Thorndon Cook Power
   
Thorndon Cook Power
Thorndon Cook Power
Phú Mỹ 2.2 CCGT Power Plant
  •  

    directors

  • Roger Hudson (Managing Director)

    Roger Hudson
    (Managing Director)

  • John Bottomley (Director)

    John Bottomley
    (Director)

  • Grant Morris (Director)

    Grant Morris
    (Director)

  • Peter Tearne (Director)

    Peter Tearne
    (Director)

  •  

    key team members

  • Chris Taylor (Principal Engineer)

    Chris Taylor
    (Principal Engineer)

  • Claude Bannwarth (Principal Consultant)

    Claude Bannwarth
    (Principal Consultant)

  • Brian Leonard (Principal Engineer)

    Brian Leonard
    (Principal Engineer)

  • Charles Zhang (Senior Engineer)

    Charles Zhang
    (Senior Engineer)

  • directors

  • Roger Hudson (Managing Director)

    Roger Hudson (Managing Director)

    Roger has over 30 years’ experience in geothermal and thermal power generation. He has specialist knowledge of geothermal power plant and steamfield engineering and strong design and project management skills. During his career, he has worked in design, operations, maintenance, commissioning, advisory, and management roles and has a strong multidisciplinary knowledge of all phases of power project development and operation. Roger’s other areas of specialist knowledge include IPP and EPC contracting, engineering economics, steam process engineering and thermodynamics, control system design, computer simulation/modelling and generation planning.

    Roger started his career in Brisbane with the Queensland Electricity Generating Board working in coal fired power stations, followed by 13 years with Geothermal Energy New Zealand Ltd (GENZL) where he was involved in the engineering for many geothermal power plant and steamfield projects throughout the world, including 6 years based in Indonesia.

    Roger’s involvement in his geothermal speciality continued with PB Power following the acquisition of GENZL in 1998 and also broadened to cover the full range of thermal power plant, including biomass, cogeneration, GT/CCGT, and solar plants. Roger has been involved in the cycle selection and optimisation of a wide range of geothermal power plants, including recent Hot Dry Rock developments in Australia. Roger was an industry lecturer at the University of Auckland Geothermal Institute and has also authored chapters on Geothermal Electricity Generation for two international reference books.

    Roger obtained accreditation to the PB Principal Project Manager certification and was General Manager for PB Power’s Australia – NZ business from 2008 – 2010 before transferring to the role of Engineering Manager for the EPC Joint Venture for the 2 x 83MW Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station from 2011 - 2014.

    Roger was elected as a Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ in March 2014 for his contribution to the advancement of engineering practice in the area of design processes for optimisation and application of geothermal steamfield and power generation technology.

    Recent Key Projects

    • Karaha Commissioning and Field Engineering, Indonesia -

      Karaha Commissioning and Field Engineering

      Thorndon Cook provided the services of a FCRS Commissioning Engineer to Hawkins-BCK (the FCRS and BOP EPC subcontractor) and also subsequently Commissioning Manager for the Power Plant and FCRS to GE (the head EPC contractor) for the 32MW Karaha Geothermal project. Thorndon Cook also prepared the Commissioning Procedures and Operation Manuals for the FCRS and delivered the FCRS operator training in Jakarta. Significant field engineering services were also provided as presented under the Project link above.
      karaha-commissioning-and-field-engineering
    • Ngawha OEC 4 Expansion FCRS Process Modelling, New Zealand -

      Ngawha OEC 4 Expansion FCRS Process Modelling

      Thorndon Cook undertook two phase modelling for the original concept proposed for the 31.25MW Ngawha OEC-4 expansion whereby fluid from the production wells would be transported through a 995m long two phase pipeline to a vertical cyclone separator located near the power plant. The Beggs and Brill method was used for modelling the two phase flow regime and pressure loss in the pipeline as this procedure is well suited for calculating two phase flow properties in inclined pipes. The Watson methodology was used to model the formation and properties of slug flow in the piping whereby stratified flow is tested for instability to small disturbances and then analysed in the unstable region to find if slug flow is possible. The modelling indicated that slug flow in the riser to the vertical separator could not be avoided. A horizontal separator located at the production wellpad was recommended as the appropriate solution. Additional services provided included: Optimisation of wellhead, steam and brine pipe sizes. Assistance with cost estimation for potential scope adjustments. Review of Functional Control Description Optimisation of insulation thickness. Review of slug loading. Assistance with concept design for a horizontal separator
      ngawha-oec-4-expansion-fcrs-process-modelling
    • Carwarp Bioenergy Power Plant, Australia - Engineering manager for preparation of epc bid

