BEE selects GE to build biomass-fired power plant in Belgium

Belgian Eco Energy (BEE) has selected GE Power, a unit of digital industrial company GE, to build a greenfield biomass-fired power plant in Ghent, Belgium.

To be powered by wood chips and agro residues, the plant, once completed, will produce around 215MW of clean energy.

The plant is expected to reach more than 60% efficiency when operating in cogeneration mode, with operations expected to start by 2019.

The overall design, engineering and construction of the plant will be provided by GE Steam Power Systems.

The integration of the in-house critical elements of the power block such as the circulating fluidised bed boiler, steam turbine, generator and air quality control systems will also be provided by GE Steam Power Systems.

GE Power president and CEO Steve Bolze said: "By leveraging technologies across different GE businesses — the GE Store — we are well positioned to provide complete, customized solutions to best meet our customers’ needs.

"The project in Ghent demonstrates GE’s capabilities to deliver a broad range of steam power technologies to help our customers deliver reliable power across a variety of fuels including biomass, coal and nuclear-based technologies."

The proposed facility will be equipped with a district heating system of around 110MW thermal energy to provide heating to local industries and households.

Belgian Eco Energy CEO Michael Corten said: "GE’s technology will help us reach the highest net efficiency, reduce operational costs."

The plant’s construction is scheduled to begin this year with an overall investment of over €315m.