Hungarian IPP Receives Approval for 50-Megawatt, Straw-Fired Power Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Hungarian Company BHD Hoeromu Kft (Budapest, Hungary) recently received permits for the construction of a 50-megawatt (MW), straw-fired power station in Szerencs, 200 kilometers east of Budapest. The facility will consume 30 tons per hour of agricultural products and by-products, such as straw, rice straw, corn and sunflower stalks. Total investment in the project, which is in the process of capital approval, will be about $182 million. BHD Hoeromu Kft will sell the produced energy to various regional energy providers.

The plant will be equipped with a boiler from Danish company Bioener (Brondby, Denmark), which also will serve as a consultant regarding building the plant, operation and maintenance. Construction kickoff is planned for November next year. After its completion in November 2012, the plant will be operational 8,000 hours per year.

The 6.5-hectare area is in the Tokaj-Hegyalja territory, a historic wine region that belongs to the Cultural Landscape World Heritage sites of the UNESCO. This location gave the owner some difficulties. A UNESCO report suggested suspending the construction of the facility in Szerencs, because it would be built in the Tokaj-Hegyalja territory and could endanger the area, thus provoking the withdrawal of Tokaj's world heritage title. After discussing the report by the World Heritage Committee, BHD was authorised to move forward with the project.

However, the winemakers in Hungary's Tokaj region still worry that the impact of 20,000 lorries a year transporting fuel from 60 miles away could far outweigh any of the benefits derived from the plant's organic strategy. In particular, emissions may interfere with the botrytis that is critical for the production of sweet wine.

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