Press releases

Official starting signal at Kusile

First boiler column fixed for utility power plant

Duisburg/Johannesburg, 19 November 2011. The second major power plant project of Hitachi Power Europe (HPE) and Hitachi Power Africa (HPA) is also slowly beginning to take shape. Guests from the world of business and politics celebrated the fixing of the first boiler column at the Kusile site in South Africa on Saturday, 19 November. They had been invited by Eskom – the customer – and HPE subsidiary Hitachi Power Africa. The symbolic act marks the beginning of construction work at the six utility steam generators sited some 100 kms east of Johannesburg. Work on the Medupi project is also making considerable progress.

Once completed, these six highly efficient power plant units at Kusile will have an overall output in excess of 4,800 MW (el.). This is the same output as that on hand at the Medupi power plant location for which HPE and HPA are also supplying the utility steam generators. Their construction began some 18 months beforehand. Fixing the first boiler column now marks the starting signal for construction of the utility steam generator at Kusile. In keeping with the convoy strategy, identical plants will arise at intervals of several months to ensure a swift assembly sequence. Johannes Musel, CEO of Hitachi Power Africa, said the power plant project would, of course, benefit from the experience gained by HPE and HPA from the assembly work to date at Medupi. “This provides us with the certainty of being able to meet the milestones on time during the construction and commissioning phases”.

But it is not only the construction work at Kusile – where 2,700 jobs have already been created for building the utility steam generators – which is proceeding apace. The same holds good for the training and qualification program which HPE and HPA have also entered into for the Kusile project. To date, 322 apprentices – with two-thirds coming from Mpumalanga Province – have been trained in a variety of trades; some 700, all told, will be taking part in this program. Added to this are the specific qualification steps for Eskom staff (some 30 engineers and other personnel) for future power plant operations.

Once finished, the new utility steam generators at Medupi and Kusile will be the most up-to-date of their kind in South Africa with efficiencies 15 % up on the average for the power plants in operation today in the country. This will enable the power plant units to be run more economically and with reduced CO2 emissions.

German/Indian Joint Venture Set up in Power Plant Construction

Modern utility power plants from Hitachi Power Europe and BGR Energy Systems quell the hunger for energy on the Indian sub-continent and promote the country's industrial development.

Duisburg/Chennai, 6.8.2010. Power plant constructor Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (HPE) has created an additional mainstay of business in a strongly expanding market by today finalizing the setting up of a joint venture with BGR Energy Systems Ltd. (BGR) in Chennai/India. HPE and the Indian industrial concern will together construct highly efficient utility steam generators ("boilers") for coal power plants and place them into operation. The idea is for a production plant to arise in the Indian federal state of Tamil Nadu by 2012 and with up to four utility steam generators being built a year. The intention behind this cooperation is for both partners to benefit from the rapidly growing market on the Indian sub-continent for new power plants. After all, India is set to more than double its electricity generation capacities in the short term and is relying to a considerable extent on low-emission, fossil fuel-fired power plants. Replaceable energies cannot cover the additional demand, are too expensive and are not reliably available.

The joint venture was signed on 6 August 2010 by the Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Power Europe, Klaus Dieter Rennert, and Chairman and Managing Director of BGR Energy Systems, B.G. Raghupathy. "In BGR Energy Systems we have found an excellent partner to establish ourselves and our technologies on the Indian power plant market", said Klaus Dieter Rennert. He added that Hitachi Power Europe had a track record going back over a 100 years in utility steam generators and was a leading technology provider and market leader in Europe and South Africa. Chennai-based BGR Energy provided, as an established plant constructor, both the required access to the market and local know-how for the Indian power plant market.

Hitachi Power Europe has 30% of the holdings in the joint "BGR Boilers Private Ltd." venture, with 70% taken on by BGR Energy Systems Ltd. A facility for producing 660–1,000 MW class utility steam generators is scheduled to arise in Tamil Nadu by 2012. Following commissioning the idea is for the plant to deliver up to four highly efficient utility steam generators (3,000 MW in total) a year. It is envisaged that some 2,100 skilled employees will be working in production in the Indian federal state of Tamil Nadu in the 2017 business year. Even today BGR and HPE collectively participate as general contractor in various bid invitations for the construction of new coal power plants on the Indian sub-continent.

