Electrabel Performs 125 Million Euro Biomass Conversion of Power Unit

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Electrabel SA (Brussels, Belgium), a subsidiary of GDF Suez SA (EPA:GSZ) (Paris, France), is partnering with holding company Ackermans & van Haaren NV (EBR:ACKB) (AvH) (Antwerp, Belgium) to convert a unit of the Rodenhuize power plant at Ghent, Belgium, into a 100% biomass-fired plant with a generation capacity of 180 megawatts. The conversion project entails an investment of 125 million euros.

Electrabel and AvH have established a 73:27 joint venture company named Max Green NV to implement the project. The company will also work on other renewable energy projects in the future.

The Rodenhuize power plant was originally developed as a pulverized-coal-fired facility in the 1960s. Modifications made to the plant in 2005 and 2008 enabled co-firing of biomass and coal, although some reports indicate that Electrabel commenced co-firing of biomass as early as 2002. In 2005, the firm retrofitted unit 4 to operate on wood pellets instead of coal. Reports published in May 2007 indicate that the facility was operating on a feed mix of 70% hard coal, 25% wood pellets, and 5% olive cake.

At the time, Laborelec (Linkebeek, Belgium), GDF Suez's technical competence and research center for power generation, was contracted by Electrabel to investigate the possibility of revamping the facility to operate entirely on wood pellets as its standard fuel and, in exceptional cases, on 100% blast furnace gas (BFG). Unit 4 was reported to be co-firing BFG from the nearby steel plant of ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) (Luxembourg). As ArcelorMittal was in the process of commissioning a new boiler, supply of BFG to the Rodenhuize power plant would cease. While Electrabel wanted to simultaneously cease firing coal at unit 4 and use wood pellets as feedstock under normal conditions, the firm also planned to retain the unit as a backup facility to burn 100% BFG when the boiler at the steel plant was shut down for maintenance or other reasons. Based on its assessment, Laborelec suggested that the burner configuration in unit 4 be modified to enable the unit to operate on 100% wood pellets or 100% BFG under the conditions specified.

Later reports, published in December 2007, indicate that unit 1 of the Rodenhuize power plant was no longer functional and units 2, 3 and 4 together generated about 450 MW of electricity. Units 2 and 3 were reported to be operating on a feed of furnace gas, while unit 4 was said to be operating on a mix of BFG, pulverized coal and biomass, with heavy fuel oil used during startup, peak-load periods and times when BFG was not available. In order to address issues of emissions and maintenance pertaining to heavy fuel oil installations, Electrabel decided to replace heavy fuel oil with natural gas and contracted water/steam systems specialist Stork Thermeq BV (Hengelo, Netherlands) to execute this conversion. In September 2008, Stork Thermeq reported successful replacement of oil burners with gas burners on units 2 and 3 to burn natural gas during startup, peak-load periods, and to compensate for a drop in the availability of BFG. The firm also modified existing coal/heavy fuel oil burners on unit 4 to burn natural gas instead of heavy fuel oil on start-up and pulverized coal thereafter.

Units 2 and 3 will reach the end of their lifetime in 2010 and will be shut down by 2012. In December 2005, steelmaker ArcelorMittal Gent (Ghent), a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal formerly known as Sidmar, awarded a contract to Electrabel to develop a 350-MW power plant at the steel manufacturing facility in Ghent. The new plant will utilize siderurgical gases from the steel plant, which are currently fed to units 2 and 3 of the Rodenhuize power plant, to generate power that would be delivered back to the steel plant.

The Max Green project will start in 2010 and will represent the last stage of conversion of unit 4 of the Rodenhuize facility, with coal feedstock to be completely replaced with wood pellets acquired from sustainable forestry methods. The conversion will enable the Rodenhuize power plant to supply clean energy to 320,000 households. Geldof Metaalconstructie NV (Harelbeke, Belgium), a specialist in bulk storage and handling installations, is developing a woodchips-handling installation at Rodenhuize. The new installation will enable wood to be stored, transported and prepared for blowing into the burner.

The conversion project is part of Electrabel's sustainable energy program, under which the firm is committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and augmenting its renewable power generating facilities to supply clean power to over 1 million Belgian households by 2015.

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