Poweo's first combined-cycle power station nears completion

PONT-SUR-SAMBRE, FRANCE - Poweo, an independent electricity and gas supplier in France that has had an important role in the country since the electricity market was deregulated in 2007, has reached the final construction stage of its first combined-cycle power plant in France.

The plant, located in Pont-sur-Sambre in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, has a capacity of 412 megawatts (MW) and is equipped with a single shaft SGTS-4000 F gas turbine and an SSTS-3000 steam turbine coupled with one HRSG.

The plant is being built by Siemens, which was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract in 2006 and will also be in charge of the maintenance and operation of the plant after it starts commercial operation in April 2009.

The facility represents the first stage in a series of Poweo's investment projects in thermal power plants, including the development of a production park with a capacity of about 3,800 MW. Thus, in 2006, Poweo and the Austrian electricity group, Verbund AG, created the subsidiary Poweo Production, which is in charge of the construction of these new projects.

Poweo has also secured its electricity supply by signing an agreement with Electricite de France SA, a major national utility, for the purchase of 160 MW of power from 2007 to 2021. EDF produces around 80% of the electricity supplied in base-load mode to the national grid from its 19 nuclear power stations.