Products and solutions Apr 10, 2007 9:03 AM
Dutch utility company Nuon awards Uhde contract for coal gasification plant
The Dutch utility company N.V. Nuon has commissioned Uhde to design a coal and biomass gasification plant as part of the new Nuon Magnum 1,200MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant. On March 28, 2007, Øystein Løseth, a member of N.V. Nuon's Management Board, and Alfred Hoffmann, a member of Uhde's Executive Board, signed an Early Work Agreement in Amsterdam. Within the framework of this agreement Uhde will carry out the engineering work required by Nuon for their final investment decision, which is expected in mid-2007. The basic engineering for the gasification trains was completed by Uhde in late 2006 already. The power plant is to be built in Eemshaven, Groningen Province, some 180 kilometres north-east of Amsterdam. It is scheduled for completion in 2011.
At IGCC power plants the coal is first converted to raw gas (syngas) in a gasifier. This gas is then cleaned and combusted in a gas turbine. The heat evolved is used to generate steam to drive a steam turbine. In turn, each of these turbines drives an electricity generator.
The gasification complex for the new Nuon Magnum IGCC power plant will comprise three identical coal/biomass gasification trains, each with a respective throughput capacity of 2,000 t/day, and the associated sophisticated gas cleaning facilities. The complex will generate around 750MW of electricity. The gasification plant may also be co-fired by 40wt.% biomass. IGCC power plant technology is particularly advantageous owing to greater efficiency than conventional coal-fired steam power plants and reduced CO2 emissions in particular through the use of biomass.
The complex will be based on the widely used Shell gasification technology. This is excellently suited to the combined gasification of coal and biomass and is already used in a 250MW power plant owned by Nuon in Buggenum, Netherlands.
Nuon has chosen Uhde for this Nuon Magnum project in view of Uhde's extensive coal gasification expertise and long experience in this field. For example, the world's biggest IGCC power plant to date, the 318MW plant in Puertollano, Spain, was built by Uhde.