The cornerstone has been laid in Grudziadz for a 560 MW gas-fired power plant. It will be one of the most advanced plants of its kind in Europe, providing electricity to a million households. The use of a highly flexible CCGT unit will ensure that the new plant will work effectively with renewable energy sources, thereby contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions without the risk of disrupting electricity supply to consumers.
The investment project is managed by the consortium of MYTILINEOS Energy & Metals and Siemens Energy for the client ORLEN Group/Energa. The technology to be used in the construction of the unit in Grudziądz will be one of the most advanced solutions available on the market. The CCGT unit under construction will have high efficiency, more than 60 percent under nominal conditions, high availability and the already mentioned flexibility of operation.
“ As one of the Top10 EPC contractors globally, our company has a successful track record of more than 16GW of power units, both for other major clients and for the company itself. We specialize on executing complex projects in a variety of difficult circumstances with the biggest OEMs globally, for clients operating at the highest standards, such as RWE, OMV, DRAX (UK), ORLEN etc.”, underlines Kostas Horinos, Executive Director for Power Projects at MYTILINEOS Energy & Metals.
“The investment in Grudziądz is an extremely significant milestone on Poland’s map towards decarbonisation the energy sector in the country, which will be reflected in reducing CO2 emissions”, says Grzegorz Należyty, Vice President for Eastern Europe & Managing Director of Siemens Energy in Poland.
To date, the staff has safely worked nearly 80,000 man-hours on site, without a single accident. The work is currently being carried out by about eighty people, but at its peak, when the installation of the main plant equipment begins, the number will rise to about 600.
In total, the construction of the unit will require the pouring of about 30,000 m3 of reinforced concrete, the use of a total of about 10,000 tonnes of reinforcing and structural steel, over 500 tonnes of pipes and more than 400 km of cables. The power plant’s turbine set alone will weigh a total of more than a thousand tonnes.
In December 2021, a 17-year capacity market contract was signed with the Transmission System Operator, with first supplies planned in 2026. The power plant in Grudziądz contracted 518 MW of capacity in total, which guarantees it will earn at least PLN 3.5 billion in revenue.
State-of-the art powerplant signals the beginning of a new era for Poland’s energy system
The power plant in Grudziądz will be one of the largest and most advanced investment projects of its kind in Poland. It is an important element of the expansion of the energy segment, based on renewable power generation and stable low-emission sources, in line with the ORLEN Group’s 2030 strategy.
«The ORLEN Group is pursuing the most ambitious energy transition strategy in our region. The goal is emission neutrality; therefore wind and PV farm generation will be complemented by state-of-the-art highly flexible gas-fired power plants, capable of responding quickly to changes in RES generation. This will make it possible for us to ensure a stable electricity supply to consumers regardless of weather conditions or time of day. In doing so, we rely on cutting-edge solutions to ensure high operational efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness", says Daniel Obajtek, President of PKN ORLEN's Management Board.
Start-up time is one of the key parameters for plants intended for balancing the operation of the power system. The shorter it is, the easier it is to respond to the variability of RES electricity generation. In this respect, the unit being built by MYTILINEOS for CCGT Grudziądz will achieve one of the highest performance levels in the market and thus it will play an important role in ensuring the country's energy security.
The contract for the construction of the 560 MW plant was signed in May 2022.
The completion of the foundation work in respect of the plant's key equipment, including the gas and steam turbines and the generator, is scheduled for the first half of 2024. The plant will become operational in 2025.