      Carwarp Bioenergy Power Plant

      The project consisted of a 35.4 MW gross power plant utilising a boiler / steam turbine generator, following the rankine cycle, and fuelled with biomass from agricultural residues in the form of almond shells and hulls, and spent grape marc. Thorndon Cook staff were involved to provide design engineering services through FEED and feasibility stages, preparation of documents for statutory approval and design specifications and evaluation of bids for the construction company through the epc bid phase.
      carwarp-bioenergy-power-plant
    • Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station, New Zealand - Project Director

      Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station

      Our team was significantly involved as part of Parsons Brinckerhoff which formed a Joint Venture (JV) with McConnell Dowell Constructors Limited and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc for the delivery of the EPC (Engineer, Procure, Construct) contract for the 2 x 83 MW Te Mihi power station. Our primary role, within the fully integrated JV, was to deliver the engineering and design for the project with ongoing technical support to the procurement and construction activities. Thorndon Cook staff members also took a lead role during plant commissioning and performance testing. Members of our team were responsible for all the detailed power plant design, including conceptual design, plant optimisation, BOP detailed engineering, performance guarantees, preparation of sub vendor packages, design drawings and documentation, site construction engineering support and commissioning support.
      te-mihi-geothermal-power-station

    Roger can be reached by Email and by phone on +64 21 659 432

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  • John Bottomley (Director)

    John Bottomley (Director)

    John has been a practicing engineer for over 35 years and has extensive experience in all aspects of geothermal development including geothermal resource assessment, engineering, prefeasibility and full bankable feasibility and due diligence assignments as well as experience undertaking owner’s engineer and lenders engineer roles.

    In the field of geothermal engineering John has undertaken financial and economic, feasibility and due diligence studies for proposed and most of the existing major geothermal fields in New Zealand, as well as many in Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Caribbean, and North and South America. He worked for three years in Indonesia on a large geothermal power project (Wayang Windu 110MW).

    John is experienced both in undertaking work and managing projects for resource and well assessment, concept and detailed engineering studies and design, project optimisation, environmental engineering and permitting, H2S abatement systems, cost estimating, financial and economic studies and project planning and scheduling.

    He also has significant experience in site civil/structural engineering supervision and contract administration on civil and industrial projects throughout New Zealand.

    Recent Key Projects

    John can be reached by Email and by phone on +64 21 633 314

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  • Grant Morris (Director)

    Grant Morris (Director)

    Grant has over thirty five years’ experience as a mechanical engineer, primarily in the power industry but also involving industrial gases, oil and gas transmission lines and water infrastructure. He is a thermal power plant specialist and provides consultancy services for Thorndon Cook. Grant’s roles are varied and include lead roles in the preparation of feasibility studies, conceptual and detail designs, bid assessments, project and design management, site engineer and due diligence studies, for projects within New Zealand and overseas.

    Grant’s involvement in geothermal power stretches back to his first experience as an assistant engineer at Wairakei power station in 1978. Since that time he has gained considerable experience in the design, specification and construction and commissioning supervision of geothermal power plant both as Owner’s Engineer and also as part of the EPC contractor’s design team.

    In addition to geothermal power, Grant has taken significant roles in the provision of engineering services relating to many other forms of power generation including hydro, biofuel, gas turbine and coal fired power plant.

    Grant has both the technical, commercial and management skills to have established a strong reputation as a project manager, whether leading a design team assessing geothermal power plant and steamfield modifications in the Philippines or leading an independent technical adviser team in support of an IPO of coal-fired generation assets in China. He has undertaken both home office and site based roles as senior project manager on projects that have often been challenging both because of the nature of the project and also because of the remote geographic locations.

