Opole power station
{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-Polandandcoal}} Opole Power Station is a 2,432-megawatt (MW) coal power station in Opole, Poland, operated by the state-owned Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE Group).
A 900 MW expansion of the station is planned for commissioning in September 2019.
Contents
Location
The undated satellite photo below shows the power station in Opole.
Background
The original power station consisted of four coal-fired units totaling 1532 MW that began operating in 1993-1997.[1]
Expansion plans
PGE Group planned to add two hard coal fired 900 MW supercritical power units (5 and 6). PGE's 2012 strategy indicated one 900MW unit commissioned and scheduled for 2017, with the second unit planned for 2018.[2] The plant would cost $3.7 billion. The consortium to build Opole includes Polimex, Rafako (a unit of PBG), and Mostostal Warszawa, which is the Polish unit of Spanish firm Acciona.[3]
PGE had to delay the construction of the units after a court blocked the investment following an appeal by ecologists. In October 2012 a Polish court ordered the re-examination of a block, sending the case back to a lower court.[4]
In April 2013, PGE announced that it had decided to cancel the expansion plans, citing weak electricity demand and falling electricity prices.[5]
However, in January 2014 PGE announced that construction would begin in February on 1,800 megawatts of new coal-fired generating capacity at the Opole station. The $3.78 billion expansion will be designed by the French multinational Alstom. The first unit is expected for 2018 and the second in 2019. There are reports that the company is being politically pressured to proceed with the expansion despite rejecting it in April 2013 as unprofitable.[6]
The ultra-supercritical boilers used by the plant are being manufactured in Wuhan, China, and supplied by Alstom Wuhan Boiler Company.[7]
In February 2018 it was reported that unit 5 is planned for commissioning on May 31, 2019, and unit 6 on September 30, 2019.[8]
Unit 5 was synchronized in January 2019 and commissioned on May 31, 2019.[9] Unit 6 was synchronized on May 14, 2019, and is planned for commissioning on September 30, 2019.[10]
Project Details
- Sponsor: PGE
- Parent company:
- Developer: Alstom
- Location: Opole, Poland
- Coordinates: 50.75182,17.88196 (exact)
- Status: Operating (Unit 5), Construction (Unit 6)
- Capacity: 1800 MW (Units 5&6: 900 MW)
- Type: Ultra-supercritical
- Start date: 2019
- Coal Type: Hard coal
- Coal Source:
- Source of financing:
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "Coal-Fired Plants in Poland - other voivodeship," Industcards, accessed Feb 2016
- ↑ "Creating value and safe future PGE Group Strategy 2012-2035," PGE, Feb. 2012.
- ↑ Adrian Krajewski, "Polish court orders rethink of block on PGE project," CNBC, Oct. 2, 2012.
- ↑ Adrian Krajewski, "Polish court orders rethink of block on PGE project," CNBC, Oct. 2, 2012.
- ↑ Chris Borowski and Agnieszka Barteczko, "UPDATE 2-Polish utility PGE scraps $3.6 bln coal power project," Reuters, April 5, 2013
- ↑ "Poland's PGE OKs $3.78 billion expansion of Opole coal-fired plant," UPI, Jan 10, 2014.
- ↑ Wuhan Boiler Company 2014 Annual Report, April 2015
- ↑ "Nowe terminy oddania nowych bloków Elektrowni Opole. Zakończenie budowy przewidziano we wrześniu 2019 roku," Strefa Biznesu, 23.02.2018
- ↑ "PGE: Blok numer 6 w Elektrowni Opole rozpoczął produkcję energii," biznesalert, May 14, 2019
- ↑ "Opole Unit 6 Begins to Deliver up to 900 MW of Power to the Polish Grid," GE, May 14, 2019
