RWE inaugurates biomass power plant
6 Sep 2010
Wittgenstein, Germany – RWE Innogy and German Pellets have inaugurated RWE’s biomass-fuelled cogeneration station and the neighbouring pellet plant at the Wittgenstein industrial estate. The two plants represent a total investment of around Euro46 million.
NRW Pellets GmbH is the operator of the pellet plant, which was completed in mid-July. Apart from RWE Innogy Cogen, German Pellets also owns a share of this company.
The combined operation of biomass-fuelled cogeneration station and pellet plant results in a “dual green effect”: The annual CO2 savings in the biomass cogeneration station amount to approx. 48,000 tons versus the average German power plant mix. More CO2 savings potential in the order of over 100,000 tons results from the use of the wood pellets in residential households.
The biomass-fuelled cogeneration station has fed electricity into the grid since early 2010, and since the start of pellet production, both plants have been operating in combination, said RWE. In this mode, it explained, the biomass-fuelled cogeneration station supplies the heat required for the production of the pellets.
The combined heat-and-power station has a thermal capacity of 30 megawatts and an electric output of 5 megawatts. The combined production of heat and power results in a relatively high energy efficiency with a fuel utilisation of up to 70 percent.
The pellet plant has a production capacity of 120ktpa of quality pellets, while around 220kt of round wood residuals and sawmill wood leftovers from the region are to be used as feedstock.