    Recent Key Projects

    Grant can be reached by Email and by phone on +64 21 411 278

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  • Peter Tearne (Director)

    Peter Tearne (Director)

    Peter is an experienced engineer with a proven track record of design, commissioning and technical support within the energy industry. His experience spans all the wider aspects of power plant specification and operation and also as a rotating machinery engineer Peter has specialist experience relating to gas turbines, steam turbines, and reciprocating engines (diesel and gas engines).

    Peter also has experience working as a Control and Instrumentation engineer in design, commissioning and troubleshooting roles. These additional skills and experience enable him to provide engineering services where the scope requires broader multi-disciplinary responsibility.

    Prior to joining Thorndon Cook, Peter had 13 years experience as a Principal Engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff during which time he was involved in all phases of power station design and development (feasibility studies, specification, detailed design, due diligence). Power plant projects included gas turbines, reciprocating engines and steam turbines as the prime mover. He has particular experience in the application of rotating equipment in association with non standard fuels.

    Previous to his employment at Parsons Brinckerhoff, Peter had 20 years experience working for Alstom gas turbines during which time he worked in the design support department and had responsibilities which covered development, commissioning and product support. His final position as technical support manager gave him detailed first hand experience into the range of design, operational problems and failure mechanisms encountered when operating rotating machinery in both industrial and oil and gas environments.

    In addition to the above, Peter has worked on site in a number of different roles including fault investigation, commissioning engineer, commissioning manager and Owners engineer, and also has considerable experience in functional and performance testing both steam and gas turbine based plant.

    Recent Key Projects

    • EDC Geothermal Due Diligence, Philippines -

      EDC Geothermal Due Diligence

      Thorndon Cook (TC) were selected by MacQuarie Investments (MIRA) from an international tender to undertake a large and detailed Technical Due Diligence and Risk Assessment of all of EDC geothermal assets including those in Leyte (232MW Malitbog, 180MW Mahanagdong and 125MW Upper Mahiao), Bacman (140MW), Southern Negros (215MW) and Mindanao (104MW). 
      edc-geothermal-due-diligence
    • Avion OCGT power plant, Philippines -

      Avion OCGT power plant

      Avion power plant consists of 2 x LM6000PC open cycle gas turbines used to supply peaking power. TCP was asked to provide the lead mechanical engineer during the final stages of construction and commissioning. The role was extended during the period on-site to include overall responsibility for commissioning.
      avion-ocgt-power-plant
    • Changi Airport Generation, Singapore -

      Changi Airport Generation

      Feasibility study for the development of an embedded power generation and chilled water facility at Changi airport. The demand for power and cooling is expected to grow significantly as the airport expands and opens a fifth terminal.  The overall aim was for the airport to have the in-house capability of generating all the power and all of the chilled cooling water needed within the airport complex. The preference was to locate the power plant within the airport site and this introduced the need to include an assessment of the legal and practical constraints of constructing and operating a power plant of significant capacity within the boundary of an active airfield. The Technology study covered several options and from a technical perspective the best solution was a medium sized combined cycle power plant augmented by several smaller power plants using reciprocating gas engines.  The power plant configuration was optimised to enable chilled water production using a combination of heat absorption and electric chillers.
      changi-airport-generation
    • Carwarp Bioenergy Power Plant, Australia - Process design and tender specification for epc bid

      Carwarp Bioenergy Power Plant

      The project consisted of a 35.4 MW gross power plant utilising a boiler / steam turbine generator, following the rankine cycle, and fuelled with biomass from agricultural residues in the form of almond shells and hulls, and spent grape marc. Thorndon Cook staff were involved to provide design engineering services through FEED and feasibility stages, preparation of documents for statutory approval and design specifications and evaluation of bids for the construction company through the epc bid phase.
      carwarp-bioenergy-power-plant
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  • key team members

  • Chris Taylor (Principal Engineer)

    Chris Taylor (Principal Engineer)

    Chris is an experienced senior engineer, project manager and business manager with extensive experience in project management, consultancy, operations and construction in power generation. His experience encompasses geothermal, cogeneration, combined cycle and thermal power technologies. He has broad multidiscipline knowledge of thermal power station technology and design, and of project viability and economic evaluation.

