Poland's Opole Power Station to Open Tender for EPC Contract for 2,000-Megawatt Unit Addition

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) is planning the expansion of its Opole Power Station, located 9 kilometers north of Opole in Brzezie, and anticipates the opening of the tender during the first quarter of next year for the selection of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

Opole Power Station is a 1,492-megawatt (MW) coal-fired facility that has supplied electricity to the grid since 1993. The plant, currently equipped with four Zamech Elblag steam turbines that are each coupled with a Dolmel BBC licensed generator and Rafako boilers, expects to start construction of two 1,000-MW units in 2010. The total project investment will be about $4.5 billion.

The schedule is to launch a two-stage bidding process, beginning with the presentation of letters of intent during the first quarter of 2009. An EPC contractor will be selected by the end of the year. A long-term service agreement for the maintenance of the new equipment, steam turbine, generator, pulverized coal combustion boilers and auxiliary devices, will also be assigned.

PGE is a major electricity and heat producer in Poland with an integrated business strategy in the energy sector. In 2010, the company also expects to commission an 858-MW unit in its Belchatow Power Station, one of the largest lignite-fired power stations in the world with an electrical output of 4440 MW. For more information, see related article from August 22, 2008 - Construction of New Block Belchatow II Underway, Scheduled for Commissioning in 2010.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.