Energy security represents one of Taiwan’s most pressing challenges. With virtually no domestic fossil fuel resources and limited renewable energy potential relative to its needs, the island imports approximately 98% of its energy. The semiconductor fabrication plants that drive the economy are particularly energy-intensive, requiring uninterrupted power supplies to maintain their precision manufacturing processes. Any disruption in electricity can halt production lines worth billions of dollars, making grid stability and efficient power generation not merely infrastructure concerns but fundamental pillars of Taiwan’s economic competitiveness.
This reality has driven the island to pursue cutting-edge power generation technologies, including advanced combined cycle plants that can deliver maximum efficiency from imported natural gas. One such plant, the Sun Ba II facility, entered commercial operation in May 2025. It was recently recognized as a 2025 POWER Top Plant award winner.
“That this project got recognized with your power plant award, I think this is really a nice story and a nice finish I would never have expected when I came here,” Thomas Ringmann, director of Business Development with Siemens Energy, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.
Sun Ba II is a 2 x 1 multi-shaft configuration, which means there are two gas turbines and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) serving one steam turbine. The gas turbines and the steam turbine each have their own generators. “We have used in this project our latest and biggest gas turbine—the SGT-9000HL,” Ringmann explained. “The steam turbine is a SST-5000, so that’s a triple-pressure steam turbine with a combined HP [high-pressure] and IP [intermediate-pressure] turbine, and a dual-flow LP [low-pressure] turbine. Also, we had an air-cooled condenser, condensing the steam from that steam turbine, and we had a three-pressure reheat HRSG, which was of Benson-type technology.”
The project began at the peak of the COVID pandemic, which presented a large challenge. “Every project meeting, every design meeting, every coordination meeting were all done online,” Andy Chang, project manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everything was done online, because nobody can travel. We just had to figure this out.”
Effective collaboration among project partners was a key to success. “The collaboration is not only with our consortium partner—CTCI, an EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] company—but actually with also the customer, Sun Ba Power,” Ewen Chi, sales manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everybody has the same target, which is to bring power on grid as soon as possible. So, with this same-boat mentality—everybody sitting in the same boat and rowing toward the target—actually helped the project to be successful and to overcome many challenges.” Chang agreed that on-time completion was only possible with all parties maintaining a collaborative spirit.
“This power plant right now is predominantly running on baseload operation,” Ringmann reported. “So, given that high grade of operations along with a high gas price, the efficiency of our turbines actually is a key contributor to an economic value of the customer.”
Meanwhile, the lessons learned from this first deployment of HL technology in Taiwan are being applied to a new project. Siemens Energy and CTCI are now collaborating on the Kuo Kuang II power plant, which is under construction in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. “Because we have this momentum and this mentality from Sun Ba II execution, now each side, they decided that they will keep their core team member from both sides, and they will continue to cherish this partnership with the next project,” Chang reported.
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Energy security represents one of Taiwan’s most pressing challenges. With virtually no domestic fossil fuel resources and limited renewable energy potential relative to its needs, the island imports approximately 98% of its energy. The semiconductor fabrication plants that drive the economy are particularly energy-intensive, requiring uninterrupted power supplies to maintain their precision manufacturing processes. Any disruption in electricity can halt production lines worth billions of dollars, making grid stability and efficient power generation not merely infrastructure concerns but fundamental pillars of Taiwan’s economic competitiveness.
This reality has driven the island to pursue cutting-edge power generation technologies, including advanced combined cycle plants that can deliver maximum efficiency from imported natural gas. One such plant, the Sun Ba II facility, entered commercial operation in May 2025. It was recently recognized as a 2025 POWER Top Plant award winner.
“That this project got recognized with your power plant award, I think this is really a nice story and a nice finish I would never have expected when I came here,” Thomas Ringmann, director of Business Development with Siemens Energy, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.