    Chris has specialist knowledge of power cycle design and optimization, project development and power plant contracting. Chris has been a business unit executive, technical executive, and a project manager for green-field CCGT BOP design, green-field geothermal power plant developments, plant rehabilitation and commissioning, and design manager for multi discipline steam field projects. Chris has also lectured at the Geothermal Institute on the application of the concept of Exergy to geothermal steam fields and power generation.

    Chris key projects include the development work on the Te Mihi 166MW geothermal power project, covering technology study, siting study, optimizing utilization of geothermal resource on an NPV basis, design optimization, feasibility study, preparation of EPC technical requirements and integration with contract documents. Evaluated tenders and conducted tender negotiations. Chris also led the preliminary engineering of the balance of plant and prepared the overall plant performance test guarantee correction curves.

    Chris has recently managed the BOP detailed design for the EPC contractor for the South Bangkok Replacement Project 2 x 650 MW CCGT in Bangkok.

    Chris obtained accreditation to Parson Brinckerhoff’s Professional Associate and Project Manager qualifications, and recently was certified as a PRINCE2 Practitioner. He has extensive experience in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

    Recent Key Projects

    • Chevron Geothermal Due Diligence, Indonesia, Philippines -

      Chevron Geothermal Due Diligence

      TC was selected by PT Medco through a competitive tender process to undertake a full Technical Due Diligence and Risk Assessment for Medco who were bidding in the Chevron geothermal asset sale programme. The Due Diligence work covered Darajat (271MW), Salak (330MW) and Tiwi/MakBan Chevron assets.
      chevron-geothermal-due-diligence
    • Ngatamariki Mix Plant Design, New Zealand - Project Manager

      Ngatamariki Mix Plant Design

      The geothermal production wells at Mighty River Power’s (MRP) Ngatamariki (NTM) steam field are susceptible to calcite scaling within the well casing, which causes a loss of production. Thorndon Cook was engaged by MRP to undertake the detailed design of a continuous inline mixing plant for calcite inhibition antiscalant to supply well-pad based delivery systems injecting diluted antiscalant into the wells below the flash point. Thorndon Cook delivered the complete detailed design consisting of a set of drawings, construction specifications, tables, schedules and data sheets that comprised the technical documents for MRP’s request for supply and installation tenders.
      ngatamariki-mix-plant-design
    • N2N Geothermal Power Plant Relocation, Philippines - Project Manager / Process Lead / Site Commissioning

      N2N Geothermal Power Plant Relocation

      Members of Thorndon Cook Power were engaged by First Gen/EDC as owner's engineer to provide all engineering support and project management for the dismantling, transportation and re-installation of a 50MW geothermal power plant on the Island of Negros. The work included preparing scope of works and EPC specifications, bid evaluation of proposal by Fuji, design review, site construction and installation management and supervision.
      n2n-geothermal-power-plant-relocation
    • Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station, New Zealand - Process Lead

      Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station

      Our team was significantly involved as part of Parsons Brinckerhoff which formed a Joint Venture (JV) with McConnell Dowell Constructors Limited and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc for the delivery of the EPC (Engineer, Procure, Construct) contract for the 2 x 83 MW Te Mihi power station. Our primary role, within the fully integrated JV, was to deliver the engineering and design for the project with ongoing technical support to the procurement and construction activities. Thorndon Cook staff members also took a lead role during plant commissioning and performance testing. Members of our team were responsible for all the detailed power plant design, including conceptual design, plant optimisation, BOP detailed engineering, performance guarantees, preparation of sub vendor packages, design drawings and documentation, site construction engineering support and commissioning support.
      te-mihi-geothermal-power-station
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  • Claude Bannwarth (Principal Consultant)

    Claude Bannwarth (Principal Consultant)

    Claude is a principal consultant with 35 years of experience in the Energy Sector. He has a technical (MSc Electro-mechanical) and commercial (MBA & Marketing) education and multi-lingual skills (French native, English, German, Spanish, Dutch).

    Claude's original experience was in the CCGT arena where he progressively held project management and commercial positions with ALSTOM, GE, and SULZER (Projects in the range 50 to 300 MW, most turnkey, mainly in Europe, Asia (Thailand, China) and the Middle East).

