Turning Up The Power In Italy

BY IAN CAMERON

Centrax Gas Turbines has installed and commissioned two CX501-KB5 DLE generator sets for Hera, an Italian multi-utility company.

The two packages, powered by Siemens 501-K engines, were made at Centrax’s headquarters in Newton Abbot, England 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 center in Montale.

The gas turbine-powered units each provide up to 3.9 MW of electrical power at Hera’s new cogeneration plant in Bologna replacing an existing thermal power plant coming to the end of its operational life. Hera operates in the distribution of gas, water, energy and waste disposal in various provinces throughout Italy, including Bologna, Modena, Ravenna, and Rimini.

Attached to two boilers supplied by Ruths, which is based in Genoa, Italy, the generator sets will enable Bologna-based Hera to heat around 8000 apartments in the Reno-Borgo Panigale district of Bologna with the capacity to double this amount.

The Centrax equipment will also help to reduce the environmental impact from the decommissioned thermal plant, the company said.   For each thermal year, a reduction of 21000kg of nitrogen oxide and 2500 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be avoided and the heat from the cogeneration process will go from 28.9% to 51% said Centrax Gas Turbines which specialises in the manufacture and service of gas turbine-powered generator sets ranging from 3 to 15 MW using core engines from Siemens.

Toby Boys, Centrax’s European sales manager said: “ The 501-KB5 DLE generator sets are well suited to this project, providing Hera with a compact yet powerful solution that enables excellent flexibility as and when heat and power are needed.   Thanks to the state-of-the-art technology, Hera is able to control the facilities from a remote center allowing for minimal personnel requirements at site.”