System upgrade for welsh power station

ABB has won a major contract from E.ON UK to replace the existing VAX based operator stations at its 1,420 MW Connah's Quay Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Station at Deeside, North Wales with new MS Windows based power generation portal consoles.
The contract includes the installation and commissioning of the full system include ancillary services, staff training and a system for converting graphics from the existing installation to the Windows operating interface.

The existing installation consists of four generating systems plus common services. Each generating unit has four operator screens and there are two server plus two client consoles on the system. Common services has two servers and one client console.
The existing SODG graphics used on the existing OIS-40 series consoles will be converted to PGP (power generation portal) graphics.

The upgrade project will replace existing OIS-40 series consoles with state-of-the-art technology suitable for meeting the power station's needs for the foreseeable future.
Key considerations in the new system have been achieving backward compatibility for existing graphics and retaining the existing ‘look and feel' of this part of the system. The existing graphics and databases were created in ABB Composer software. The new installation will convert the graphics to run on the new systems' Windows operating system. The present control system has more than one thousand graphics screens on each unit plus a further hundred and fifty on common services.

The contract includes the supply and installation of a wide range of necessary network interfaces, switches and peripherals as well as cabling, desk and alarms. In addition, ABB will provide installation & commissioning, inspection & testing, training and spares.  The work began in May 2008 and is due for completion in early 2009. ABB recently completed the replacement of the power station's steam turbine supervisory system.