GE Chosen to Build World’s Largest Commercial Biomass-Fired Power Plant

General Electric (GE) has recently announced  that it has been selected by Mechelen-based Belgian Eco Energy (BEE) to build the largest greenfield and 100% biomass-fired power plant in the world in Ghent, a port city in northwest Belgium.

The biomass plant, which will be powered by wood chips and agro residues, will generate approximately 215 MW of cleaner energy for the industry and nearby households reaching over 60% efficiency when operating in co-generation mode.

GE steam power systems will provide the overall design, engineering and construction of the plant and the integration of the in-house critical parts of the power block including the circulating fluidized bed boiler, steam turbine, generator and air quality control systems.

The new plant also will be equipped with a district heating system of approximately 110 MW thermal energy to supply heating to industries and households in the city of Ghent.

Commercial operation for the plant is planned for 2019.

Steve Bolze, president and CEO, GE Power, commented:

“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.”