OREANDA-NEWS. With the Energy Efficiency Law of Romania and financial incentives for cogeneration driving the country to adopt more energy efficiency practices, energy services company Bepco srl today showcased the success of four high-efficiency combined heat and power (CHP) plants at the heart of a district heating system in the city of Brasov. The stations are powered by 11 ecomagination* approved Jenbacher gas engines from GE’s Distributed Power business (NYSE: GE).

The four stations are generating 42 megawatts (MW) of power and 38 MW of heat for the city. The project represents Romania’s largest gas engine-based CHP initiative designed to meet a city’s local district heating demands.

“Our CHP projects have overcome one of the major concerns about the efficiency of the city of Brasov’s existing district heating system,” said Simina Costan, managing partner, Bepco. “With the previous heat production and distribution company in Brasov facing financial trouble, we were able to step in with our gas engine solution from GE that allowed us to implement enhanced heating system efficiency for our customers and support Romania’s energy efficiency goals.”

Bepco’s CHP plants, which feature 11 of GE’s Jenbacher Type 6 engines, are part of Romania’s campaign to modernize older, less-efficient municipal and industrial district heating systems to reduce emissions related to energy production. GE’s gas engines are offering Bepco high-efficiency cogeneration featuring more than 84 percent total efficiency and a very high power-to-heat ratio.

“With the majority of heat production facilities in Romania’s cities currently obsolete and running with low efficiency, our higher-efficiency cogeneration gas engines offer great potential for operators seeking to modernize their district heating systems throughout the country,” said Karl Wetzlmayer, general manager—reciprocating engines for GE Power & Water’s Distributed Power business. “We are pleased to help Bepco achieve its efficiency goals through this district heating project.”

An additional advantage of a multiple gas engine power plant is the high plant part-load efficiency and availability. Starting from high simple-cycle gas engine efficiency, the efficiency stays high in part-load operation due to incremental engine shutdown. Meanwhile, the growth of renewable power installations and the intermittency of solar and wind power require more operating flexibility from the conventional power generation portfolio when compared to natural gas systems.

By installing GE’s cogeneration technology instead of separate electrical and thermal power generation equipment, operators receive primary energy savings of roughly 40 percent through reduced fossil fuel consumption. GE’s integrated combustion emissions control system helps meet stringent global regulations, resulting in a lower carbon footprint. For example, a 1 -W CHP solution using one of GE’s reciprocating engines could displace the equivalent CO2 emissions of 800 European cars annually. Also, since CHP systems are located much closer to the end user, energy transportation losses are reduced or eliminated.

For the project, Bepco’s CET Nord 1 station was installed with five of GE’s 4-MW J624 units, and the CET Nord 2 station features three of GE’s two-staged turbocharged, 4.4-MW J624 units (the J624 is the world's first two-stage turbocharged gas engine model). CET Metrom has two J620 units, and the CET Noua station features one J616 unit.

The Bepco projects join a growing list of district heating modernization projects that GE is supporting with its advanced-efficiency gas engine and aeroderivative gas turbines. Additional projects include:

  • GE announced in February 2015 it is supplying European energy developer STC SpA with an ecomagination approved LM6000-PF SPRINT* gas turbine generator as part of the modernization of the city of Oradea‘s district heating plant in northwestern Romania. This marked GE’s first aeroderivative gas turbine order in Romania.
  • GE is supplying six of its Type 6 Jenbacher gas engines to developer S.C. VEST-ENERGO S.A. for a 20-MW cogeneration plant to help upgrade district heating facilities in Bucharest.
  • In 2012, GE, the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company and energy developer ContourGlobal opened a new gas engine cogeneration plant at Coca-Cola Hellenic's Ploiesti bottling facility near Bucharest. The Ploiesti plant was the first of a group of 15 CHP plants to be installed at Coca-Cola Hellenic's facilities in 12 European countries.