Wärtsilä BioPower plant for district heating in Halmstad, Sweden

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade press release 16 January 2007 at 13:00 UTC+2

Wärtsilä has in December 2006 been awarded a contract to supply the equipment and installation for a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power plant (CHP) by Halmstads Energi och Miljö AB (HEM), a municipal company active in the energy and environmental sectors of the community. The city of Halmstad is located on Sweden’s southwest coast.

The biomass-fuelled power plant, named KVV-Turbingatan, will have a thermal output of 19.3 MWth and an electrical output of 3.2 MWe. The CHP plant is due to begin supplying heat at the end of 2007 and electricity at the end of March 2008.

The plant will comprise a Wärtsilä BioPower 5 plant using wood residue from various sources as fuel. It will deliver hot water to the district heating network of Halmstad, a city of 88,000 inhabitants. Some of the hot water will also be used by local industry. The electricity produced will be exported to the Swedish national grid.

“We look forward to working with such an experienced supplier as Wärtsilä on the construction of this biomass-fuelled plant, which marks an important continuation of HEM’s aim of reducing fossil fuel usage,” says Peder Hörup, Project Manager at Halmstad Energi och Miljö AB.

This is the fourth combined heat and power installation contracted in Sweden using Wärtsilä BioPower’s BP5 plant concept. The other BP5 plants are in Trollhättan, Mark and Motala. A biomass-fuelled plant of the BP2 type is operating in Tranås.

Wärtsilä’s biomass-fuelled plants are clean and efficient. They are a practical solution to the need for renewable energy supply with minimum environmental impact. They incorporate patented Wärtsilä BioGrate combustion technology to burn biofuels with high combustion efficiency and low NOx and CO emissions.

The BioPower plant operates on a closed steam-feed water system separate from the district heating water system. Steam is generated in an efficient water-tube boiler, and supplied to a back-pressure steam turbine driving an alternator. Turbine exhaust steam then heats the district heating water and the condensate is returned as feed water to the boiler.

BioPower plants are highly modular, being based on well-proven standardized components with a conservative design approach. The plants can thus be delivered and installed quickly. Their proven technology results in a reliable, durable plant. They are also highly automated, enabling unmanned operation.

 

Wärtsilä in brief:

Wärtsilä enhances the business of its customers by providing them with complete lifecycle power solutions. When creating better and environmentally compatible technologies, Wärtsilä focuses on the marine and energy markets with products and solutions as well as services. Through innovative products and services, Wärtsilä sets out to be the most valued business partner of all its customers. This is achieved by the dedication of more than 14,000 professionals manning 130 Wärtsilä locations in close to 70 countries around the world.

www.wartsila.com

For further information, please contact:
Maria Nystrand
Public Relations Manager, Power Plants
Wärtsilä Corporation
Direct tel: +358 10 709 1456
Direct fax: +358 10 709 1425
e-mail: maria.nystrand@wartsila.com
Internet: www.wartsila.com