Sun Ba II is a 2 x 1 multi-shaft configuration, which means there are two gas turbines and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) serving one steam turbine. The gas turbines and the steam turbine each have their own generators. “We have used in this project our latest and biggest gas turbine—the SGT-9000HL,” Ringmann explained. “The steam turbine is a SST-5000, so that’s a triple-pressure steam turbine with a combined HP [high-pressure] and IP [intermediate-pressure] turbine, and a dual-flow LP [low-pressure] turbine. Also, we had an air-cooled condenser, condensing the steam from that steam turbine, and we had a three-pressure reheat HRSG, which was of Benson-type technology.”
The project began at the peak of the COVID pandemic, which presented a large challenge. “Every project meeting, every design meeting, every coordination meeting were all done online,” Andy Chang, project manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everything was done online, because nobody can travel. We just had to figure this out.”
Effective collaboration among project partners was a key to success. “The collaboration is not only with our consortium partner—CTCI, an EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] company—but actually with also the customer, Sun Ba Power,” Ewen Chi, sales manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everybody has the same target, which is to bring power on grid as soon as possible. So, with this same-boat mentality—everybody sitting in the same boat and rowing toward the target—actually helped the project to be successful and to overcome many challenges.” Chang agreed that on-time completion was only possible with all parties maintaining a collaborative spirit.
“This power plant right now is predominantly running on baseload operation,” Ringmann reported. “So, given that high grade of operations along with a high gas price, the efficiency of our turbines actually is a key contributor to an economic value of the customer.”
Meanwhile, the lessons learned from this first deployment of HL technology in Taiwan are being applied to a new project. Siemens Energy and CTCI are now collaborating on the Kuo Kuang II power plant, which is under construction in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. “Because we have this momentum and this mentality from Sun Ba II execution, now each side, they decided that they will keep their core team member from both sides, and they will continue to cherish this partnership with the next project,” Chang reported.
187. TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear Power Project: Where Things Stand Today
The POWER Podcast
23 minutes 9 seconds
7 months ago
187. TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear Power Project: Where Things Stand Today
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has for many years been evaluating emerging nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, as part of technology innovation efforts aimed at developing the energy system of the future. TVA—the largest public power provider in the U.S., serving more than 10 million people in parts of seven states—currently operates seven reactors at three nuclear power plants: Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, and Watts Bar. Meanwhile, it’s also been investing in the exploration of new nuclear technology by pursuing small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Clinch River Nuclear (CRN) site in Tennessee.
“TVA does have a very diverse energy portfolio, including the third-largest nuclear fleet [in the U.S.],” Greg Boerschig, TVA’s vice president for the Clinch River project, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “Our nuclear power plants provide about 40% of our electricity generated at TVA. So, this Clinch River project and our new nuclear program is building on a long history of excellence in nuclear at the Tennessee Valley.”
TVA completed an extensive site selection process before choosing the CRN site as the preferred location for its first SMR. The CRN site was originally the site of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor project in the early 1980s. Extensive grading and excavation disturbed approximately 240 acres on the project site before the project was terminated. Upon termination of the project, the site was redressed and returned to an environmentally acceptable condition.
The CRN property is approximately 1,200 acres of land located on the northern bank of the Clinch River arm of the Watts Bar Reservoir in Oak Ridge, Roane County, Tennessee. The CRN site has a number of significant advantages, which include two existing power lines that cross the site, easy access off of Tennessee State Route 58, and the fact that it is a brownfield site previously disturbed and characterized as a part of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor project.
The Oak Ridge area is also noted to have a skilled local workforce, including many people familiar with the complexities of nuclear work. “The community acceptance here is really just phenomenal,” said Boerschig. “The community is very educated and very well informed.”
