Szombathely CHP/Biomass Project

The main purpose of this project is to decrease harmful emissions of greenhouse gasses in ways that deliver economically competitive heat supplies to a major portion of Szombathely and competitively priced electricity to the grid. Additional project objectives are to strengthen rural employment and incomes through increased beneficial usage of wood; and to demonstrate the technical feasibility of wood-firing for district heating coupled with electric production using gas motors. The global environmental objective is to reduce CO2 emissions in order to help Hungary meet its international obligations under UNFCCC. It is expected that, over a 20-year period, the project will reduce CO2 emissions by 0.925 million tons. The major physical components of the project include a new, gas-motor CHP with 20.0 MWe and 24.0 MWth capacities, a 7.5 MWth wood-fired boiler, new segments of district heat pipeline to connect existing island systems, controls for the gas-fired peaking boilers, gas and electric interconnections, biomass handling equipment, and additional civil works.