Alstom has signed its third contract this year with Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC), the Danish power plant specialist, for a geared reaction steam turbine at the proposed Tilbury biomass project. The 45MW waste wood power station, to be located on the River Thames near to London, will be built by BWSC and Aalborg Energie Technik (AET).

The project specific design, engineering and manufacturing will be done at one of Alstom’s specialist facilities, with support offered by the UK team. The geared reaction steam turbines are preassembled, resulting in a cost-efficient installation and commissioning solution, according to Alstom. What's more, Alstom has optimised the geared reaction steam turbines to maximise the power production, covering renewable and traditional fuel types in addition to industrial applications for process steam.

This latest contract follows two others that Alstom signed with BWSC for 23MW and 50MW turbines for schemes in Widnes and Snetterton earlier this year. “This is our fifth contract with BWSC in the UK -- all for different sized turbines, showing the advantages of our modular offering to ensure we can offer the customer a GRT turbine that suits the specific requirements," said Daniel Wahler, Alstom vice president of Industrial Steam Turbines.

Once commissioned in July 2017, the Tilbury plant is expected to generate 300 GWh of green electricity every year. That's enough energy to supply the power needs of around 80,000 homes. All totalled, the biomas plant is expected to burn around 285,000 tonnes of waste wood a year.