Modern coal power plants - for which HPE also supplies utility steam generators in Germany and abroad - attain efficiencies of up to 46% and thus represent some of the most modern of their kind in the world (in comparison: the average efficiency figure for the world is 30% and in the EU 38%). These high efficiency rates are obtained from the use of "supercritical" utility steam generators (300+ bar steam pressure and 600°C+ steam temperature). These kind of supercritical utility steam generators will also be built in India by the HPE and BGR joint venture. Higher efficiency power plants require less fuel to generate the same amount of electricity. This has the effect of both significantly lowering emissions – particularly CO₂ – and sparing valuable resources (fuel).

Even now Hitachi Power Europe produces major power plant components (such as pressure parts, coal mills/burners, steel structures) in its subsidiaries and related companies and, at the same time, can access highly efficient steam generators through the Hitachi Group.  HPE is currently constructing 12 utility steam generators for two power plant sites in South Africa. Since South African coal is very similar (heating value, ash content etc.) to the coal in India, Hitachi Power Europe can resort to its experience and tried-and-tested products in this part of Africa.

According to Klaus Dieter Rennert, the latest joint venture for constructing utility steam generators has not only made the German energy plant constructor more independent in production. "The cooperation will also safeguard the jobs of colleagues in Germany in the years to come."

Along with this joint venture for utility steam generators, a further agreement was signed between BGR and HPE parent company Hitachi, Ltd., for the production of steam turbines for coal power plants. This puts Hitachi Power Europe, Hitachi, Ltd., and BGR into the position as EPC contractor of supplying all the major components of a power plant – from utility steam generators through to turbines/generators and environmental engineering – and placing them into operation.

In view of its size and enormous demand for new plants, the Indian power plant sector will continue to provide considerable opportunities for HPE. With a 1.2 billion population, the Indian sub-continent has 160,000 MW of installed electricity generating capacity (compared with 500 million people in the EU 27 and 820,000 MW); two-thirds of the electricity required comes from fossil fuel-fired power plants. The required overall capacity is set to rise to over 330,000 MW by 2017.

First Steps into a Promising Market

HPE was one of the main sponsors of the “Energetika 2010” trade fair in Serbia

Duisburg/Zlatibor. High-calibre technical addresses, numerous talks with potential customers and considerable interest shown in the products and know-how of Hitachi Power Europe (HPE) – this was the outcome of the 3-day “Energetika 2010” trade fair held in Zlatibor (Serbia). HPE was the main sponsor for the first time of this important energy congress.

In the years to come, the power plant market in Serbia and in the other countries of eastern and southern Europe will become increasingly significant for HPE. The reasons were quite obvious according to Benjamin Wakounig, HPE representative for the countries of former Yugoslavia. “Most of the electricity in Serbia is generated in lignite power plants built in the 1970s. These plants are obsolete on account of the war and the embargo and are in urgent need of revamping.” Hence, one of the principal matters at the conference was looking into what needed to be done for Serbia – as a candidate for joining the EU – to meet the strict European Union emission requirements. Several hundred participants followed the technical presentations by HPE. Christian Kissling, responsible for sales in the region, said there was considerable interest shown in HPE’s expertise in modern firing technologies. Own key components ensure that not only nitrogen oxide emissions are cut to a minimum – they also optimize the combustion process, raise plant efficiencies and thus reduce coal consumption. A clear case here of environmental protection that pays for itself. As a specialist for lignite firing equipment, HPE can provide both extensive references and highly efficient products in the form, for instance, of its own coal mills and the patented RS burners. Not to be left out is HPE’s competence in environmental engineering, says Dr. Matthias Jochem, Head of Sales & Proposals: “As such, we can provide all the principal components – including those of flue gas desulphurization – to revamp plants from a single source.”

