CalEnergy Generation & Geothermal Pipe Replacement

Mechanical Construction & Geothermal Pipe Replacement

VALUE DELIVERED

Improved safety and reliability; fast-track completion; minimal interruption of a key clean energy source; reduced reliance on fossil fuels.

MECHANICAL SERVICES OBJECTIVES

To replace a worn-water/geothermal pipeline.

MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS

This client selected University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors (UMEC) to replace a worn-out geothermal pipeline that delivers heated water to an electric power generation plant. Working to minimize downtime, company crews removed and replaced 3,300 linear feet of 24-inch, schedule 80 carbon steel pipe. At the same time, the company put in a separate 2,400-foot auxiliary line of the same material. Though the mechanical construction project required 249 separate 24-inch welds and 14,000 man-hours, UMEC finished this exacting project in just 22 days.

FACILITY BACKGROUND

CalEnergy Generation was founded in 1971 to provide consulting and development services for geothermal power production facilities in North America. During the late 1970s it began the transition from a service provider to an independent power producer. Today, it has operations in the United States and the Philippines, including 10 that extract energy from the super-heated water beneath Southern California’s Imperial Valley.