The 29MW gas turbine was delivered by Hitachi Europe. Construction of a gas line to the turbine cost a further Ft 460 million. Heat generated by the new turbine will be used to boost performance of Mátra’s coal-fuelled block. The block’s capacity will rise 11MW to 223MW as a result. At the same time, performance at the entire plant will rise 9MW because of the installation of a new cooling system. The plant is already installing a second gas-fuelled turbine, expected to start operation in February 2007.
As a result of the investments, the plant’s capacity will rise to 930MW from the current 836MW by mid-2007, Valaska said. The investments allow for greater regulation of electricity generated at the plant, and they reduce CO2 emissions by about 10% compared to the coal-fuelled blocks.
Mátra Power Plant had profits of Ft 8.1 billion on revenue of Ft 59 billion in 2005. This year’s business plan contains a more modest profit figure, but unchanged revenue, Valaska said. Mátra Power Plant’s biggest investors are German utilities giant RWE (51%), Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (21%) and the Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM) Zrt (25%).