The fact that HPE products are in demand for plant upgrades in eastern Europe was demonstrated just a few months ago when in November 2009 EPS, the state run Serbian energy supplier, signed a contract for 3 units to be upgraded of the Nikola Tesla A (TENT A) lignite power plant. The order had a volume of EUR 36 million. The possible extent of what revamping the Serbian power plant complex could mean was made clear in the opening address of Serbian Energy Minister, Petar Skundric, who spoke of EUR 9 billion being invested by the Serbian energy sector in energy projects in the years to come. This is backed up by an ongoing study with energy supplier EPS estimating that just over EUR 500 million alone will have to be invested for desulphurization of the existing plants up to 2015. HPE Director Wolfgang Marschewski: “The TENT A order and the Energetika trade fair represent just our first steps in entering the promising eastern European market. More will follow. After all, the potential is huge and includes new building projects.”

First boiler column set at the 4800 MW Medupi power plant

A Milestone for the Supply of Energy in South Africa

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Duisburg, 18.01.2010. It is the first major milestone on the way to a more stable and environmentally compatible supply of energy in South Africa. The talk here is of the first boiler column which was set down at the Medupi site for the future 4,800 MW utility power plant on Saturday 16 January. Over the next few years, a total of 12 bituminous coal power plant units will arise at Medupi, which is some 350 kms away from Johannesburg, and at a another site (Kusile) which, on their completion, will ensure an almost 20% share of the overall supply of electricity in South Africa. Together with South African subsidiary Hitachi Power Africa (pty) (HPA), Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (HPE) is supplying the utility steam generators (boilers) for these two projects. The order volume amounts to around EUR 4 billion.

At the end of 2007/start of 2008, the Duisburg energy plant constructor – a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. – received the order from Eskom, South Africa's state-owned energy supplier, to design, construct and commission 12 utility steam generators each of a 800 MWe capacity. These key components will be erected at the two power plant sites of Medupi and Kusile (Limpopo province) by 2016/ 2017. After some two years of groundwork, which has seen HPE/ HPA, for instance, constructing considerable manufacturing capacities in South Africa and training large numbers of skilled workers, the first boiler column setting ceremony marks the first milestone reached.

Medupi is the first new bituminous coal power plant that has been constructed in South Africa for over 25 years. The 6 utility steam generators being built there have a high operating efficiency and are considerably more efficient than existing plants. As less fuel (coal) is needed for the same capacity, the power plant units emit less carbon dioxide and can be run more economically. "The use of the most up-to-date technology thus conserves valuable resources and substantially cuts back on emissions", said Klaus Dieter Rennert, Chief Executive Officer of HPE. "This is of decisive significance for countries with pronounced economic growth rates, such as South Africa, which are dependent on an assured and environmentally compatible supply of energy."

At the same time, the Medupi project and the identically designed utility steam generators for the Kusile location include far more than just installation and commissioning. HPE and HPA are also undertaking considerable investments in people and machines on the spot. For instance, around 60% of the order volume remains in the country as local value added. A host of components which make up a utility steam generator (including pressure parts and steelwork sections) are manufactured in South Africa and over 1,400 South African workers are being qualified. In addition, there are some 300 trainees who, in cooperation with local sponsoring organizations, are trained in technical occupations and trades. This will enable them to find qualified jobs even when the construction project is over. Some 3,000 jobs have been created up to now on the project site and in the component supply companies.

The next few months will see the boiler supporting structure being put up for the first power plant unit in Medupi to be followed by construction of the actual utility steam generator. As for the rest of the units at Medupi, they will go up one by one separated by several months in-between. Going on stream at the beginning of 2016 will be the final utility steam generator – this will be the case for Kusile in 2017.

