Alstom brings Slovenian coal plant to full load of 600MW

Alstom announced recently that it has successfully operated Unit 6 of the Šoštanj coal power plant in Slovenia at its full capacity of 600 MW for the first time. This achievement in terms of reliability comes only one month after the successful completion of the synchronization of unit 6 to the Slovenian grid and the production of the first MWs, and three months after the first fire of the boiler.

Once in operation, the new unit is likely to generate approximately one-third of Slovenia’s power production, thus allowing the country to ensure its independence on energy imports. Jérôme Poupon, Šoštanj Project Director said, “Bringing Unit 6 to 600 MW is the result of five years of hard work in close collaboration with our Customer TES. Compared to the existing units, Unit 6 will increase the net efficiency from 30 to 43 percent. At the same time, CO2 emissions will be reduced by 20 percent; SOx and NOx emissions by approximately 50 percent”.

In 2008, Alstom signed a contract with TES, under which Alstom the Group will supply the complete power island of the new Šoštanj Unit 6 (comprising the steam turbine, generator set, water-steam cycle, the boiler and the ALSPA distributed control system) for Unit 6 which will be added to the existing Šoštanj power plant units.

Alstom has previously installed two 114 MW gas turbines in Slovenia (228 MW in total), and several steam turbines both for electricity production and district heating, and is executing service contracts in the country. The company has already carried out work on the Šoštanj power plant, modernizing the boiler for Unit 5, in order to reduce emissions and meet environmental requirements.