HMS Prince of Wales Powers Ahead
MT30 Gas Turbine Alternator lifted into the U.K. Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (Photo: John Linton)
Aft Gas Turbine Installation on the Prince of Wales QEC Aircraft Carrier. Rolls Royce Turbiine is installed, followed by the Alternator. (Photo: John Linton)
(Photo: John Linton)
The second MT30 Gas Turbine Alternator (GTA) has been installed into the U.K. Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, at Rosyth, the Aircraft Carrier Alliance reported.
Generating 36 megawatts (around 50,000 horsepower), the power-dense Rolls-Royce MT30 marine gas turbine is key for naval ships where high power occupying minimum space is essential. Each 120-metric-ton GTA package consists of a GE supplied alternator coupled to a Rolls-Royce supplied MT30 Gas Turbine contained within an enclosure.
Two MT30s, the first of which was installed in March, are installed in each ship and will provide two thirds of the 109 megawatts needed to power the 65,000-metric-ton ships – enough energy to power a town the size of Swindon.
Angus Holt, Delivery Director, HMS Prince of Wales, said, “It was only three weeks ago that the Aircraft Carrier Alliance achieved a U.K. record when 26,500 metric tons of the forward half of the ship was mechanically skidded back to the rear of the vessel. Now to have successfully lifted, for the second time, the most powerful engine in the Royal Navy onto the biggest ship ever built for the Royal Navy, using one of the biggest capacity gantry cranes in Europe, symbolizes the scale and pace at which the program is moving.”
The installation involved the lifting of the MT30 gas turbine and associated ancillary equipment housed in a steel package known as the gas turbine enclosure onto the ship structure. With the enclosure in place, the large alternator, which is driven by the gas turbine to produce electrical power, was then hoisted into place. Once operational, the GTAs will supply HV power to the four propulsion motors as well as the 13 ship service transformers. These transformers distribute LV power to the weapons systems, mission systems equipment and navigation systems, as well as power to the hotel services required to run the QE Class.
The aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the Ministry of Defense.
According to the shipbuilder, the Queen Elizabeth Class will be the centerpiece of Britain’s defense capability for the 21st century. Each 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier will provide the armed forces with a four-acre military operating base, which can travel up to 500 miles per day to be deployed anywhere around the world. Operating the Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II jets and a number of types of helicopter, the QE Class will be versatile enough to be used across the full spectrum of military activity from warfighting to providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
