Alstom wins contracts, worth around €140 million, to retrofit 6 units at Belchatow, Poland, Europe’s largest fossil power plant

The two contracts signed with PGE Gornictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna S.A., which owns and operates Belchatow and several power plants in Poland, are worth approximately €140 million.
The first contract with PGE covers the retrofitting of the turbine island equipment on six of Belchatow’s units. Under the terms of the contract, Alstom will engineer, supply and install the high pressure and intermediate pressure turbines, its associated auxiliaries, the turbine controller, bypass systems, heater refurbishment, Instrumentation and Control (I&C) and integration engineering coupled with installation supervision.
When completed, the retrofit will increase each of the six units’ power output by 20 MW, bringing a total output increase of 120 MW, enough to power 240,000 additional homes. The project will boost cycle efficiency by 2.4%, thereby reducing the specific CO2 emissions by about 600,000 tons per year. This will ensure the units’ compliance with EU emissions directive 2001/80/WE. Alstom’s retrofit will also improve the six units’ availability and reliability as well as support the extension of the plant’s lifetime by 25 years.
Under the terms of the second contract, Alstom will retrofit the units’ existing electrostatic precipitators (ESP). ESPs are currently one of the most effective ways to control particulate emissions. Alstom has installed more than 10,000 tailored ESP solutions in the world totalling 200 GW. Leveraging this extensive experience, Alstom’s ESP retrofit will achieve emission levels as low as 50mg/Nm3.
“Retrofitting is a fast, cost-efficient way to increase output, boost efficiency and cut emissions while extending the lifetime of power plants. We are pleased that PGE continues to choose Alstom’s market-leading technology for the modernization and upgrading of its fleet,” said Hans Peter Meer, Senior Vice President at Alstom Power.
PGE began modernising Belchatow in 1997, and awarded Alstom a contract to retrofit the plant’s low pressure steam turbines. PGE has since continued its strategy concerning power plant modernisation and again contracted Alstom for the retrofit of units 3-12, to ensure Belchatow’s compliance with EU emissions directives and to extend the lifetime of the units. Most recently, Alstom won a €160 million contract in April 2009 to perform an integrated retrofit of the plant’s unit 6.