Wärtsilä BioPower plant inaugurated in Baden-Baden

21 March 2006, Today, a new biomass-fuelled Wärtsilä BioPower combined heat and power plant was inaugurated in Baden-Baden, Germany. The power plant delivered by Wärtsilä provides electricity and district heating for the business and service park of Baden Airpark, near Baden-Baden, Germany. It is the first BioPower plant delivered by Wärtsilä to Germany.

“Wärtsilä’s research and development activities have for years focused on the development of environmentally sound energy solutions. Our central aim is high efficiency coupled with low emissions. Concern today over the detrimental effects of carbon dioxide emissions is steering energy users towards increasingly efficient technology and environmentally friendly fuels. The same aim is served by producing energy close to where it is consumed – a process called decentralized power generation.

Within the European Union small, local combined heat and power plants running on biofuels have also gained the interest of investors owing to electricity prices. A good example in this context is this BioTherm Baden plant, the construction of which was largely attributable to local initiative. For Wärtsilä, too, this is an important reference plant. We are extremely pleased that we have had the opportunity to deliver this project.” says Mr Ole Johansson, President and CEO of Wärtsilä Corporation.

At the inauguration, Dr Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, started the power plant. Those present in the ceremony were Mr Günther H. Oettinger, the Minister President of Baden-Württemberg together with the shareholders and owners as well as the Managing Director of BioTherm Baden, Mr Rainer Pahl. Wärtsilä Corporation was represented by Mr Ole Johansson, President and CEO.

The idea of an environmentally-friendly combined heat and power plant in Baden-Baden was born in 2001 and a local businessman started the project to bring the idea into reality. After long planning the contract was awarded to Wärtsilä in September 2004. The project has since progressed rapidly.

“The project’s tight time schedule was a challenge for all parties involved”, recalls Mr. Rainer Pahl, Managing Director of BioTherm Baden GmbH & Co KG. He explained: “The site works were started on 23 May 2005. As the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz) gives incentives through the electricity pricing structure, the plant had to be commissioned and produce the first power to the grid before the end of 2005 to ensure better prices. We succeeded in reaching this goal owing to the experienced, local civil contractors and Wärtsilä’s standardised, modular power plant.”

The power plant is owned by BioTherm Baden GmbH & Co KG, Germany and is operated by Stadtwerke Baden-Baden which is responsible for delivering natural gas, water, heating and telecommunications in the Baden Airpark with the integrated Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airport.

Wärtsilä’s biomass-fuelled plants are clean and efficient. BioPower plants are based on well-proven standardised components with a conservative design approach, enabling fast delivery and installation. Their proven technology results in a reliable, durable plant that is highly automated, enabling unmanned operation.

Technical information about the Wärtsilä BioPower plant:
The CHP plant in Baden-Baden has an electrical power output of up to 5.2 MWe, and a thermal output of up to 3.5 MWth for district heating. The plant was delivered on a turnkey basis (excluding civil works) comprising a Wärtsilä BioPower 5 CEX standardised power plant burning wood residues from the local forestry industry. With its high level of automation, the plant will be run unmanned with periodical supervision visits to the plant.

The BioPower 5 CEX plant is one of the highly modular power plant products of Wärtsilä Biopower. The combustion technology is based on the patented rotating grate, BioGrate, which is designed for efficient combustion of moist wood fuels, such as forest residues, that will be used as fuel in the BioTherm Baden plant. The moisture content of the fuel can be as high as 65%. The boiler is a natural circulation water tube boiler that produces superheated steam for a highly efficient reaction-type condensing turbine with controlled extraction for the district heating services of Stadtwerke Baden-Baden.

Contact Information

Maria Nystrand

Public Relations Manager, Power Plants

Wärtsilä Finland Oy

Contact via E-mail