Mar 7 2008
A consortium led by Siemens, comprising Austrian Energy & Environment (AE&E) and the Japanese company IHI, will build a coal-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Mainz. The supervisory board of the purchaser, Mainz-Wiesbaden AG (KMW), confirmed the contract on February 28, 2008. In July 2007, KMW had already signed a contract with Siemens covering planning, supply, erection and commissioning of the main components for this power plant. Despite increases in the number of bottlenecks prevalent worldwide in the power plant construction sector it is thus possible to set the completion date for 2013 and ensure planning security. The value of the order for the consortium totals approximately EUR1 billion, with the Siemens share amounting to around half.
The hard-coal-fired CHP plant with a gross rated capacity of over 800 megawatts (MW) will be built at the existing KMW power plant site in Mainz. “Thanks to the advanced technology the power plant will attain a very high efficiency of 46 percent and will be one of Europe’s most modern plants,” stated Michael Süss, CEO of the Siemens Energy Division Fossil Power Generation. Beside electricity the cogeneration plant will also produce 200 MW of district heat for as many as 40,000 households and approxi-mately 30 MW process steam for industrial plants in Mainz. “We will thus achieve an optimum fuel efficiency of 60 percent,” added Süss.
“At the same time this helps the industrial plants in the vicinity to avoid some of their own emissions,” said Dr. Olaf Thun, project manager at KMW. “The site is this particularly suitable for the erection of a CHP plant. It will make a key contribution toward reliable and cost-effective power supply in the Mainz-Wiesbaden region.”
The power plant licensing phase is already underway and construction is scheduled to commence late 2008 / early 2009. The Siemens scope of supply encompasses key components such as the steam turbine and generator, and the electrical and I&C systems, including the associated planning, installation and commissioning. The consortium partners, the working group comprising AE&E and IHI, will supply the tower boiler, the flue-gas desulfurization plant, and other supply and disposal systems. Within the working group AE&E is also responsible for overall erection. Further key supplies such as the plant’s coal handling and ash removal systems, and principal civil structures will be provided by the customer and integrated into the plant.
After the Lünen power plant the Mainz project is the second order for the construction of a coal-fired power plant featuring advanced, ultraclean technology, which the consortium has secured in Germany. Synergies will result through the deployment of identical technology in the two plants.
“Despite the very tight situation relating to planning and erection resources, and delivery bottlenecks worldwide for key components such as turbines, pumps, piping, tanks and vessels, we have succeeded together with the customer in achieving an optimized division of the scopes of supply and services,” emphasized Süss. ”There is thus a bal-anced distribution of risk among all parties involved and, at the same time, it will be possible to attain the desired cost-effectiveness and meet delivery deadlines.”