http://www.publics.bg/en/news/11028/New_Biogas_Plant_near_Plovdiv_with_GE_Technology.html
From Bulgaria
02.04.2014 11:50
New Biogas Plant near Plovdiv with GE Technology
Power from Renewable Domestic Organic Waste Will Help Wean Bulgaria from Imported Natural Gas
AUTHOR: publics.bg
•
New biomass-to-energy plant, powered by GE’s Jenbacher gas engine technology is being built in Stroevo, near Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The 5-megawatt (MW) plant will use three of GE’s fuel-flexible, robust and high-efficiency Jenbacher engines—one J612 and two J620 units—powered by syngas derived from straw and wood chips and will produce enough electricity to power 2,000 homes. Such organic waste is normally difficult to gasify effectively, but tight integration of EQTEC Iberia’s biomass-gasification technology with GE’s proven gas engines will provide high levels of emissions performance, efficiency and economy.
Scheduled for completion by the end of 2014, the plant is being built by EQTEC Iberia, part of Spanish holding company Ebioss Energy AD. It is the latest development in Ebioss’ strategy to apply its Integrated Biomass Gasification Cogeneration Power Plant (IBGPP) technology throughout Europe to help countries reduce their dependence on foreign energy supplies and to increase the proportion of energy from renewable sources. This isn’t the first time EQTEC and GE have worked together. The collaboration debuted in 2008 with an IBGPP cogeneration plant in Spain
“Gasifying biomass for energy usage—in this case, straw and wood chips—requires special know-how, and our engineers and GE’s team worked as one team to integrate EQTEC Gasifier Technology and GE’s power generation technologies for improved performance and economics,” said Luis Sanchez CEO, EBIOSS. “The IBGPP plant we developed achieves a far higher electrical efficiency than the thermal technologies traditionally used in a plant of this size. For example, a typical Rankine thermal cycle-based plant offers an electrical efficiency of 18 to 20 percent from converting biomass to electricity compared to using GE’s Jenbacher gas engines that offer approximately 28 percent electrical efficiency and almost 70 percent total combined heat and power efficiency. This will enable us to deploy the IBGPP technology economically with GE elsewhere in Bulgaria and in other nations to help them enjoy greater energy independence and fuel diversity.”
Syngas is attractive because it is a continually renewable fuel that enables power to be produced economically onsite at the point of use, reducing losses inherent in electrical transmission. It also helps to solve a waste-disposal problem by converting organic wastes into fuel. With the EQTEC Gasifier Technology, steam and hot water can be generated with no reduction in output power, so overall plant efficiency will be much higher when the plant is used for district heating or other cogeneration applications in addition to power production.