Evonik acquires mine gas cogeneration plant in Poland
SFW Energia, a Polish subsidiary of Evonik New Energies GmbH, has acquired a mine gas cogeneration plant in Upper Silesia. The plant has a total installed output of 40 megawatts of thermal energy and 5 megawatts of electricity.
Based on its excellent positioning in Germany in the field of renewable energy resources, Evonik is pursuing the strategy of exploiting the energy potential of mine gas in Central and eastern Europe. For Wolfgang Ney, a member of the board of management of SFW Energia, the acquisition of the mine gas-fired cogeneration plant in Poland is an important step in strengthening Evonik’s market position in the energetic recycling of mine gas in this region. "Poland is one of the key growth markets for renewable energies. Polish hard coal mines generate around 0.9 billion cubic metres of mine gas annually. At the moment less than 20% of that is reused. The mine gas-fired power plant is an important reference project for us in the Polish mine gas market," Ney says.
The plant comprises three gas engines and three hot water boilers. These are fuelled by mine gas and coal from the nearby Budryk mine near Ornontowice. The Budryk mine began operation in 1994 and currently mines around 3 million tonnes of power station coal and coke. The mine utilises all the electric power and a large part of the heat generated.
SFW Energia supplies municipal and industrial customers in Poland with heat and electricity, constructs and operates local heating systems and utilises mine gas for energetic recycling. Based in Gliwice/Upper Silesia, the company currently operates electricity and district heating supply systems at eight locations across Poland. Its key industrial account is the Opel assembly plant in Gliwice, which SFW Energia supplies with heat for room heating and for production purposes (paint bath).
Evonik New Energies GmbH is positioned as a contractor in the field of decentralised energy supply. The company specialises in developing tailor-made energy solutions for its customers on the basis of efficient and sustainable concepts. The energy sources drawn on range from biomass, biogas and mine gas, to the utilisation of geothermal energy.
About Evonik
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group based in Germany. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialisation, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2009 around 39,000 employees generated sales of around €13.1 billion and an operating profit (EBITDA) of around €2.0 billion.
Disclaimer
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