Siemens turbines to power combined cycle plant in Michigan

Siemens is supplying two gas turbines and one steam turbine for the Holland Energy Park combined cycle power plant in Holland, Michigan, USA. The plant is likely to generate approximately 125 MW in summer and 145 MW in winter. Siemens is providing two SGT-800 gas turbines and one SST-400 steam turbine. Siemens will also provide a long-term service contract for the SGT-800 gas turbines.

With the new technology the CO2-emissions at the site is expected to come down by nearly 50 percent. The plant uses surplus heat from the circulating water system for use in expanding a downtown snowmelt system. The new plant’s cogeneration capabilities provide it with high fuel efficiency level. Commercial operation of the plant is scheduled for fall 2016.

Replacing coal-fired plant

The local municipal utility, Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW), is replacing a coal-fired plant with a new fuel efficient modern power plant. The Holland Energy Park power plant will be built in the City of Holland, located in the western part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

The City of Holland maintains a municipally-owned snowmelt system in the United States, and the underground pipe system spans roughly 46,000 square meters of city roads and sidewalks. From October to April, Michigan has about 32 days’ average total snowfall, with up to 177 centimeters per year. Circulating water from the Holland Energy Park plant will be run through a heat exchanger to warm water for the snowmelt system in the downtown area. This, in turn, alleviates the need to salt or plow during the winter months. The system can melt approximately 2.5 centimeters of snow per hour in temperatures of -9 to -7 degrees Celsius.

Wolfgang Konrad, head of the Distributed Generation business unit within the Siemens Power and Gas Division said the new combined cycle plant makes a two-fold contribution to environmental protection. “On the one hand it replaces a coal-fired plant, which halves the CO2 emissions, and, on the other, it helps do away with the need for salt and grit in the winter.”