Expanding in Italy

has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the addition of a second processing line at Lomellina Energia's waste-to-energy plant at

. Foster Wheeler Italiana owns 39 percent of Lomellina Energia.

Foster Wheeler will undertake basic design, detailed engineering, materials supply, construction and erection works, commissioning and start-up on a lump-sum turnkey basis. The contract value exceeds $130 million (€110 million), and will be included in Foster Wheeler's third-quarter 2005 bookings.

The existing plant, the first installation of its kind in Europe, is an integrated facility for recyclable materials recovery and refuse derived fuel (RDF) production, composting and electricity generation. It processes 200,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste (MSW), converting approximately 60 percent of the MSW into RDF, which is then combusted, generating 15MWe of electric power.

According to a statement, this expansion project will allow the plant to process an additional 180,000 tons per year of RDF, producing an additional 19MWe of power, which will be sold to the Italian national grid under a long-term power purchase agreement with GRTN, the Italian National Grid operator.

As part of its scope, Foster Wheeler will also design and supply a circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) boiler, based on its proprietary "Compact" technology developed by its Global Power Group.

Foster Wheeler's overall scope also includes a steam turbine and generator, a steam condenser, flue gas treatment, upgrading of the existing waste pre-treatment system and auxiliary facilities.

Early activities on the project started in February 2005. Commercial operation is scheduled for September 2007.