State-of-the-art power unit

At the end of June 2018, PKN ORLEN commissioned the biggest low-emission power unit in Poland, which boasts high efficiency and adjustability.

The completion of the CCGT unit in Płock means that the domestic system will gain another 600MW of power. The investment significantly strengthens the Group’s position on the electricity market, and enhances Poland’s energy security.
The gas and steam unit with electrical power output of 600 MWe and thermal power output of 520 MWt was built at the refining and petrochemical facility in Płock. It is currently the biggest heat and power plant of its type in Poland. It uses the most advanced environmental protection technologies (best available technology, BAT). The world’s top H-class gas turbine ensures highly efficient power generation at a level of around 62 percent. It will burn gas at high temperatures, leading to minimum fuel consumption per energy unit, and in practice, guarantees low environmental impact of the project.
The Group is consistent in its efforts to build its own energy base, and the completion of the Płock investment brings them much closer to this goal. The company intends to maximise the synergies resulting from ORLEN’s use of the unit. In addition to that, it will add more power to the system, significantly increasing Poland’s energy security.
What is important is that even though the unit is the largest Polish investment of this type, it will not affect the natural environment. The Płock unit will be the only facility generating heat in combination with power, in the process of cogeneration. This is one of the most advanced technologies based on natural gas, a raw material that is friendly for the environment and favourable in terms of CO2 emissions.
A share of the generated power will be taken over by ORLEN. The rest will flow into the domestic power system through the 400 kV line. This will enhance the energy security of industrial recipients in central Poland, which had no electricity generation capacity before. The produced steam will be fully consumed by ORLEN Group’s production assets and local recipients.
The new project in Płock is particularly important in the context of growing electricity demand in Poland. The beginning of June 2018 saw yet another record-breaking demand level in the power system, which reached 23 thousand 429 MW. Poland produced only 21 thousand 593 MW at that time. The situation had to be resolved with imports from Germany, Sweden and Lithuania. The Płock unit will contribute to balancing the system. It will generate around 4 TWh, which currently corresponds to around 4.5 percent of the Polish electricity production.
The contract for CCGT Płock, with construction commencing in 2015, was concluded with the Siemens consortium. Upon signing the construction agreement, PKN ORLEN also signed a contract for maintenance of the main facilities, which will remain valid for around 12 years after commissioning of the plant. Capital expenditure amounted to PLN 1.7 billion.

The investment project in Płock is particularly important in the context of growing electricity demand.