Under a contract for availability (CfA), Sulzer is providing maintenance and continued support of the boiler feed pumps at EDF Energy's Heysham 2 nuclear plant, near Morecambe in the UK.
The contract for availability focuses on minimising downtime for the boiler feed pumps, which were manufactured by Sulzer.
Sulzer says that applying a preventative maintenance strategy to the equipment reduces the risk of service issues and promotes continued productivity, which is beneficial to both companies. “The boiler feed pumps have a direct impact on the amount of energy generated by the power station. Therefore, if the pumps perform to expectation and annual energy output is on target, then there is a benefit for both sides of the partnership,” said Jerry Wood, Power Sales Manager UK & Ireland for Sulzer. “The benefit of this contract for the generating plant is reliability. From our perspective, Sulzer maintains a constant presence on site, ensuring that other influences do not impact on the performance of the boiler feed pumps.” Sulzer has an engineer permanently on site to manage the day-to-day operation of the contract and to work with the maintenance team, as well as offering expert advice on other pumping assets. The facility also has access to expert technical support from the Sulzer pump manufacturing facility, which can mobilize field service engineers at very short notice to assist with any immediate issues outside of the contract. Sulzer was originally awarded a maintenance contract in 2006 to support the boiler feed pumps. Since then the contract has been reviewed and the scope has been expanded to include additional pumps. The renewed contract was signed last year and is expected to run for the next five years, with a review every 12 months. EDF Energy operates eight nuclear power stations in the UK.
