France-based Alstom and Marubeni Corporation recently signed a €950m contract with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) for construction of a new 600MW unit for the Mae Moh lignite-fired power plant in Thailand. Located in the northern Thai province of Lampang, the facility has units 4-13 operational at present, all of which had been installed by the Alstom-Marubeni consortium. The new unit is likely to replace units 4-7 among them.
Under the agreement, Alstom will offer its technological expertise for the project in the form of an ultra-supercritical boiler with integrated selective catalytic reduction of NOx (SCR), and ultra-supercritical steam turbine and generator. The company will also deliver air quality control systems for the facility, which will include a wet flue gas desulphurisation (WFGD) system for reducing sulphur oxides by more than 98 percent, and electrostatic precipitators (ESP) to capture particulate and dust emissions.
Ultra-supercritical conditions
Alstom will have a €520m share of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract. The consortium is expected to deliver the new 600MW unit for the facility, and conclude the project by 2018. Once commissioned, the unit will turn the Mae Moh power plant into the first lignite-fired power plant in Asia operating with ultra-supercritical conditions.
Marubeni will be responsible for the rest of the equipment to be installed at the facility, and the civil / installation works. The new installation is expected to increase the efficiency of the power plant, and raise its output. It is also likely to bring down more than 20 percent of CO2 emissions per unit of fuel burned.
