In recognition of its continued and persistent commitment to safety, CH2M HILL, a global full-service consulting, design, construction, and operations firm, has been awarded the 2010 Energy EPC Excellence Award for EHS (Environmental, Health, Safety) Excellence by GE Energy for performance on the 630 megawatt Darling Downs Power Station Project.
“This award signifies not only CH2M HILL’s dedication to safety but our ability to live up to our commitment in execution under diverse and challenging conditions,” said Daniel Baublis, CH2M HILL power vice president, who accepted the award on behalf of CH2M HILL and the Darling Downs team from John Lavalle and Magued Eldaief of GE Energy.
“The Darling Downs Power Station project delivered a very solid safety performance”, stated Andrew Stock Executive General Manager, Major Development Projects for Origin. “The Darling Downs Power Station project achieved a Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate of 5.5 [TRIFR = Recordable Incidents per 1,000,000 hours], bettering Origin’s internal safety performance target. The safety performance achieved across the entire project was Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate of 0 which is a remarkable feat by anyone’s standard. I would like to particularly acknowledge what was truly a collaborative effort from all those involved in bringing this project to fruition, across both employee and contractor areas.”
In partnership with GE Energy, CH2M HILL served as the engineer, procurement, construction and commissioning contractor for Origin Energy’s Darling Downs Power Station, one of Australia’s most efficient baseload gas-fired power stations, capable of supplying enough energy to power more than 400,000 Queensland homes each dayi.
By using the latest air-cooled technology, Darling Downs will use less than three per cent of the water of a conventional water-cooled, coal-fired power station. The technology employed in the Darling Downs Power Station’s design and construction will cut annual water use to around 200 megalitres compared to more than 8,500 megalitres for a conventional water cooled coal-fired power stations.
The power station is Australia’s largest combined cycle gas-fired power station and will emit less than half of the greenhouse gas of a typical water-cooled coal-fired power station of the same capacity.
CH2M HILL performed the engineering, design and procurement of the “balance of plant” equipment for the project, integrating with three GE-supplied Frame 9E gas turbine generators, a GE C7 steam turbine generator and three heat recovery steam generators.
“CH2M HILL is proud to have partnered with Origin Energy and GE Energy on this iconic project to provide the residents of Queensland with an electricity solution that is secure, efficient and reliable, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Don Zabilansky, CH2M HILL Power Business Group President. “Projects such as Darling Downs demonstrate the increasing connectivity between energy, water and climate change, and how the public and private sector can join together to develop innovative solutions that will improve the health of our planet.”
CH2M HILL’s Power Group has helped clients with more than 25,000 MW of power generation, working with various technologies and power plants, including coal/integrated gasification, combined-cycle, simple-cycle, clean air, alternative/waste fuels, renewables and cogeneration projects. The firm’s full- scope EPC services help clients craft long-term strategies while addressing ongoing market challenges-unpredictable and changing electricity demand, transmission capacity constraints, changing environmental regulations and policies, aging infrastructure, outdated technologies, water constraints, and fuel diversification.
Headquartered in Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations and program management for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. With $6.3 billion in revenue and 23,500 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2010). The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of water, transportation, environmental, energy and power, and facilities and infrastructure. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer. Visit www.ch2mhill.com.
