Outlook
Now, prompted by the high cost of gas and a desire to encourage regional economic development, protect the environment and achieve energy self-sufficiency, the Pécs plant is planning the next stage in its technological development: abandoning gas altogether in favour of biomass. But existing forest resources are inadequate to make this plan a success. So to ensure a supply of biomass fuel in the future, poplar trees will be grown on the plant's arable land. The concept is simple: the poplars are "harvested" two years after planting. They can be harvested five times before new trees have to be planted.
Video interview of Attila Braun, development director, and of Péter Rudolf, project engineer on the coming developments:
Of the three units in service, two are gas-fired and one is biomass-fired. Unfortunately, gas prices are soaring. As a result, we feel it is important to identify alternatives to gas and switch to green CHP. The heat produced by this process will be more competitive than gas-fired energy and will contribute to regional economic development. The region boasts 540,000 hectares of arable land, yielding nearly two million tonnes of crops. So it offers a prime opportunity for expanded operations in the form of a 38 MWe CHP facility. We subsequently plan to commission a 50 MWe condensing unit as well. These new facilities will run on energy crops grown onsite. The company has been raising energy plants on its land since 2005 and foresees enormous potential in this area. In order to expand the range of fuel options available to the plant, we are developing a project that is the first of its kind in Hungary, although similar projects have been undertaken elsewhere in the European Union. We have planted several species of poplar onsite, including six from Italy and four native to Hungary. Our aim is to generate electricity from dedicated energy plantations. We adhere to traditional agricultural practices, so standard harvesting machinery is used and we rely on existing equipment. Only two pieces of machinery have had to be specially acquired: a tree planter and a harvester, neither of which is commonly used by Hungarian farmers. The planter is a simple piece of machinery already used in forest management. The harvester is actually a corn harvester to which an adapter was added. The crop is harvested every two years by cutting the trees at about 5 centimetres above ground level, which allows them to grow back during the two-year period until the next harvest. The wood is ground directly into chips during the harvesting process and is immediately ready for use. The production process is as simple as that. In two years the poplars reach a height of seven to eight metres and a diameter of seven to eight centimetres. We chose the poplar because the viability of this process has already been demonstrated and the tree is suitable for mechanical cultivation. The expansion will be carried out in two stages. Heating for the city of Pécs will be generated entirely by biomass beginning in the second half of 2010; production of 50 MW of electricity is anticipated for the second half of 2012. Production of raw materials must reach a certain level to be suitable for industrial use.
Attila Braun, development director
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process
A stage in the poplar growing and harvesting process