BioPower for Bavaria and Belgium

Six turnkey biomass-fuelled power plants are to be supplied to Germany-based Bayernfonds BestEnergy 1 by Finland’s Wärtsilä in a deal worth approximately 100 million euro. Construction is planned to start in July 2007, dependent on construction and operational permits being issued by the local authorities, and all six power plants are due for completion towards the end of 2008. The six units have an identical configuration, each producing 5.6 MWe, and will burn wood residues from local forests. Electrical output will be fed to the main grid.

Bayernfonds BestEnergy 1 is backed by Bayerische Landesbank.

Meanwhile, Belgian independent power producer Renogen has awarded a second contract to Wärtsilä for a biomass-fuelled BioPower CHP plant in the municipality of Amel in the Ardennes. The new plant will produce 3.29 MWe and up to 10 MWt for district heating while the electrical output in condensing operation will be 5.3 MWe. It will burn non-contaminated wood residues supplied by the local forestry industry.

Wärtsilä will deliver the complete plant under an EPC contract. There is also a contract covering operation and maintenance.

Due for delivery in July 2008, the new Belgian plant is a duplicate of the existing BioPower plant installed by Wärtsilä on the same site. Both plants will deliver hot water to local industrial businesses with the electricity generated being fed to the local grid.

Wärtsilä also recently won a contract to deliver a 20 MW BioEnergy boiler plant to the sawmill company LDK Igirma in the Irkutsk region of Russia. Wärtsilä will deliver two BioEnergy boiler units, each able to produce 10 MW of heat for the sawmill’s dryer chambers and other heating services. The boilers will burn wood residues from the mill. The boiler equipment will be shipped in September and will be fully operational and handed over to Sibexportles Group in December 2007.

Both BioEnergy and BioPower feature Wärtsilä’s BioGrate combustion technology for burning wet biomass fuels with high efficiency and low NOx and CO emissions.