Powerplant Specialists Gets $5.8 Million Contract

Powerplant Specialists, Inc. of Costa Mesa has been awarded a $5.8 million contract by Southern California Edison, Inc. to install certain systems as part of a $16-million to $18-million project to increase efficiency at a 750-megawatt boiler near Oxnard.

The project would involve installation of 80 tons of piping and valves at Unit 2 of SCE’s Ormond Beach Generating Station, creating a steam bypass system that will enable the generator to operate efficiently at a 5%-10% load, said Richard Engel, PSI president.

“Over a two- to three-year period, it should save the rate payer many times the amount of installation,” he said, adding that the project is scheduled for completion in March. The contract is PSI’s second with SCE, the first involving a similar project valued at $1 million in Redondo Beach.

“We are looking forward to being part of one of the largest retrofit projects undertaken by SCE as part of their continuing program to increase power plant operating efficiencies,” said Gerald Johansen, PSI executive vice president and project manager.

PSI is a mechanical maintenance and construction contractor working internationally on utility and heavy industrial projects. The four-year-old company also is upgrading nuclear- and fossil fuel-powered generating stations in Chattanooga, Tenn., and in Korea.