"The two projects at Medupi and Kusile represent just the start of our long-term commitment in South Africa and the neighboring countries", according to Klaus Dieter Rennert. "In this region there is a considerable demand for the construction of highly efficient power plants and the firm will to see it through. This is a potential which we intend to exhaust to the full with our expertise and excellent products - and that includes environmental protection.“

• Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (HPE), a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., designs and constructs fossil fuel-fired power plants and, with its references, is one of the market and technology leaders. The energy plant constructor also supplies key components such as utility steam generators, environmental technology equipment, turbines and pulverizers. The company has been based at the Inner Port in Duisburg (North–Rhine Westphalia) since 2007 and has a workforce (including associated companies and manufacturing facilities) numbering approximately 1,900. Within the Hitachi Group, Hitachi Power Europe is responsible for the markets in Europe, the former CIS states and in Africa.

 

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zoom image	Taking part in the ceremony were also Brain Dames (left), Eskom’s Chief Officer for Generation Business, and Klaus-Dieter Rennert, Chief Executive Officer of HPE.
zoom image	The 1st. boiler column represents a major milestone in that the first coal power plant in South Africa for over 25 years is being built.
zoom image	By the beginning of 2016 six power plant units will have arisen in Medupi. Six more will be constructed at the neighboring Kusile location.
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Contracts signed on upgrading Serbian power plants

Foot-in-the-Door for Further Projects in Eastern Europe

Duisburg, 10.12.2009. The first service order from Eastern Europe has been signed. Hitachi Power Europe (HPE) will undertake modernization of 3 units of the Nikola Tesla A lignite power plant in Obrenovac / Serbia. The power plant rehabilitation provides for a number of benefits: the modernized systems can be more economically run, they discharge fewer emissions (including CO2 down by 150,000 tons a year), have a higher efficiency and, as a result, save on valuable resources.

Dragomir Markovic, General Director of EPS, the state-run energy supplier, came over to Duisburg and to the Hitachi Power Office (HPO) to sign the contract. The order is valued at EUR 36 million with most of it financed by the KfW Development Bank. As Serbia generates the bulk of its power from an obsolete lignite-fired power plant complex, HPE thus set a milestone here for the pending upgrading work at other units in the country. “We are not only interested in acquiring new construction projects in Eastern Europe”, said Klaus-Dieter Rennert, Chief Executive Office of HPE. “Potential is also substantial from extensive power plant rehabilitations involving either a major design engineering share or retrofitting flue gas desulphurization equipment. Our strategy has been endorsed by the contract just signed.” Klaus-Dieter Rennert went on to say that modernizing Nikola Tesla A was an important foot-in-the-door for HPE’s service business.

The three units of the Nikola Tesla power plant lying some 30 kms south-west of Belgrade are from the 1970s. The modernization is to be collectively realized in a consortium with Serbian partners. The scope of the order involves modernizing 16 DGS mills of the 300 MW units of Nikola Tesla (TENT) – A3, A4 and A5. TENT A5 includes the delivery of 18 circular jet (RS) burners. The solution is similar to that undertaken with two pilot coal mills which HPE implemented in the TENT A3 unit in 2005 / 2006. Measurement rechecks in the fall of 2008 have confirmed the effectiveness of these steps. The benefits from modernization are clearly in evidence. Along with a higher fuel throughput rate, combustion (on account of finer pulverization) is improved, the loss from unburnt residue reduced and firing stability raised. In conjunction with the oil saved, this represents a significant economic aspect. These steps – and the HPE patented RS burners – represent one prerequisite for meeting the required stringent EU environmental demands on NOx emissions (200mg/Nm³).

Attractive Employer

Six trainee apprentices taken on at Hitachi Power Europe

Duisburg, 1.9 2009. The interest was enormous - more than 60 young people from the pure calculation side applied for each training post on offer at Hitachi Power Europe (HPE). Six of them will start their working life today on 1 September at the energy plant constructor. The interest shown is no real surprise - after all, the company is an attractive employer in view of the favorable order situation and international alignment.

