Building Africa
Korea Electric Power Corporation Engineering & Construction Company (KEPCO E&C) announced on Nov. 5 that it has completed the steam blowout in the CIPREL IV Volet B EPC Project in Côte d´Ivoire, Africa, and will begin full system commissioning soon. Steam blowout is a process that removes foreign materials collected in pipes during the plant construction stage, meaning that it is ready to go into the trial run phase of a plant.
After finishing the machinery and piping work, the company has successfully completed a hydraulic test, chemical cleaning, turbine lube oil flushing and a trial run of unit machines such as water supply and condensate systems, through thorough preparation.
Also, KEPCO has achieved four million accident-free man hours to date since the project started in 2013. The company has won firm trust in its safe construction ability through health, safety and environment (HSE) management from CIPREL and the local community.
The purpose of the CIPREL IV Volet B EPC project is to install two heat recovery steam generators (HRSG), one steam turbine and one air cooled condenser (ACC) in the 110 MW gas turbine of the existing power plant, transforming it into a combined power plant.
The company expects to complete the final construction by December and contribute greatly to improve the power supply problem in Côte d´Ivoire, which suffers from a chronic electric power shortage.