Siemens Energy has received an order to supply the power island equipment for the repowering of El Centro Generating Station Unit 3 in California.

The Siemens scope of supply for this repowering project will encompass the power island, including two SGT-800 gas turbines and an SST-600 steam turbine-generator installed in a combined-cycle configuration, together with two heat-recovery steam generators and a condenser.

Construction will begin on the project in mid-2010, with commercial operation anticipated to commence in May 2012. ARB, a multinational construction company, will be the EPC contractor for the facility. The operator and owner of the power plant is Imperial Irrigation District (IID).

Markus Tacke, CEO of Industrial Power Business Unit at Siemens Energy, said: “Repowering of this unit will replace equipment installed more than fifty years ago with Siemens state-of-the-art power island equipment, increasing overall output by 100MW and boosting the station’s overall capacity to 333MW.

“Repowering a generation unit involves replacing or substantially upgrading the equipment with advanced technology to improve its efficiency and environmental performance.”