"Planning and setting up fossil-fired power plants is an extremely demanding task". This was the message sent out by Klaus J. Schmitz, HPE Director, to the apprentice trainees on their first working day. "After all, there are only a few companies in the world with the necessary expertise and experience to build ultra-modern power plants. And to this end teams with true clout and motivation are needed."

The selection procedure for the 375 young people who applied at Hitachi Power Europe was also demanding. Six young men and women managed to obtain one of the training posts as office communications clerk, industrial clerk or technical draughtsperson. Head of Training Lutz Lohmann explained that aside from a good average grade – particularly in key subjects such as German, Maths and Physics – HPE placed considerable value on foreign languages. "We are, after all, an internationally operating company: the fact that we, for instance, build plants in South Africa, obtain supplies from Eastern Europe and talks things over with our Japanese colleagues shows that a good knowledge of English is indispensable."

Two of the 6 trainee apprentices - Ramona-Marina Kieslich (office communications clerk) and Florian Wittfeld (technical draughtsman) come from Duisburg. The other four live in Essen (Melissa Raatz/ office communications clerk); Jens Theodor Oberholz/ industrial clerk), Moers (Martin Brand/ industrial clerk) and Oberhausen (Lisa Marie Graupe/ technical draughtswoman). They get to know their contacts and the company more closely over the first few working days.

Over the next 3 or 3½ years the young people will experience work in the most varied of training stations – from Purchasing to Controlling, from Project Handling to Sales and from Marketing to Human Resources. The technical draughtpersons work for an additional few months in the ThyssenKrupp Steel trainee workshop. A visit to a power plant is also on the programme. And what happens after training? Head of Training Lutz Lohmann is confident here: "Every trainee apprentice at Hitachi Power Europe GmbH is provided with a permanent position."

Group photo in front of the Hitachi Power Office at the Inner Port: (from l. to r.) Lisa Marie Graupe, Melissa Raatz, Jens Theodor Oberholz, Florian Wittfeld, Ramona-Marina Kieslich and Martin Brand started their training at Hitachi Power Europe on 1 September. HPE Director Klaus J. Schmitz, Marco Konstantinovic (Head of Human Resources), Wolfgang Ringelband (Chairman of the Works Council) and Lutz Lohmann (Head of Training) explained what the new employees could expect to see happening over the next three to three and a half years in the company.

Successful Boiler Pressure Test at Walsum 10

- Milestone in power plant construction - Celebration attended by NRW Economics Minister Christa Thoben - Highly efficient plant with 45% + efficiency


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Essen/Duisburg/Maria Enzersdorf. A major milestone has been reached: the new "Walsum 10" coal power plant has successfully concluded its boiler pressure test. After two and a half years of construction, the purchasers - Evonik Industries AG, the industrial concern from Essen, and EVN AG, energy supplier from Lower Austria - together with energy plant constructor Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (HPE) celebrated the ceremony in Duisburg-Walsum. Over 300 guests including Christa Thoben, Economics Minister for North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), participated in the official ceremony.

"Renewal of the coal power fleet can provide the most important country-specific contribution to climate protection. There is no alternative to highly efficient, ultra-modern coal power plants such as Walsum" said Economics Minister Christa Thoben. She went on to say that the NRW state government was backing this power plant technology since it was to contribute in large measure to a reduction of CO₂ emissions in North-Rhine Westphalia by 2020.

"Coal will continue to remain indispensable to secure an assured and economical supply of electricity. Moreover, highly efficient and resource-conserving plants such as Walsum 10 will enable us to uphold our responsibility in climate protection matters", according to Dr. Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG. He added that in view of the higher degree of efficiency the new unit required less fuel for the same output compared with today's power plants. Dr. Engel stressed that this not only conserved valuable resources but, at the same time, reduced CO₂ emissions in electricity generation.

"Everywhere in Europe the need is for efficient, safe power plants with the highest environmental standards", states Dr. Burkhard Hofer, Chief Executive of EVN AG. "This project is therefore an important step in getting well equipped to face the future challenges on the European power market."

