Laguna Verde set for 260 MWe uprate

05 March 2007

A $605 million steam turbine retrofit project is planned for Mexico's Laguna Verde plant to increase the output of the two-unit plant by 20%. Iberdrola and Alstom will carry out the work for Mexico's Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) .

Contracts were signed in February for the work encompassing full retrofits of two steam turbines, both of which include high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders, and the supply of new generators. Alstom will supply the turbines and generators while Iberinco, the construction arm of Spain's Iberdrola, is the main contractor and will supply balance-of-plant equipment. An Alstom release indicated the value of the project to the company would be about $193 million. Mexican branches of both the companies will participate in the uprate.

According to Alstom, work was scheduled to start on 2 March with completion in 2010. Iberinco said the company would be concerned over the next three-and-a-half years with the design, engineering, equipment supply & materials, installation, assembly and tests associated with the project.

Laguna Verde hosts two boiling water reactors, completed by General Electric with Mitsubishi turbine generators in 1989 and 1994. Both currently provide 654 MWe to the Mexican grid, about 3% of electricity. After the uprating work, each will output about 785 MWe.

Phlippe Joubert, President of Alstom Power said the contract was "won against strong international competition in a re-emerging nuclear market."

CFE said that two other consortia submitted bids for the uprate work. Tenders from General Electric and Siemens were worth $951 million and $695 million respectively. CFE said those bids complied with technical requirements but exceeded the amount the state-owned company had set aside for the project while the Alstom/Iberdrola bid complied with its 'economic ceiling' at $605 million.

Further information

Alstom Power
Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE)
Iberdrola

 WNA's Nuclear Power in Mexico information paper