    He moved to the Geothermal Industry in 2001 and first held a Project Management and Business Development role with CFG/BRGM in France (Project Development and feasibility studies for the 40 MW Bouillante 3 project and the Dominica project, i.e. 15 + 100 MW in 2 phases).

    Claude then joined PB Power in New Zealand in 2007 and since that time has been involved in Due Diligence and Lender Engineer roles and market and resource reviews/feasibility studies for new developments, specializing in project economics, risk assessment and implementation progress reviews.

    In more recent times Claude has expanded his skills into a strategic consulting role with focus on geothermal resource and market potential reviews in New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Malaysia, Bolivia, Croatia and UK and due diligence on existing assets in Indonesia, the Philippines and USA.

    Recent Key Projects

    • Rantau Dedap 98 MW Geothermal power plant- Indonesia, Indonesia - Project Manager

      Rantau Dedap 98 MW Geothermal power plant- Indonesia

      Thorndon Cook was engaged in 2017 by Thai Mott MacDonald Ltd to be part of the Lender Technical Advisory (LTA) team. Before financial closure, Thorndon Cook scope covered the review of drilling and EPC technical and financial documents, identifying project risks and possible mitigation. Since financial closure Thorndon Cook scope includes construction management services, reviewing project implementation progress and performing quarterly site visits.  Thorndon Cook will also witness the final acceptance tests on behalf of the lenders.
      rantau-dedap-98-mw-geothermal-power-plant--indonesia
    • ENGIE Laborelec Operation and Maintenance Guidelines, Belgium -

      ENGIE Laborelec Operation and Maintenance Guidelines

      TCP was engaged by Laborelec from Belgium (part of Engie group) to prepare a comprehensive guideline report on operation and maintenance best practice and typical issues specific to geothermal power plants. The scope of work included geothermal steamfield and power plant operating and maintenance best practice, schedules, staffing, Opex and Capex costs as well as health and safety plans.
      engie-laborelec-operation-and-maintenance-guidelines
    • Muara Labuh 85 MW Geothermal Power Plant - Indonesia, Indonesia - Lender Technical Adviser

      Muara Labuh 85 MW Geothermal Power Plant - Indonesia

      Thorndon Cook was engaged in 2016 by Thai Mott MacDonald Ltd to be part of the Lender Technical Advisory (LTA) team. Before financial closure, Thorndon Cook scope included a high level review of the drilling and EPC technical and financial documents. Following financial closure Thorndon Cook scope included the project implementation and EPC contractor Before financial closure, Thorndon Cook scope covered the review of drilling and EPC technical and financial documents, identifying project risks and possible mitigation. Since financial closure Thorndon Cook scope includes construction management services, reviewing project implementation progress and performing quarterly site visits.
      muara-labuh-85mw-geothermal-power-plant---indonesia
    • Wayang Windu Assets Valuation, Indonesia - Project Manager

      Wayang Windu Assets Valuation

      TCP was engaged as technical advisor by EGCO Thailand to perform an independent asset valuation of the two 110 MW units commissioned in 2000 and 2009. The assignment consisted in a high level approach to evaluate the likely replacement cost of the two units at the time of the acquisition by EGCO of asset shares from Star Energy in July 2014.
      wayang-windu-assets-valuation
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  • Brian Leonard (Principal Engineer)

    Brian Leonard (Principal Engineer)

    Brian is a senior electrical engineer with 45 years’ experience in the power industry in NZ and overseas, with the design, procurement, construction and commissioning phases of oil, gas & coal fired thermal power stations (PS), geothermal and hydro PS, plus grid related works on substations (SS), transmission lines, grid connection power purchase agreements (PPA) and power system studies.

    He joined NZED in 1973 and worked on geothermal, oil and coal fired PS, hydro PS and SS projects, O&M on NZ grid sub-transmission assets and a project for the automation and remote control of the North Island hydro PS.

    Brian joined SMEC in 1994 and worked on the Pergau hydroelectric project (HEP) in Malaysia, concept design of the Ta Sang low head and high head HEP in Myanmar, then was assigned to UNDP for the Electricity Network Rehabilitation Programme (ENRP), in Northern Iraq, for the refurbishment of 2 hydropower stations (HPS) and re-construction of the local HV electricity grid.

