An Eco-Efficient Win-Win for GE Jenbacher Gas Engines in Germany and Italy

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Europe's largest coal mine gas plant has been supplied with a total of fourteen cogeneration systems by GE Jenbacher (GEJ). (The company based at Jenbach, Austria became part of GE Power Systems (NYSE:GE) (Atlanta, Georgia) in May 2003).

The Fenne gas plant, owned by SaarEnergie (Saarbrucken, Germany) scores high on a range of economic and efficiency indicators. With 42.1% electrical and 42.3% thermal the plant has a total output efficiency of 84.4%. The electrical output is fed into an industrial grid and the heat is supplied to a local district heating system. The JMS 620 GS cogeneration systems supplied by GEJ produce the electrical and thermal power.

The gas from the coal mine is 25% to 60% methane, which when mixed with air can be explosive. The gas is present both as liberated gas in fissure faults and pores and as absorbed gas on the inner surface of the coal and neighboring rock. Use of the gas for combustion in gas engines effectively resolves environmental and safety problems while economically utilizing an otherwise wasted source of energy.

Fennel is now Europe's largest gas engine powered combined heat and power (CHP) plant to be subsidized under the European Renewable Energies Act. The power station's annual production capacity of 350,000 MWh of both electrical and thermal energy is equivalent to the power needed to supply 80,000 households.

To ensure the long-term reliability of the plant, GEJ has signed a maintenance contract for the fourteen modules. The contract includes both preventive and corrective service and covers inspections and maintenance work.

At the end of March, the company was awarded another eco-efficient contract to supply six x 1.4 MW generator sets to be used at one of Italy's most powerful landfill-energy plants. The company's latest model, the JGS 420 GS-L.L/A21 will be used at the Basse di Stura landfill near Turin.

The generator sets will use landfill methane gas to generate electricity that will be sold to the public power grid with natural gas being used as a backup power source. The site will become Italy's most efficient landfill-energy site with an electrical efficiency exceeding 41%. Emission levels will be lowered by using the CL.AIR system, supplied by GEJ, which allows thermal re-combustion of engine exhaust gases. The system will reduce carbon dioxide emissions to a value of less than 300 mg/NM3 (5% 02).

The sets are being manufactures in Jenbach and will be delivered in June 2004 with commissioning and commercial start-up scheduled for August.

GEJ has specialized in developing the use of special gases in its engines. It manufactures and supplies gas fueled reciprocating engines for the global market. Its product range covers packaged generator sets and power cogeneration systems. In the past 30 years it has supplied over 500 engines to the Italian market.