Bucking the trend elsewhere in Europe, Polish coal is on a roll

In May 2016 Energa (owner of the Ostroleka site) repealed a decision made in 2012 to suspend the project. In April 2018 GE said it had been selected as the lead EPC contractor, with a scope that includes boiler, steam turbine, generator, electrostatic precipitators and flue gas desulphurisation. Subject to financial closure of the project, the plant would be scheduled to start commercial operation within 56 months after the notice to proceed.

Three EPC bids were received for Ostroleka C (by the closing date of December 2017): from China Power Engineering Consulting Group (PLN 4 849 828 212.18); from GE (PLN 6 023 034.950); and from a consortium of Polimex-Mostostal and Rafako (PLN 9 591 540 000). Price was not the sole criterion for bid evaluation. Technical specifications for the project included a high level of operational flexibility, with a load variability of 30 - 103%, and high availability, > 8 000 h/a, together with low emissions, meeting EU directives.

GE is also a consortium partner in the two new 900 MW Opole units (Opole 5 and 6) being built in Poland for PGE, and which are about 90% complete. As of May 2018, cold startup of unit 5 equipment was underway and while “work on key equipment at unit 6, including boiler work”, was progressing.

A new 490 MW lignite fuelled plant at PGE’s Turow site (Turow 11) is also progressing, with overall completion estimated to be about 55%. Turow 11 has been described as “the first lignite-fuelled power plant in the world meeting the new BREF emissions standards” by its lead contractor Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe.

Meanwhile, Enea has reported a successful early operational phase at its 1075 MWe Kozienice 11 ultrasupercritical hard coal plant, which entered service in December 2017 (after a construction period of five years) and is Poland’s largest hard coal fired unit to date. On 7 May 2018 it went into a planned warranty- related inspection outage.

Within the first few months of operation, Kozienice 11 (known as “B11”) has proved itself able to operate flexibly, capable of varying output by around 160 MW within 15 minutes, according to Enea.

The plant, which boasts an efficiency of 45.6%, was constructed by a consortium of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe and Polimex-Mostostal.

Kozienice 11 exceeds IED requirements coming into effect from 2021, says Enea, the plant being equipped with SCR, as well as ESP and wet lime FGD. The new unit is also efficient in terms of water use, employing a closed circuit with 185 m high cooling tower.

The entry into operation of Kozienice 11, coupled with the acquisition of the Polaniec power plant in the course of 2017, is providing a significant boost to Enea’s financial performance, and has taken the company’s installed generating capacity to 6.2 GWe.

Meanwhile, Tauron hopes to have its 910 MW coal unit at Jaworzno III in operation by Nov 2019. Main contractor is a consortium of Rafako and Mostostal, with Siemens supplying the steam turbine island.