04-24-2023 BPU RPT 04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A T E R E N E R G Y L I F E RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES P UB LIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: APRIL 24, 2023 SUBJECT: UPDATE ON URGENT TURBINE REPAIRS OF RIVERSIDE ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER UNIT NO. 1 WITH TRANSCANADA TURBINES INC. OF AIRDRIE, CANADA ISSUE: Receive an update on the urgent turbine repairs of Riverside Energy Resource Center Unit No with TransCanada Turbines Inc. of Airdrie, Canada. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities receive an update on the urgent turbine repairs of Riverside Energy Resource Center Unit No. 1. BACKGROUND: The Riverside Energy Resource Center (RERC) consists of four General Electric LM6000 model gas turbine engines that, in total, provide up to 30% of Riverside's summer daily electric power demands. This facility is operated and maintained by RPU Generation division staff. Borescope inspections are performed annually on each turbine industry best practice. These maintenance inspections allow trained technicians to view critical turbine internal components at the facility and assess its overall operating condition. On November 4, 2022, General Electric (GE) conducted the routine annual borescope inspection on RERC Unit 1 and detected a turbine blade in the Low -Pressure Turbine (LPT) section with a missing piece. As a precaution, staff declared Unit 1 unavailable for plant operations until the final evaluation and determination from GE. On November 9, 2022, GE confirmed the turbine blade with the missing piece was outside the allowable limits and recommended the unit remain out -of -service until repairs are completed. The likelihood of the missing blade material traveling downstream causing more damages to other components of the LPT section factored into the decision to pursue the repairs. Turbine maintenance at this level can only be performed at four authorized facilities located in Canada, Germany, Canada, and the United States. Because of the extended repair time and concerns of restoring normal operations before RPU's critical summer peak period, staff immediately initiated the request to obtain approval for urgent repairs from the City Manager and