The “Renovation of the District Heating System in Žatec” Project carried out by TENZA a.s. from 2009 - 2010 has received another award, namely an award of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Czech Republic in the 2010 CZECH ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT national competition. It has been made for the project’s contribution to limiting the operation of brown coal power plants and therefore reducing considerably carbon dioxide emissions, putting out of operation the original oil-fired boiler plant inconveniently located within a residential quarter, and making electric power generation possible that can help keep the prices of heat at an acceptable level and contribute to the return on investments.
Renovation of the Central Heat Delivery System in Žatec
The major project of the central heat delivery system renovation in Žatec started in mid 2009. A new biomass source was built in fifteen months on the location of the current coal boiler plant in Perč. This largest combined heat and power plant with Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) equipment in the Czech Republic has the installed output of 10MWt and nominal electric output of 1.8 MWe. Simultaneously the overhead heat pipeline was replaced with new underground pre-insulated piping both 1,500 m in length delivering heat generated in Perč to Žatec. This significantly reduced heat losses. Another considerable benefit of the project is that renewable sources partially substituted for coal combusting sources with high sulphur content. It is the leading-edge technology in the area of heat output of up to 15 MWt and electric energy output of up to 8 MWe produced in a cogeneration ORC plant utilizing heat from renewable fuel combustion; this technology optimizes the industrial use and meets the requirements for environmentally-friendly operation. The ORC unit is the largest equipment in the Czech Republic from the point of view of its output and ranks among the five largest units in Europe.