    He joined PB in 2003 for the refurbishment of the Cahora Bassa HPS in Mozambique. He joined NTPC in 2008 for construction of Nam Theun 2 HEP in Lao PDR and PPA management. He re-joined PB in NZ in 2010 for the Victorian Desalination plant project in Australia, then during 2011-2013 was lead electrical design engineer for the MSP JV, EPC contractor for the Te Mihi geothermal project, then was site electrical engineer on the Nasulo geothermal PS and the Burgos Wind farm SS projects in the Philippines.

    With TC, Brian worked 2016 & 2017 in Sarawak, Malaysia, on secondment to NorPower Sdn Bhd (NP), for the design of new SS for Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) and the BLP6 EPC contract tender evaluation for Baleh HEP powerhouse and major plant. He provides NP continuing services from NZ, for review of EPC contractor designs for ongoing SEB SS projects and did a recent site visit for a major SS pre-energisation inspection.

    Recent Key Projects

    • N2N Geothermal Power Plant Relocation, Philippines - Electrical Lead / Site Commissioning

      N2N Geothermal Power Plant Relocation

      Members of Thorndon Cook Power were engaged by First Gen/EDC as owner's engineer to provide all engineering support and project management for the dismantling, transportation and re-installation of a 50MW geothermal power plant on the Island of Negros. The work included preparing scope of works and EPC specifications, bid evaluation of proposal by Fuji, design review, site construction and installation management and supervision.
      n2n-geothermal-power-plant-relocation
    • Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station, New Zealand - Electrical Lead

      Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station

      Our team was significantly involved as part of Parsons Brinckerhoff which formed a Joint Venture (JV) with McConnell Dowell Constructors Limited and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc for the delivery of the EPC (Engineer, Procure, Construct) contract for the 2 x 83 MW Te Mihi power station. Our primary role, within the fully integrated JV, was to deliver the engineering and design for the project with ongoing technical support to the procurement and construction activities. Thorndon Cook staff members also took a lead role during plant commissioning and performance testing. Members of our team were responsible for all the detailed power plant design, including conceptual design, plant optimisation, BOP detailed engineering, performance guarantees, preparation of sub vendor packages, design drawings and documentation, site construction engineering support and commissioning support.
      te-mihi-geothermal-power-station
    • Burgos Wind Farm, Philippines - Senior Electrical Engineer

      Burgos Wind Farm

      A Thorndon Cook member was engaged by the Burgos Wind Farm Wind Power Corporation (“EBWPC”) on the electrical design review for the 115 /34.5 kV substation for the 150 MW wind energy project, that was built at Burgos, Ilocos Norte, Luzon, Philippines. The wind farm comprises 50 off 3 MW Vestas wind turbines located on a 650 ha coastal site. The 50 wind turbines are connected on a 34.5 kV radial system with 5 feeders connecting the turbines to the Burgos 115/34.5 kV substation at the wind farm site. A 42 kilometer single circuit 115kV transmission line connects to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (“NGCP”) Laoag substation for connection to the rest of the Luzon grid.
      burgos-wind-farm
    • Victorian Desalination Project, Australia - Electrical Engineering transfer and booster pumping stations

      Victorian Desalination Project

      The Victorian Desalination Plant (VDP) was built as a state asset for the Victorian State Government to provide additional water supply capacity to Melbourne city and other parts of Victoria, especially in dry years. The plant is managed and operated by Aquasure under a 30 year contract. Aquasure had won the contract to build and operate the VDP in a competitive bidding process. At the end of the 30 year contract period, Aquasure will hand over the VDP to the State Government, debt free and in full working order. Aquasure produces desalinated water at the request of the State Government and delivers the water to Melbourne Water. The VDP is located at Wonthaggi, on the coast, south-east of Melbourne. The desalinated water is then pumped via an 84 km pipeline from the VDP to Melbourne city, for delivery to Melbourne Water via a transfer pumping station, located at the VDP plant and a booster pumping station located about 70 km from the VDP.
      victorian-desalination-project
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  • Charles Zhang (Senior Engineer)

    Charles Zhang (Senior Engineer)

    Charles is a mechanical engineer with extensive experience in thermal power generation in NZ and China. He is bilingual, speaking both Mandarin Chinese and English. He specializes in geothermal steam field, power plant, steam turbines, condensing and feed water heating plant, and NCG extraction system etc. Charles has gained hands-on experience in project management, thermal systems, steam turbines and piping. This includes the study of thermal systems and turbine thermal fluid characteristics and mechanics to improve their efficiency and reliability, process engineering and piping system engineering, and computer simulation and cycle optimization. He is also experienced in the provision of trouble-shooting, fault investigation and technical support services for thermal power plants.