Walsum 10 represents an important reference plant for plant constructor Hitachi Power Europe says Klaus-Dieter Rennert, Chairman of the HPE Board of Directors: "The new structure confirms that Hitachi Power Europe not only has technologically high-grade and competitive products but, at the same time, is an experienced specialist for all-in solutions in the power plant field."

Following its completion, the coal power plant with a 45%+ efficiency will be one of the most modern of its kind in the world. Approx. EUR 820 million is being invested by Evonik Industries AG and EVN AG in the new plant. The coal unit is being installed in a turnkey manner by Hitachi Power Europe in Duisburg-Walsum at an existing Evonik power plant site. Going into service is planned for 2010.

The most complex single component of the power plant is the 106 meter high utility steam generator (boiler). The future will see extremely hot (over 600°C) steam under a very high pressure (approx. 274 bar) being generated in the utility steam generator. The steam will then flow into a turbine with an attached generator converting the moving energy into electrical energy. The boiler pressure test now officially endorses the ability of the boiler to withstand the high pressures. TÜV Nord has issued the certificate in question. Around 9,900 tons of steel have been used. The piping has a total length of approx. 450 kms and 35,000 welds had to be welded at the pressure part.

Modern materials are responsible for the high 45%+ efficiency. They, in turn, allow higher temperatures and pressures to be realized in the boiler. At the same time, a host of individual steps keep down the internal electrical demands of the power plant unit. For comparative purposes: coal power plants in Germany have an average 38% efficiency and across the world is it is only 30%..

The employment effects from this new power plant are considerable for the energy state of North-Rhine Westphalia and the Ruhr, in particular. Since numerous power plant component manufacturers have their head offices in the Rhine/Ruhr area, a considerable slice of the investment sum goes on strengthening the regional economy. Much of the EUR two-digit million infrastructure volume required, for instance, on roads, construction and earthworks, have been and will be undertaken by companies in the region. At peak periods more than 1,500 tradesmen, technicians and other specialist have been at work on the site. Following commissioning 60 extra, long-term jobs will be in evidence at the location.

Facts and Figures on Walsum 10:

Installed capacity	750 MW class
Efficiency	45%+
Investment volume	EUR 820 million
Fuel	Coal
Laying the foundation stone	20 November 2006
Scheduled commissioning	2010

Information on the companies

Evonik Industries is a creative industrial concern in Germany with Chemicals, Energy and Estate business units. Evonik is one of the world's leading companies in speciality chemicals, an expert for coal-derived electrical generation and renewable energies as well as being one of the largest private housing associations in Germany. Our strengths are in creativity, speciality work, continuous self-renewal and dependability. Evonik operates in over 100 countries across the world. In fiscal 2008, the 41,000 employees were responsible for a turnover of EUR 15.9 billion and EBITDA of some EUR 2.2 billion.

EVN AG is an international, stock exchange-quoted energy and services company with head offices in Lower Austria, the largest of the Austrian federal states. On the basis of the most up-to-date infrastructure, EVN provides its customers with electricity, gas, heat, water and the related work & services from a single source. EVN's range of supplies & services safeguards and enhances the quality of life for over 3 million customers in 198 different countries.

Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (HPE), a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., designs and builds fossil-fired power plants and, with its plant references, is one of the market and technology leaders. The energy plant constructor also delivers key components such as utility steam generators, environmental technology, turbines and pulverizers. Since 2007 the company has had its head offices at the Inner Harbor in Duisburg / North-Rhine Westphalia and has a workforce (including related companies and manufacturing facilities) of around 1,800. Within the Hitachi Group, Hitachi Power Europe is responsible for the markets in Europe, the former CIS states, Africa and the Middle East.

