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‘Synchronisation of the gas steam turbine set marks the completion of the project, confirming its ability to generate electricity and heat using both the gas and steam turbine,’ explains Wojciech Ignacok, President of the Management Board of TAURON Polska Energia. ‘The unit has now entered the optimisation, tuning and testing phase,’ added Mr Ignacok.

‘The Stalowa Wola CHP plant will help to enhance energy security of the region in line with the most exacting environmental regulations. Units like this one are a response to the challenges of Poland’s transition to a low carbon economy,’ noted Jerzy Kwieciński, President of the PGNiG Management Board. ‘The new plant will also significantly improve air quality and, consequently, the standard of life for residents of Stalowa Wola and its surrounding areas’.

The CCGT unit in Stalowa Wola will cogenerate power and heat, providing 450 MW of electrical power to the national power grid and supplying heat to residents of Stalowa Wola and Nisko. The unit will supply electricity to 1.2 million households. A backup heat source, comprising a boiler house and auxiliary systems linking the boiler house with the new CCGT unit, is also being built at the Stalowa Wola CHP plant.

Using natural gas as the fuel, the unit meets very stringent environmental standards, with its carbon dioxide emissions of approximately 360 kg/MWh in line with Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions. Nitrogen oxide emissions are also very low, with virtually no sulphur oxides emitted by the source. Due to its location in the city centre, it was very important that the unit emits no particulate matter.

CCGT is the most efficient technology for power generation from fossil fuels, achieving gross efficiencies to the order of 60%. The power generation process taking place in a CCGT unit is highly automated. The unit will be operated by a team of approximately 60 people, including Company staff.

A joint venture of TAURON and PGNiG

ECSW, a company 50/50 owned by TAURON and PGNiG, has built a state-of-the-art 450 MWe CCGT unit in Stalowa Wola. After the contract with the general contractor was cancelled, a survey of works, supplies and services provided up to the cancellation date was performed in 2016, and the method for completing the project was developed.

In 2017, ECSW entered into an Engineering-Procurement-Construction-Management (EPCM) contract with a consortium comprising Zakłady Pomiarowo-Badawcze Energetyki Energopomiar and Energoprojekt-Katowice. The contract provided for design and engineering work, procurement support for the project owner, and oversight of the work required to complete the construction and commission the unit. The efforts undertaken in recent years enabled the CCGT unit at the Stalowa Wola CHP plant to be completed.