Slovenian Coal Plant Hits Full Operation

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A major addition to Slovenia's energy supply has been operated at full load for the first time.

Alstom announced that Unit 6 of the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant in Slovenia was successfully operated at its full capacity of 600-megawatts (MW) for the first time. The milestone comes three months after the firing of the boiler and one month after the completion of the synchronization of Unit 6 to the Slovenian grid and the production of the first megawatts of electricity.

The Šoštanj plant has a total power generation capacity of 809 MW from four generation units and two gas turbines. Unit 6 will replace the existing units 1, 2 and 3, as well as a part of Unit 4, which would continue to exist as a cold reserve. The plant has an average output of 3,680 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year, accounting for a third of Slovenia's power output.

Industrial Info reported on Alstom winning the $1.1 billion contract from Termoelektrarna Šoštanj d.o.o. (TEŠ) (Šoštanj, Slovenia) in 2009, to build a supercritical, coal-based power generation unit, with a capacity of 600 MW at the existing TEŠ plant. The deal covered the supply and installation of the entire range of power equipment for the steam-driven plant, including the power island, boilers and steam turbines, as well as the infrastructure for the water-steam cycle. For additional information, see December 15, 2009, article - Alstom Wins $1.1 Billion EPC Contract for Slovenia's 600-Megawatt Supercritical Coal-Fired Power Project.

"We are all extremely proud of this major achievement", said Jérôme Poupon, the Šoštanj project director. "Bringing Unit 6 to 600 MW is the result of five years of hard work in close collaboration with our Customer TES. Compared to the existing units, Unit 6 will increase the net efficiency from 30% to 43%. At the same time, CO2 emissions will be reduced by 20%; SOx and NOx emissions by approximately 50%."

Alstom has already carried out work on the Šoštanj power plant, modernizing the boiler for the 345-MW Unit 5 in order to reduce emissions and meet environmental requirements. Within Slovenia, it has previously installed two 114-MW gas turbines, as well as several steam turbines both for electricity production and district heating.

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