TAURON Ciepło builds a CHP unit at Tychy generation plant. The 50 MWe / 86 MWt unit will produce heat and electricity in highly effective cogeneration. The ceremony for laying of the foundation stone for the PLN 618 million worth investment took place on 29 March and was participated by, among others, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister Elżbieta Bieńkowska.
- The unit that will be commissioned in Tychy in 2016 will be hard-coal based, highly effective and compliant with ecological standards. Thanks to such investments, in 2020 we are going to have state-of-the-art generation capacity, in line with European standards. Within 6 years, at the cost of PLN 30 billion, we will build units of 5 thousand MW capacity in total. It is approx. 13% of Poland’s demand for power – said Włodzimierz Karpiński, Deputy Prime Minister.
Works related to construction of the unit begun in December 2013. So far, the main foundation of the fluidized bed boiler has been completed. According to schedule, next stage will include assembly of the boiler room’s steel structure and works related to construction of foundation for turbine and engine room.
The investment constitutes the second stage of capacity construction project implemented by TAURON Ciepło (Heat segment) at the Tychy-based plant. It also includes construction of 50 MWe / 86 MWt fluidized bed boiler CHP unit with condensing steam turbine and accessory systems and necessary infrastructure. Earlier (in 2008-2012), in the first stage of the project, coal-based boiler was converted to burn 100% biomass and a stoker-fired boiler was installed. Estimated costs of the entire project (stages one and two) amount to PLN 782.5 million, out of which approx. PLN 618.5 million will be spent on unit construction.
– The TAURON Group consistently implements its corporate strategy, whose objective is to provide efficient and ecological generation capacity. The Tychy-based CHP plays an important part in this plan. The currently executed investment will guarantee top performance parameters and at the same time have significantly lower impact on the environment. At the beginning of last year we commissioned a 40 MW biomass-fired unit at that plant – said Dariusz Lubera, President of the Management Board at TAURON Polska Energia. – Also, our other investments completed in 2013, such as state-of-the-art cogeneration unit at Bielsko-Biała CHP, 20 MW biomass-fired unit at Stalowa Wola and two wind farms – in Wicko and Marszewo (122 MW total capacity), show that our attitude is efficiency- and ecology-oriented. Our generation portfolio includes also gas-based units. 450 MW unit is under construction at Stalowa Wola and construction of a similar unit is under preparation at Łagisza power plant.
The Tychy-based investment is one of the key projects executed by TAURON Ciepło. Tychy generation plant is the leading heat producer for customers living in the town and companies operating in Tychy subzone of Katowice Economic Zone. The completed unit will meet the requirements of stringent emission standards.
– Our objective is to guarantee access to electricity and heat generated in an effective manner and generation capacity development at the Tychy plant is one of our key investments. Technologies applied will conform to the requirements of Best Available Techniques (BAT) and guarantee uninterrupted operation of the CHP over the next 30 years, which means they guarantee energy security for Tychy – said Henryk Borczyk, President of the Management Board at TAURON Ciepło.
Compared to units operating in Tychy so far, the new unit will emit two times less carbon dioxide and seven times less sulphur dioxide. Dust emission will be four times lower and nitrogen oxides emission will be three times lower. Highly efficient cogeneration is characterized by 90-95% efficiency, while efficiency of traditional units is only approx. 35%.
The new CHP is built by Elektrobudowa, a Katowice-based company. Power balance of the Tychy plant after commissioning of the unit will be 340 MWt and 90 MWe. Commissioning is planned in 2016.
