Alstom has won a €450 million contract to build the world’s biggest lignite-fired plant in Neurath, Germany, for RWE Power. This represents the largest investment the utility company has made. The low-emission facility will have a net capacity of 2,100 MW.
Under the contract, Alstom will carry out the overall power plant engineering. It will also supply, build and commission two steam turbine islands including condensers and, in consortium with another company, deliver two steam generators. Building work at the site for the double-unit plant started last month.
Philippe Joubert, President of Alstom’s Power Turbo-Systems/Power Environment Sector, said, “Reducing CO2 emissions is both an environmental imperative and a commercial concern for our customers. This power plant will be one of the benchmarks in Europe for efficient, clean coal-based power production and we are very pleased to be chosen by RWE Power to lead this challenging and important project.”
The Alstom-made steam turbines will be the largest in fossil power plant construction, with a gross capacity of 1,100 MW each. They will use blading with flow-optimised three-dimensional blades and the longest last-stage on the market. The four-cylinder turbine the plant will employ is compact, reducing the construction costs and improving the overall efficiency of the power plant. The associated generator will be the world’s largest two-pole generator.
April 1886: the Brunkebergs tunnel
First ever example of a ground source heat pump?