electric pumping units.

The plants utilise water stored in Sun-Moon Lake, Taiwan's largest natural lake.

The new automation system has unique capabilities, and in conjunction with the physical nature of the units, these will allow it to provide frequency stabilisation during daytime generation and optimisation for off-peak pumped storage, addressing a critical problem for the isolated grid on the island.

During the day, the plants provide power for local industry and the regional electric grid.

At night, surplus generation capacity is used to pump water above the dam and back into Sun-Moon Lake, where it is stored for the next day's hydro-electric power generation.

The new systems, connecting more than 10,000 I/O points with a new central control room, will drive several critical applications: automatic generation control; hydro-electric generation; hydro-electric dispatch; pumping/generation sequence and optimisation, and events history.

The latter utilises the I/A Series TDR/TDA (transient data recording/transient data analysis) capabilities, which provide the most comprehensive historical resolution of critical process parameters available in the industry.

Together, these applications allow Taipower to determine exactly when to generate and when to store electricity, while using the Takuan plant assets most economically.

Invensys Taiwan will work closely with Taipower engineering, technical and operating personnel, providing a variety of professional services, including project management, engineering services, site installation, commissioning, start-up assistance and training programmes.

Invensys, a qualified Taipower supplier, is the leading supplier of automation to Taipower.

The Invensys installed base within Taipower comprises Foxboro automation and instrumentation, Triconex safety instrumented systems, SimSci-Esscor simulation and advanced control, all facilitated by numerous categories of professional services.

Invensys systems are installed in dozens of generation units at more than a dozen Taipower fossil, hydro and nuclear power plants.

Formally established in 1946, Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) is entrusted with the development, generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric power in Taiwan.

With a generating capacity of more than 33,000 MW, the state-owned utility serves nearly 11.1 million industrial, commercial, and residential customers.

Taipower owns more than 70 power plants driven by various power resources ranging from hydro, thermal and nuclear power, to wind energy and natural gas.

The company makes active efforts to diversify power resources in order to offer a stable and economic supply of electricity.
source:ProcessingTalk