TVA began exploring advanced nuclear technologies in 2010. In 2016, it submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for an Early Site Permit for one or more SMRs with a total combined generating capacity not to exceed 800 MW of electricity for the CRN site. In December 2019, TVA became the first utility in the nation to successfully obtain approval for an Early Site Permit from the NRC to potentially construct and operate SMRs at the site. While the decision to potentially build SMRs is an ongoing discussion as part of the asset strategy for TVA’s future generation portfolio, significant investments have been made in the Clinch River project with the goal of moving it forward.
OPG has a BWRX-300 project well underway at its Darlington New Nuclear Project site in Clarington, Ontario, with construction expected to be complete by the end of 2028. While OPG is developing its project in parallel with the design process, TVA expects to wait for more design maturity before launching its CRN project. “As far as the standard design is concerned, we’re at the same pace, but overall, their project is about two years in front of ours,” said Boerschig. “And that’s by design—they are the lead plant for this effort.”
In the meantime, there are two primary items on TVA’s to-do list. “Right now, the two biggest things that we have on our list are completing the standard design work, and then the construction permit application,” Boerschig said, noting the standard design is “somewhere north of 75% complete” and that TVA’s plan is to submit the construction permit application “sometime around mid-year of this year.”
The POWER Podcast
Energy security represents one of Taiwan’s most pressing challenges. With virtually no domestic fossil fuel resources and limited renewable energy potential relative to its needs, the island imports approximately 98% of its energy. The semiconductor fabrication plants that drive the economy are particularly energy-intensive, requiring uninterrupted power supplies to maintain their precision manufacturing processes. Any disruption in electricity can halt production lines worth billions of dollars, making grid stability and efficient power generation not merely infrastructure concerns but fundamental pillars of Taiwan’s economic competitiveness.
This reality has driven the island to pursue cutting-edge power generation technologies, including advanced combined cycle plants that can deliver maximum efficiency from imported natural gas. One such plant, the Sun Ba II facility, entered commercial operation in May 2025. It was recently recognized as a 2025 POWER Top Plant award winner.
“That this project got recognized with your power plant award, I think this is really a nice story and a nice finish I would never have expected when I came here,” Thomas Ringmann, director of Business Development with Siemens Energy, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.
Sun Ba II is a 2 x 1 multi-shaft configuration, which means there are two gas turbines and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) serving one steam turbine. The gas turbines and the steam turbine each have their own generators. “We have used in this project our latest and biggest gas turbine—the SGT-9000HL,” Ringmann explained. “The steam turbine is a SST-5000, so that’s a triple-pressure steam turbine with a combined HP [high-pressure] and IP [intermediate-pressure] turbine, and a dual-flow LP [low-pressure] turbine. Also, we had an air-cooled condenser, condensing the steam from that steam turbine, and we had a three-pressure reheat HRSG, which was of Benson-type technology.”
The project began at the peak of the COVID pandemic, which presented a large challenge. “Every project meeting, every design meeting, every coordination meeting were all done online,” Andy Chang, project manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everything was done online, because nobody can travel. We just had to figure this out.”
Effective collaboration among project partners was a key to success. “The collaboration is not only with our consortium partner—CTCI, an EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] company—but actually with also the customer, Sun Ba Power,” Ewen Chi, sales manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everybody has the same target, which is to bring power on grid as soon as possible. So, with this same-boat mentality—everybody sitting in the same boat and rowing toward the target—actually helped the project to be successful and to overcome many challenges.” Chang agreed that on-time completion was only possible with all parties maintaining a collaborative spirit.
“This power plant right now is predominantly running on baseload operation,” Ringmann reported. “So, given that high grade of operations along with a high gas price, the efficiency of our turbines actually is a key contributor to an economic value of the customer.”
Meanwhile, the lessons learned from this first deployment of HL technology in Taiwan are being applied to a new project. Siemens Energy and CTCI are now collaborating on the Kuo Kuang II power plant, which is under construction in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. “Because we have this momentum and this mentality from Sun Ba II execution, now each side, they decided that they will keep their core team member from both sides, and they will continue to cherish this partnership with the next project,” Chang reported.
