Worlds largest mine gas power project

GE Jenbacher has won a

multi-million dollar contract to provide 22 complete

reciprocating gas engine

cogeneration systems for a Ukrainian coal mine gas-to-energy project. Each unit will include the cooling system,

silencer, control system and heat recovery

section. On completion, the project will be the largest of its kind in the world in terms of total power output.

The contract was awarded by the Sasyadko coal mine company in Donezk, in southeastern Ukraine. Coal mine gas will power 22 GE Jenbacher JMS 620 GS-S.LC cogeneration systems to generate 131 MW of electrical and thermal output. The heat and power will support operations at three Sasyadko sites in and around Donezk.

“This project is strategically important for GE Jenbacher’s growth” says general manager Barry Glickman. “The plant will serve as a reference in the region, particularly for large coal mine gas projects'” The Sasyadko project will prevent the release into the atmosphere of large quantities of methane, which constitutes 25 % or more of the local coal mine gas, that would otherwise have been vented to air. Methane has a global warming potential 21 times greater than that of CO2. Based on a figure of 8000 operating hours per year, engines like the ones installed here can reduce emissions by an amount equivalent to approximately 35 000 tons of CO2 per year per installed MW.

The engine's power density and efficiency were key criteria for the Sasyadko project, as the calorific value of the coal mine gas is a quarter that of natural gas. Design electrical efficiency is 42.9%, and thermal efficiency 41.3%, amounting to a total unit efficiency of 84.2%. The engineering company responsible for the project is Sinapse of Donezk. It will also fill the engine service contract. The equipment is being manufactured at Jenbacher's facilities in Austria and will be delivered to Sasyadko in 10 stages, beginning in June 2004. Commercial operation is expected by autumn this year.