Generation and transmission cooperatives with significant wind penetration—and eventually penetration of solar PV—in their service territories or the markets in which they operate may need to perform cyclic operations. Today’s steam turbines were designed for baseload operation, not cyclic operation. Multiple cooling and heating cycles can lead to several steam turbine core problems, and if left unchecked, these problems can lead to outages.
This two-part Surveillance article series is based on the CEATI Thermal Generation Interest Group's report Best Practice Guidelines for the Operation of Steam Turbines and Auxiliary Plants.