    Charles started his career with his ME degree in 1987 as a mechanical engineer with TPRI in China, during which time he gained experience of thermal systems and steam turbines of power plants. Charles also has advanced software programming skills gained from 5 years’ experience as a computer programmer which gives him the ability to perform complex process modelling, computer simulation and cycle optimization work.

    Since he joined Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2008, Charles has broadened his speciality to include geothermal power generation and he has been involved in due diligence, feasibility study, FEED, steamfield design and power plant design, piping design and support design and process engineering.

    Charles is familiar with engineering software packages such as: AutoPipe, NozzlePRO, Steam Pro & Steam Master, GT Pro & GT Master etc.

    Recent Key Projects

    • Rainbow Power Project, New Zealand - Project Manager / Geothermal Engineer

      Rainbow Power Project

      Rainbow Holdings (RH) has purchased the geothermal site nearby Poihipi power station and the Wairakei geothermal field in Taupo, New Zealand. One 2,031-metre well was completed in 2006 and some other production infrastructure is in place. RH is aiming to have a 60 MW geothermal plant operating in 2016. The development proposal would involve the drilling of a number of further production wells and reinjection wells. The members of Thorndon Cook Power were engaged as the developer’s engineer to assist RH by providing well test management and supervision, assessment of the well test results, and recommendations based on this assessment and the well history. Thorndon Cook Power staff were also requested to provide review of the previous works undertaken by Glucina & Associates, and finally provide the recommendations of this project development.
      rainbow-power-project
    • Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station, New Zealand - Senior Mechanical Engineer

      Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station

      Our team was significantly involved as part of Parsons Brinckerhoff which formed a Joint Venture (JV) with McConnell Dowell Constructors Limited and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc for the delivery of the EPC (Engineer, Procure, Construct) contract for the 2 x 83 MW Te Mihi power station. Our primary role, within the fully integrated JV, was to deliver the engineering and design for the project with ongoing technical support to the procurement and construction activities. Thorndon Cook staff members also took a lead role during plant commissioning and performance testing. Members of our team were responsible for all the detailed power plant design, including conceptual design, plant optimisation, BOP detailed engineering, performance guarantees, preparation of sub vendor packages, design drawings and documentation, site construction engineering support and commissioning support.
      te-mihi-geothermal-power-station
    • KEPCO Cebu Unit 2 I/LP Steam Turbine, Root Investigation of Rotor Bow, Philippines - Process and Mechanical Engineer

      KEPCO Cebu Unit 2 I/LP Steam Turbine, Root Investigation of Rotor Bow

      The Cebu Power Plant is a 2 x 103 MW nominal coal fired electricity generating station. The turbine manufacturer is Fuji Electric. The turbine was manufactured in Kawasaki, Japan. The turbine design is based on a design originally licensed from Siemens. Thorndon Cook Power staff was engaged by Crawford & Co (Manila) to carry out a root cause analysis of the turbine rotor bow failure.
      kepco-cebu-unit-2-ilp-steam-turbine-root-investi
    • Patuha Front End Engineering Design (FEED), Indonesia - Geothermal Engineering

      Patuha Front End Engineering Design (FEED)

      From well output and meteorological data Thorndon Cook Power staff were involved with the development of a model to optimise the sizing of critical steamfield and power plant components using its proprietary in-house geothermal plant optimisation and performance software. The outputs from the model were then used to refine plant layouts and provide basic specifications for those components. On completion of the FEED, EPC technical specifications were prepared for both the steam field and power plant. By such optimisation, we were able to add at least a further 2MW generation from more efficient use of the resource.
      patuha-front-end-engineering-design-feed
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