Fortum Zabrze has awarded a contract to Amec Foster Wheeler for the design, supply, construction and commissioning boiler island with flue gas cleaning for a new multi-fuel circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) steam generating combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Zabrze, in Southern Poland.

Under the contract, Amec Foster will construct new multi-fuel boiler which will be powered by refuse derived fuel (RDF) and coal but can also use biomass and a mixture of other materials. The contract value remains undisclosed.

The amount of RDF can be up to 50% of the total fuel usage.

Expected to replace old coal-fired units in Zabrze and nearby city of Bytom, the 220MW power plant will have a maximum production capacity of 145MW for heating and 75MW for electricity generation.

Scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2018, the power plant is designed to provide district heating to approximately 70,000 households.

Amec Foster Wheeler Global Power Group, group president Gary Nedelka said: "This is the second CFB project we have supplied to Fortum in Poland and another demonstration of the fuel flexibility of our CFBs.

"Our units are capable of firing nearly all solid fuels – including waste products that otherwise would have been land-filled."

The company said that the investment would enhance the operations efficiency while reducing CO2 and other emissions in the area.