Instrumentation & Controls

Siemens Energy building remote-controlled 300 MW gas-fired plant in Leipheim

Siemens Energy building remote-controlled 300 MW gas-fired plant in Leipheim
(Drawing of Leipheim gas-fired plant courtesy Siemens Energy.)

Siemens Energy will build a new gas-fired power plant which will be controlled digitally and remotely in Bavaria, requiring only minimal personnel on-site.

LEAG signed Siemens Energy to construct the unique plant in Leipheim. It will not generate into the energy market but will be used at the request of transmission grid operator Amrpior to ensure stability in an emergency.

The facility will be built and fitted to provide as much as 300 MW within 30 minutes. The plant will be operated entirely from Siemens Energy’s Remote O&M Support Center (ROMSC) in Erlangden, Bavaria.

“Leipheim gas fired power plant is an important building-block in the energy transition of power generation” said Karim Amin, Executive Vice President Generation at Siemens Energy. “We’re very pleased that the project development of Leipheim was successful and that we‘re able to help make the security of electricity supply in Germany more robust. An interesting aspect in this project is our digital solution for operating the facility entirely remotely, a real step towards unlocking the power of digitalization.” 

The special grid-related equipment will be installed on the grounds of the former military airbase in Leipheim. Siemens Energy’s scope of supply includes turnkey construction and the O&M agreement as well as an SGT5-4000F gas turbine, an SGen-2000P generator, and the SPPA-T3000 control system.

The company will also provide a system for cooling the intake air and a system for injecting fully desalinated water into the gas turbine.

POWERGEN+ online June features sessions on hydrogen, carbon capture

Featuring EPRI, GTI, Stanford, Southern Co. and more

Registration free and on demand

Siemens Energy’s ROMSC has obtained the ISO certification 27001 and is able to operate power plants remotely. This permits the plant to be operated locally by a two-person team during the day shift, while control and monitoring are handled from Erlangen.

To enable the optimal collaboration with the ROMSC, the local maintenance team is equipped with cutting-edge connected worker technology. Outfitted with a helmet-mounted camera, microphone, and headset, the connected worker can communicate with the remote control center over a secure Internet connection. Modern software solutions that employ speech recognition, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality functions provide additional support.