A&J Ekstroms international reputation and advanced technology secures economiser contract for Australia’s largest power station
A&J Ekstroms beat significant international competition, including bidders from China and Australasia, to win the contract for two retrofit economisers at one of Australia’s largest power stations.

Eraring Power Station, at 2,640MW Australia’s equal largest, operates four 660-megawatt generating units and is almost totally automated. Entering service in 1982/83, the plant has been generating for over 25 years and was reaching the end of its initial service life. The new economisers are part of a plan to extend the plant’s lifespan and increase its output.

Doosan Babcock, the main contractor for the project, aims to extend the lifespan of the plant by a further 25 years, with an increase in output from the current 660MW up to 750MW.

Starting with the first of the four power generation units in March 2010, the plan is to renovate all the units, one by one, at six-month intervals, with units one and two being completed by the end of 2010.

Within the initial stages of the project, two of the four generating units are to be fitted with new economisers. The design and finned tubing for these units will be provided by Ekstroms of Sweden with manufacture and assembly of components carried out in the UK by sister company A&J Fabtech. The project will be led by A&J Ekstroms, who secured the contract with Doosan Babcock.


The economiser design will incorporate the latest, class-leading welded gill, finned tubing from Ekstroms, fabricated into the required boiler sets at the purpose-built A&J Fabtech facility in the UK. Designed and fabricated for economical containerised shipping to Australia (thirty x 20ft open-topped containers per boiler set) and ease of assembly once on site, the first of the two units will leave the A&J factory in February 2010 with the second unit following in July.

This contract represents a significant business success for the A&J Ekstroms partnership, recognising that the company’s combined expertise in economiser design and manufacture far outweighs the arguments for local or low-cost far eastern supply when performance and operational longevity are key requirements.