Poland's Belchatow Power Station Continues Unit Modernization, Expected to be Complete by 2013

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)-- Belchatow Power Station, owned by the Polish holding company PGE Gornictwo i Energetyka (Warsaw), is continuing the rehabilitation program started in 2007 and expects to complete the works in all 10 of its 12 operational units by 2013.

Belchatow power plant is a 4,440-megawatt (MW) facility equipped with 12 units, each with a capacity of about 370-MW. The plant expects to commission a new 858-MW unit for 2010, which is currently being built under an engineering, procurement and construction contract by Alstom SA (EPA:ALO) (Levallois-Perret, France). For more information see related article from August 22, 2008 - Construction of New Block Belchatow II Underway, Scheduled for Commissioning in 2010.

At present, works for the modernization of Unit 4 are scheduled to be launched in March, and the bidding process for units 5 and 6 is expected to be complete by April 2009 when the tender for the island of Turbine 6 is closed. Construction kick-off for Unit 5 is expected for March 2010. Construction of Unit 6 is expected by June of the same year.

As for the upgrading of the units, currently being equipped with Alstom steam turbines, Unit 5 will have a capacity of 380 MW when the works are complete in December, while Unit 6 will have a capacity of 390 MW, according to plant officials.

Plans are to continue with the modernization of all of the remaining units--two units per year until 2013 when works would be completed on units 11 and 12. Units 7 and 8 would be upgraded in 2011, and units 9 and 10 in 2012. The procedure for contracting the services could be a single one for the six remaining units, with the opening of a tender in 2010. Units 1 and 2, the only ones not included in this project, will stop operation by 2016.

In December 2008, PGE Elektrownia Belchatow SA also signed a memorandum of understanding with Alstom for the construction and operation of a Carbon Capture and Storage pilot (CCS) plant for Unit 12 to be commissioned in 2011. The CCS will use an amine-based scrubbing technology being developed by Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan). For the current 858 MW under construction, plans are also to build a CCS plant that would be operational in 2015.

View Plant Profile - 1054591

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.