Alstom Wins $890 Million AES Bulgarian Clean Coal Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Under a turnkey contract with AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) (Arlington, Virginia), Alstom (FR0010220475) (Paris, France) will supply an integrated clean power generation solution for the first large-scale power project to be built in Bulgaria in 20 years. The $890 million E+P+C (engineering, procurement and construction) contract will cover in-house manufacturing of the main equipment for the Maritza East 1 lignite-fired power plant near Galabovo in the southeast of the country.

AES confirmed the launch of 670-megawatt (MW) clean coal project, with a total investment of $1.4 billion, in May. There had been numerous budgeting and government policy-induced delays on the project since the late 1990s. To date, it is the largest single foreign investment in Bulgaria and one of the largest greenfield investments in Southeast Europe. The project, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2009, is supported by a 15-year power purchase agreement with the national electricity provider, NEK (Natsionalna Elektricheska Kompania), and a fifteen year lignite supply agreement with the state-owned mining company, Maritza East Mines (MMI).

The plant will include two 335 MW turbine generator sets and Alstom TOPGAS turbogenerators and other proven Alstom technology, including coal and ash handling systems, electrical, information and control systems and balance of plant supplies. The plant will achieve emissions levels below those required by the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD). It will be equipped with Alstom advanced lignite firing pulverized coal boilers using state-of-the-art low NOx burners. Emissions controls will also be assisted with post-combustion equipment. The limestone–based wet flue gas desulphurization (wet FGD) system will achieve 98% sulfur dioxide removal. The electrostatic precipitator (ESP) will limit particulate emissions. Philippe Joubert, President of Alstom’s power turbo-systems/power environment sector, said that the new project was another major reference for the company in the growing Central and Eastern Europe coal power plant market.

The Maritza project is financed through a consortium comprising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Calyon, BNP Paribas and ING Bank. German and French export credit agencies and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank are providing some cover to the lenders.

AES has been developing its presence in Eastern Europe over the past decade starting with the acquisition of three power stations in Hungary in 1996. It now has two distribution companies in Ukraine serving 1.2 million customers and generation plants in the Czech Republic where it leads in biomass conversion, providing one third of the country’s renewable energy generation.

Moving towards full EU membership, Bulgaria is developing its power capacity to support domestic growth and maintain its position as an energy hub and energy exporter in the region. The country’s total power generation capacity is currently about 14,500 megawatts with new projects, including Maritza East, due to come into operation through 2012.

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