Nuon said that the new power plant will replace the old gas-fired power plant Hemweg 7. Hemweg 9 incorporates the environmental friendly techniques.
The new power plant is a CCGT (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine) unit. This type of gas-fired power plant has the highest available efficiency (circa 59%) and, among others due to the built-in unit for capturing nitrogen oxides (NOx), very low emissions, the company said.
The power plant will have a capacity of approximately 435MW, equivalent to the supply of electricity to about 750,000 households. The new power plant will be prepared to supply heat, which will enable the total efficiency to be increased substantially in the future, the company claimed.
Siemens was selected by Nuon as the main contractor following a European tender procedure. It is expected that the construction of the power plant will start in June 2010 and that the plant will be operational end of 2012.
The unit to be replaced comprises a conventional part with a capacity of 511MW which dates from 1979, and a gas turbine that was added in 1988. The conventional part of the new power plant will be closed no later than one year after the new power plant is in operation.
The gas turbine will remain in operation for the supply of peak-hour capacity. On its own, the gas turbine has a capacity of 145MW. The coal-fired unit Hemweg 8, which dates from 1994, will remain in operation.
