* Author: Arnaldo Rico Linares *
Our colleagues at the Monterrey cogeneration plant in Mexico have been celebrating its first 10 years of operation, completed in the summer. The facility goes back to 2001 when the need emerged to supply both electrical energy and superheated steam to users of the distributor PEGI S.A. It was on 20 July 2003 that commercial operations began at the plant, which meant the shutdown of the old PEGI-1 facility built in the 1940s.
Monterrey cogeneration plant consists of two turbine-generators (one natural gas and the other steam) and two Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs). The gas turbine-generator is a General Electric LM6000 PC type with a 37.5 MW capacity. The steam generators have a capacity of up to 102 Tons/hour of steam.
The plant has seen a clear increase in efficiency at the station and consumes much less water. Likewise, using natural gas as the sole fuel has contributed notably to an improvement in environmental quality in the area. The station continues to operate as designed and generates 40 MW of electricity and 65 Tons/hour of steam. All its output goes to supplying more than a dozen private industry users in the Monterrey metropolitan area.
The plant has various national and international certifications testifying to its operational excellence: OHSAS 18001 for health and safety; ISO 9001 for quality and; certification of its Integrated Management System to the ISO 14001 international environmental standard. The station was also awarded clean energy certification by the Mexican Federal Office for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) for complying with the requirements of Mexican environmental laws.
