Today, the recently inaugurated Lextorp combined heat and power (CHP) plant in the community of Trollhättan in Sweden, some 70 km northeast of Gothenburg, has been visited by the Irish Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Mary Wallace, T.D. She has a special responsibility for forestry. The Minister was greeted at the Lextorp power plant by Mrs Viveca Dalhammar, Chairman of the Board of Trollhättan Energi and Mr Mats Johansson, Managing Director of Trollhättan Energi.
Minister Wallace joined an Irish delegation consisting of five forestry and research experts who are making a two-day visit to Sweden to evaluate potential CHP plants for Ireland. The delegation will continue their visit of Swedish biofuelled combined heat and power plants by also looking at Mark’s Värme AB power plant in Kinna, about 60 km from Gothenburg, on Friday.
Both biofuelled combined heat and power plants have been delivered by Wärtsilä. Mark’s Värme was put into service at the beginning of 2005, and the Lextorp power plant began supplying heat in December 2005 and electricity in January 2006. Each plant comprises a Wärtsilä BioPower 5 DH plant, and burn byproducts from the local forestry industry. The thermal output is 16-17 MWth for district heating, and the electrical output is 3.5-3.6 MWe. The thermal output corresponds to 30% of Trollhättan’s district heating needs. In Kinna, the biopower plant, together with an existing district heating plant, supplies district heat to 800 customers and electricity corresponding to the electricity need of 2500 detached houses.
“The European Union greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme has significantly contributed to the higher market prices of electricity in both Sweden and Ireland, among other countries. Higher electricity prices together with green certificates have subsequently made electricity production in biomass-fuelled small-scale CHP and condensing plants an attractive prospect for municipalities with access to competitive wood-based biofuels and for the mechanical wood processing industry, such as sawmills and other, similar industries.” says Mr Tord Johnsson, General Manager, Power Plants of Wärtsilä in Sweden.
To date there are three biomass-fuelled combined heat and power installations in Sweden equipped with Wärtsilä BioPower’s BP5 plants as well as one BioPower plant of the BP2 type. In addition to Sweden, Wärtsilä’s BioPower technology has been sold in Belgium, Germany, Finland and Ireland.
Notes to the editor:
Wärtsilä’s biomass-fuelled plants are clean and efficient. They incorporate patented Wärtsilä BioGrate combustion technology to burn biofuels with high combustion efficiency and low NOx and CO emissions. The BioPower plants are highly modular, being based on well-proven standardised 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 with only periodical supervision visits to the plant.
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 12,000 professionals manning 130 Wärtsilä offices in over 60 countries around the world.
For more information on Wärtsilä, visit the website at www.wartsila.com
For further information, please contact:
Tord Johnsson
General Manager, Power Plants
Wärtsilä Sweden AB
Direct tel: +46 31 7344 4653
Mobile: +46 70 658 3827
e-mail: tord.johnsson@wartsila.com
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
