Cutting emissions and energy losses at Poland's largest power plant

Over 90% of Poland’s electricity is generated from fossil fuel, predominantly coal. The eco-efficiency of each generating unit is therefore of paramount importance, both in terms of environmental impact and investment.

One way to reduce environmental impact is to employ ultra-supercritical technology, which helps power generating plants increase electrical output while burning less coal. It is this technology which is being developed at the existing coal-fired power plant in the city of Opole, Poland.

Here, Polimex Projekt Opole Sp. z o.o., an Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) company executing a power generation project for the Polish utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), is currently working to expand the plant with two new ultra-supercritical high-power generation units.

This will add 1,800 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity to the 1,532 MW plant and will make it Poland's largest coal-fired power plant when completed in 2019.

The expanded plant will represent around eight percent of the country’s installed generating capacity.

ABB transformers to optimize energy usage

ABB has been selected to supply low-loss power transformers that help the plant achieve an overall efficiency level of 45.5 percent (higher than the EU average level of about 40 percent). This helps improve power production, lowers emissions and makes Opole's new generating units among the world’s most efficient power plants.

ABB's scope of supply includes delivery, installation and commissioning of seven single-phase transformers, rated at 375 megawatt amperes (MVA)/400 kilovolts (kV); four three-phase multi-tap transformers, and two three-phase backup transformers. Deliveries are scheduled for 2016 and 2017.

The company’s innovative solution connects three single-phase units with busbars to achieve the equivalent capacity of a single three-phase transformer, which minimizes size and weight and increases system reliability because the single-phase units can be replaced by an identical backup transformer any time.

“Our low-loss transformers are designed to maximize energy efficiency across the lifecycle,” said Markus Heimbach, head of ABB’s Transformers business, a part of the company’s Power Products division. “This is very much in line with our commitment to help shape a more sustainable world.”