Parkeston Power Station

The Project

"The simple-cycle Parkeston power plant was developed to provide low-cost electricity to gold mining operations in the surrounding region. TransAlta co-owns the plant, which is located in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Simple-cycle power generation is typically used for periods of peak demand, or to reinforce the baseload power provided by other sources. Today, the Parkeston plant also reinforces electricity supply in the Kalgoorlie area through its connection to the Southwest Interconnected System. Parkeston plant has annual production of more than 433,000 megawatt hours. The plant is fueled by natural gas from the North West Shelf area of Western Australia, which is delivered via the Goldfields Gas Pipeline."

Munter's Contribution

Munter’s were engaged by to provide an Evaporative Pre-cooler solution to the main air intake to the Gas Turbine Generators. The unit is fitted to the main air intake louvers of the generator providing a cost effective solution to meet the needs for cooling without the adverse downstream effects such as pressure loss and corrosion. Water is distributed through the Munters cooling media upstream of the gas turbine inlet at a controlled rate. The inlet air passes through the media and the water is evaporated to a cold vapour, chilling the air that passes to the turbine and increasing power output as well as the operating efficiency.