The contract was signed as a turnkey contract, which includes the design, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the power plant, and additionally the operation and maintenance during its first two years of operation.

Madrid, August 8, 2012-- The SENER engineering and technology group has signed a contract with ENCE to supply a biomass power generation plant in Mérida (Badajoz, Spain). The contract was signed as a turnkey contract, which includes the design, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the power plant, and additionally the operation and maintenance during its first two years of operation.

The new facility will consist of a plant for generating renewable power through the use of energy plantation trees. With 20 MW of net nominal power, it will be one of the largest renewable biomass power plants in Spain.

The plant will use biomass mainly from poplar and eucalyptus energy crops. It is a woody biomass that makes it necessary to install a boiler with an advanced design that can optimize the energy production.

SENER has designed a high-efficiency reheat and regenerative steam cycle for these type of plants. The boiler, therefore, will include a reheater and the turbine will have high-pressure and low-pressure bodies, including several bleeds. The condenser will be water-cooled. The generating efficiency of the plant is expected to be around 35%.

The supply of the plant presents two main challenges; on one hand, a very tight time schedule, since the plant shall be running during the third quarter of 2014; on the other hand, a very high availability, with an annual generation of about 160 GWh (net).

Thanks to its innovative design, which will combine high-efficiency and high-availability, the Mérida biomass plant will be a benchmark for biomass power generation plants.

Since its beginnings, SENER has been a pioneer in the renewable power generation with its homegrown technology in sectors as diverse as thermosolar, biomass, municipal solid waste to energy, manure and oil treatment, etc., with all of them always under the premise of efficient energy use. To this end, SENER's biomass plants boast innovative solutions that optimize the efficiency and safety of this type of renewable energy.