German automaker Volkswagen selects MHPS selected to replace its in-house power generating unit from coal to natural-gas
Image: MHPS to modernise German automaker’s inhouse power generation. Photo: Courtesy of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe, Ltd.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe (MHPS Europe) has secured a contract from German automaker Volkswagen to construct a gas-and-steam power plant in Wolfsburg to modernise its cogeneration plant ‘Heizkraftwerk Wolfsburg-West’ in Wolfburg, Germany.
Volkswagen is presently operating two coal-fired blocks at the ‘Heizkraftwerk West’ plant, on its factory grounds and plans to replace them with gas-fired power plant.
The new gas-and-steam plant will have an output of 288MW of electricity and 265MW of heat. The plant is expected to go into commercial operation in the fall of 2022.
MHPS Europe is the EPC contractor for the plant
Volkswagen and MHPS Europe have signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement, under which, the company will be responsible for the construction and commissioning of two H-100 class gas turbines, two waste heat recovery boilers, two steam turbines and generators and ancillary systems. The agreement also include long-term service contract.
MHPS Europe CEO Thomas Bohner said: “The awarding of this order is further evidence of our outstanding expertise as an energy plant constructor and as an energy solutions provider. As part of the MHPS Group, with operations worldwide that employ roughly 20,000 people, the company has access to a wide-ranging suite of technologies for safe and environmentally-friendly power generation.
“Going forward, power plants will be capable of producing electricity that is fully CO2-neutral. In the Netherlands, we are testing how hydrogen, derived from renewable energy sources, can be used in a gas-fired power plant.
“Synthetic natural gas, produced in power-to-gas plants, can also be used in generating electricity. The know-how and the necessary technologies are already available for use.”
In May, the Japanese thermal power generation equipment-maker secured an upgrade order for the Sidi Krir and El Atf thermal power plants in Egypt. These two power plants operate natural gas fired gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) generators with an output of 750MW, with two M701F gas turbines from MHPS as core components.
The upgrade is expected to increase the output, improve power generation efficiency and reduce facility downtime, supplying stable energy in the country. Operations to upgrade the facilities are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2021.