 

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zoom image	Those taking part in the boiler pressure test (from l.): Joachim Rumstadt (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Evonik Steag GmbH), Sir Stephen Gomersall (Chief Executive for Europe, Hitachi Ltd., and Hitachi Europe Ltd.), Dr. Klaus Engel (Chairman of the Executive Board, Evonik Industries AG), Dr. Christa Thoben (Minister for Economic Matters, Small & Medium-Sized Companies and Energy of the Federal German state of North-Rhine Westphalia), Toshiaki Higashihara (President, Hitachi Power Europe GmbH), Dr. Burkhard Hofer (Chief Executive, EVN AG), Volker Klosowski (Management Board member, TÜV NORD AG) and Peter Layr (Executive Board member, EVN AG)
zoom image	The successful boiler pressure test becomes official with the boiler plate stamp.
zoom image	Some 300 guests from the world of politics and business took up the invitation of Evonik Industries, EVN AG and Hitachi Power Europe GmbH to the ceremony on the Duisburg-Walsum construction site.

Successful Boiler Pressure Test in Gent

Blast furnace gas-fired power plant going on stream in October

Duisburg, 31 May 2009 Following on from Duisburg-Hamborn and Baoshan (China), it is now the turn of the Belgian port of Gent to see a further blast furnace gas-fi red boiler – this time from Hitachi Power Europe (HPE) – going on stream this year. Under the critical eyes of the German TÜV and Belgian Vincotte (authorized inspecting agencies), the plant has now passed its boiler pressure test. The capital expenditure fi gure for the utility steam generator is approx. EUR 80 million. Energy supplier Electrabel is investing EUR 300 million in the construction of the power plant currently being undertaken under the central handling of Siemens.

Blast furnace gas – a mixture of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, CO2 and hydrogen – is a residual product from steel production. It arises in the blast furnace from where it is withdrawn, cleaned and then used as a combustible gas for power generation purposes. However, in many steelworks – in eastern Europe for instance – blast furnace gas is still simply burned off. Looked at this way, this additional form of power generation represents a meaningful contribution to both conserving resources and protecting the environment. During the boiler pressure test a specialist checks to see whether the boiler withstands the high stresses (steam temperature and pressure) without any leaks appearing. To this end, a 420 bar steam pressure was generated in the boiler at Gent – considerably in excess of the 240 bar needed under normal operations. Complete seal tightness was the result from the subsequent inspection undertaken by the specialists. Thus the material used – heating surfaces, headers and walls of the boiler supplied by HPE subsidiary “Meeraner Dampfkesselbau GmbH” – had proved its strength. This was fi nally documented by site management and TÜV in the form of the traditional plate stamp affi xed to the boiler. The blast furnace gas-fired boiler in Gent is of the same type as those of RWE Power AG in Duisburg-Hamborn (commissioned in 2003) and the Baoshan Iron & Steel Company in Baoshan / Shanghai (2008). “Since in contrast to coal or lignite combustion no coal dust arises in blast furnace gas, there is no need for any flue gas cleaning”, said Wilhelm Dickel, Technical Project Head for Gent. Even so, fresh challenges arise in any major project due to the fact, for instance, that as in Gent new materials (heat-resistant steels) are used or the installation deadline schedules are very tight. “The unfavorable weather at the coastal location kept on putting certain limitations on our work”, commented Wolfgang Marschewski, Managing Director of Hitachi Power Europe. “In spite of this, the considerable personal commitment of the installation team led by HPE has enabled practically all the tight deadline targets to be met.”In October of this year the expectation is for the 300 megawatt plant to go on stream and turn into electricity the blast furnace gas from the adjoining steel works. This will be a further milestone for energy plant constructor Hitachi Power Europe.

Combined-cycle plant in Malmö to be operating commercially in August

31.03.2009 - Gas Turbine Successfully Fired

A critical milestone has been reached: On 31 March at precisely 12.32 pm the gas turbine at the Malmö power plant was officially fired. The gas turbine reached its nominal rotating speed and the balance of power plant equipment needed was placed as planned into service. Thus the end of the ambitious Hitachi Power Europe construction project is now in sight after some two and a half years. The complete plant is scheduled to go into commercial operation in August 2009.

