HITACHI POWER SYSTEMS AMERICA, LTD. AWARDED CONTRACT FOR TWO SUPERCRITICAL COAL-FIRED STEAM-ELECTRIC GENERATING POWER BLOCKS FROM AMERICAN MUNICIPAL POWER INC.
BASKING RIDGE, NJ and COLUMBUS, OH, July 13, 2009 - American Municipal Power Inc. (AMP) has awarded a contract for the design and supply of two supercritical, coal-fired steam-electric generating power blocks to Hitachi Power Systems America, Ltd., for the American Municipal Power Generating Station (AMPGS) project.
Each power block consists of a pulverized coal boiler powering a steam turbine generator and the associated nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission control equipment. The AMPGS is a state-of-the-art coal-fired generating project under development in Meigs County, Ohio, adjacent to the Ohio River.
The state-of-the-art supercritical boilers are designed to operate at superheat and reheat steam temperatures and higher pressures resulting in significantly higher plant efficiency. The facility will consume less coal per amount of electricity generated, therefore, increasing efficiency and providing economic and environmental benefits. The boiler systems will also utilize Hitachi’s proven selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, offering high NOx reductions over wide operating load ranges. Once on-line, the AMPGS will be one of the cleanest facilities of its type in the nation.
“The AMPGS project is part of a strategic response by AMP to the increasingly volatile and dysfunctional wholesale power market,” Marc Gerken, president and CEO of AMP stated. “Our members are currently over-exposed to the market and we are pursuing the development of responsible generation projects that will offer a diversified generation portfolio at predictable rates. The contract with Hitachi Power Systems is a significant step forward for the AMPGS project. Last year, AMP awarded a contract for the design and manufacture of turbines and generators for our hydroelectric projects, on which construction started last month, we are moving forward on these projects to the benefit of our members and ultimately, their customers.”
The contract was awarded following an extensive bid and analysis process that included AMP staff, Bechtel Power (the EPC contractor for the project), R.W. Beck (the project’s owner’s engineer), and Burns & Roe (serving as an independent consultant reviewing the contract and bid evaluation).
Henry Bartoli, president and CEO of Hitachi Power Systems America, Ltd. stated, “We are extremely pleased to have been selected by AMP to execute this project and look forward to supporting AMP’s efforts by supplying Hitachi’s most advanced state-of-the-art power plant technologies that will result in clean, efficient and low cost electricity.”
The AMPGS facility will utilize Powerspan’s ECO-SO2 emission control technology for the control of sulfur dioxide, with co-benefits for the control of mercury and particulate matter. The project will be the first large-scale commercial deployment of the technology, which in addition to controlling SO2 at best available control technology standards, shows promise for the efficient capture of carbon dioxide in the future. Powerspan’s CO2 control technology is currently being tested with a commercial pilot at FirstEnergy’s R.E. Burger plant in Shadyside, Ohio.