When the project is completed, the new 19 MW district heating power plant will provide high-efficiency thermal energy for 50,000 residents in Rome. Cefla will develop the engineering aspects of the plant, providing project management, ensuring plant supplies and taking care of the entire plant’s installation, including the civil infrastructure. The project is an excellent example of the modernization of district heating plants with new, high-efficiency gas engines, aimed at the delivery of municipal utilities and public services.
Acea Spa, a leading Italian multi-utility company, has chosen Cefla Plant Solutions and the Distributed Power division of General Electric for the modernization of the Tor di Valle (Rome) district heating power plant. Work will begin in 2016 and will be concluded by 2017, and upon completion the new 19 MW district heating plant will provide 50,000 users in Rome with high efficiency thermal energy.
“The project,” said Giovanni Papaleo, Acea Industrial Energy sector “demonstrates our continued commitment to pursue our plan to develop, improve and modernize our energy production assets for the benefit of our residential and business customers”.
This project is an excellent example of the modernization of district heating plants with new high-efficiency gas engines, aimed at the delivery of municipal utilities and provision of public services and is, as highlighted by Roberto Cocchi, Managing Director of the Cefla Plant Solutions Business Unit: “a significant step within our plan to develop and grow in the energy sector and an important recognition of our capabilities and our system engineering experience, gained over the last 30 years, coming from a major company like Acea, which is committed to development and innovation”.
The order consists of two J920 FleXtra combined heat and power units plus three auxiliary boilers and associated district heating systems. The engines will produce 19 MW of electrical power and about 15 MW of thermal power, achieving more than 80 percent of total efficiency. Three additional gas boilers will produce another 70 MW of thermal power to cover peak heat load demands. The project includes a multi-year maintenance contract for the two J920 FleXtra engines.
GE will supply the Jenbacher J920 FleXtra generators and related auxiliary equipment for the groups. Cefla will develop the engineering aspects of the plant, providing project management, ensuring plant supplies and taking care of the entire plant’s installation, including the civil infrastructure. The accumulation of thermal energy from the new engines will ensure a continuous supply of heat and will exploit the generation of electricity only during peak periods, when the energy value is greater.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Cefla as a qualified partner in the management of technological projects in energy distribution,” says Carlos Lange, president of the Distributed Power division of GE.
