Centrax powers new cogeneration plant in Italy

Centrax Gas Turbines has installed and commissioned two CX501-KB5 DLE generator sets for Hera, one of Italy’s major multi-utility companies. The gas turbine-powered units each provide up to 3.9MW of electrical power at Hera’s cogeneration plant in Bologna; replacing an existing thermal power plant coming to the end of its operational life. Attached to two Ruths boilers, the generator sets will enable Hera to heat around 8,000 apartments in the Reno-Borgo Panigale district of Bologna and has the capacity to double this amount.

The Centrax equipment will also help to reduce the environmental impact from the decommissioned thermal plant. For each thermal year, a reduction of 21,000kg NOx (nitrogen oxide) and 2,500 tonnes of CO2 will be avoided and the heat from the cogeneration process will go from 28.9% to 51%.

Hera is able to control the facilities from a remote centre allowing for minimal personnel requirements at site. Hera (Holding Energia Risorse Ambiente, Energy Resource Environment Holdings) is a multiutility company based in Bologna, Italy. The company operates in the distribution of gas, water, energy and waste disposal in various provinces throughout Italy, including Bologna, Modena, Ravenna, and Rimini.

The two packages, powered by the Siemens 501-k engines, were manufactured at Centrax’s headquarters in the UK and shipped to site ready for installation and commissioning at the start of Autumn 2017. Service and maintenance will be carried out by Centrax’s Italian support centre in Montale.