The combined-cycle (gas & steam) power plant in the southern Swedish port of Malmö is one of the most modern of its kind. Its capacity amounts to 440 megawatts (MW) for power and 250 MW for heat and under combined operations the energy of the fuel gas is utilized to 89 % – an absolute peak fi gure in the world. In 2006 HPE and GE Energy obtained the order to build the plant (investment volume: approx. EUR 220m) with HPE responsible for the balance of power plant equipment, overall plant design, constructional planning/ implementation, erection and startup management and with GE Energy’s contribution being made with the powertrain and instrumentation & control. The construction of the combined cycle plant presented the planners with real challenges. On the one hand, the key components – gas turbine set, steam turbine set, heat recovery boiler – had to be integrated into the existing building of a 1950s coal-fi red power plant. On the other, the constructional state of the building was problematical – something which the HPE staff noticed only too well at the start of work in September 2006. “The supports for instance in the turbine shop were not of a suffi cient bearing capacity and had to be revamped at considerable expense.

Moreover, hundreds of tons of additional steel girders were needed to prop up floor elements”, stated Olaf Lipinski, Technical Project Head for the plant in Malmö. Another problem was bound up with port proximity and the high ground water level. After all, the engineers had to have sheet pile walls put into position and water pumped out so that the foundation and piling work could proceed. At peak periods some 70 Hitachi Power Offi ce staff and a workforce numbering 500, including constructional management personnel on the site, were occupied with the construction of the combined-cycle power plant. The original intention had been for the plant to be operating commercially at the beginning of 2009. “The difficulties have had an effect on the schedule so that now the complete plant will be handed over to E.ON Värmekraft Sverige AB in August”, explains Björn Ahrendt, Commercial Project Head. There are still a number of things to be done before that. April will see the gas turbine generator being synchronized for the first time and will thus go on stream, whilst the steam turbine will be started at the beginning of May. When the combined cycle power plant is in operation from August it will not only be supplying electricity and district heat for Malmö but will also be making a major contribution to climate protection. This comes in the form of the power plant replacing existing coal-fi red plants in Scandinavia and a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by approx. one million tons a year.

Donation Hand-Over to Charitable Organizations /First Trainee Year Starts at the Hitachi Power Office

Duisburg, 1 September  Premier at the Hitachi Power Office (HPO. For the first time training representatives, Works Council, Board of Directors, Head of Human Resources and trainees of the current age-groups welcomed the six new apprentice trainees at the beginning of their occupational life at the Duisburg Inner Harbor. Training for the last apprentice trainee year began, in fact, at the Duisburger Str. in Oberhausen. Every year since 2004, the company has taken on six new trainees as office communication clerks, industrial clerks and technical draughtspeople.

At the beginning of their first working day at the Hitachi Power Office on September 1 and following a "warm welcome", Klaus J. Schmitz, Managing Director of Hitachi Power Europe (HPE) and Wolfgang Ringelband, Chairman of the Works Council, briefly presented the company to the trainees. After the official welcome, the trainees – in a relaxed atmosphere - then got to know instructors, training representatives and other key people who will be monitoring them throughout their training. The instructors and training representatives are available to help the trainees in all matters of training and to support them during their work in the operating departments.

New to the programme was the hand-over of donations to four charitable organizations from Oberhausen and Duisburg. As part of the trainees welcoming ceremony, the company wishes to stress to young people at HPE the importance of local welfare commitments for an internationally operating company. The local charitable thought is one very much in line with the corporate philosophy of principal shareholder Hitachi Ltd. From 2004 Hitachi Power Europe has donated EUR 2,000-- each year to the Oberhausener Tafel, Friedensdorf International and Kinderdorf Rio. Following the move to the Inner Harbor, HPE has now also given consideration to the Duisburger Tafel. One of the inside courtyards at HPO provided almost a daylight setting for the donation hand-over in surroundings both relaxed and friendly. Each of the charitable organization representatives sketched in their work and thanked the company.