10.06.2019
ORLEN invests to enhance security of electricity and heat supplies to Płock
Uninterrupted and reliable supplies of electricity and heat to the refinery in Płock as well as external customers, including the municipality, are a major benefit of PKN ORLEN’s project to build a more efficient TG1 turbine generator set at its Płock CHP plant. The technology provider and turnkey contractor will be GE Power.
The project to upgrade the TG1 turbine generator set at the in-house CHP plant will increase its heat and power cogeneration efficiency by 10%. It will also help optimise costs by extending maintenance intervals, while improving the continuity and security of electricity and heat supplies to the Production Plant in Płock and on-site contractors. The output heat will also be supplied to the Płock municipality.
“Consistent expansion of the energy segment, based on a highly efficient cogeneration process to produce heat and electricity, is one of our strategic directions. With new investments and additions to our existing infrastructure, we are able to continually strengthen our position on the electricity market, contributing to improved safety of our units and Poland’s energy security,” says Jarosław Dybowski, PKN ORLEN’s Executive Director for Energy.
The project to upgrade turbine generator set No. 1 will involve disassembly of the existing and construction of new machinery on a turnkey basis, with its capacity raised from 55 to 65 MWe, together with ancillary infrastructure. A long-term maintenance contract is also to be signed. CKTiS, a company based in Płock, has already commenced the disassembly work, while the construction and maintenance will be the responsibility of GE Power Sp. z o.o.
“GE Power is a world leader in power engineering technologies with over 70 years of experience on the Polish market. Our equipment powers more than a third of the world to illuminate cities, build economies and connect people. The new turbine set in Płock will be designed to generate process steam and electricity through cogeneration. What is important, the steam turbine will be manufactured at the GE plant in Elbląg, and the generator at our plant in Wrocław,” says Sławomir Żygowski, GE Power CEO.
A comprehensive programme to gradually replace worn-out machinery at PKN ORLEN’s CHP plant in Płock was devised in partnership with the Institute of Heat Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology. Its first phase, comprising replacement of turbine set No. 1, is scheduled for completion in September 2021.
In total, there are seven turbine generator sets operating at the Płock CHP plant. The TG1 set, commissioned back in 1968, has already reached its maximum service life of about 300,000 hours. Four other sets are already approaching this time limit. On the other hand, the TG6 set, built in 2001, and the TG7 set, built in 2017, do not require upgrades.
The Płock CHP plant is the largest industrial unit of its kind in Poland and one of the largest in Europe. Its electrical capacity is 413.6 MWe and its thermal capacity is 2,149 MWt. PKN ORLEN also operates power generating units in Włocławek, Trzebinia and Jedlicze, as well as in the Czech Republic and Lithuania, their capacities totalling 1.9 GWe and 6.1 GWt. ORLEN is also considering a project to build offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea with a total capacity of up to 1.2 GW.
