Performance improvement and energy saving potential of internal combustion engines in large-scale power generation

Abstract

Thermal power stations supply the majority of electricity demand in Sri Lanka. According to eEB's statistics for year 2004, more than 63% of the total annual energy demand was supplied by thermal plants, which amounted to 5,080GWh. By that year, the total installed capacity of Thermal power plants was 1,073MW, with the internal combustion (IC) engines having a share of 543MW. In terms of the number of operating hours, the Ie engines are preferred to Gas turbines due to fuel economy. In total, eEB had spent nearly 20 billion rupees to fuel its thermal power plants during the year 2004. Today the fuel costs are even higher. A 1% improvement in efficiency of all thermal power plants in Sri Lanka would return a saving of approximately 500milion rupees a year.