Alstom successfully performs boiler pressure test on block 9 of Grosskraftwerk Mannheim

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With the successful completion of the boiler pressure test, Alstom and Grosskraftwerk Mannheim Aktiengesellschaft (GKM) have reached a further milestone in the construction of the new block 9. During the pressure test, the membrane walls, heating surfaces and pipelines of the steam boiler (which is over 100 metres in height and weighs approx. 5,000 tonnes) were filled with water and checked for leaktightness at 574 bar1. Well over 55,000 weld seams had to withstand this high pressure. The boiler pressure test is the pre-requisite for completion of assembly and the subsequent cold commissioning, which is followed by the initial activation of the boiler.

We are very happy to have completed this important milestone on schedule. The success of the boiler pressure test at this extremely high pressure proves that delivery and assembly meet the high quality requirements, agreed Dr Karl-Heinz Czychon, Chief Technical Officer at GKM, and Leif Timmermann, Managing Director of ALSTOM Boiler Deutschland GmbH, as they discussed the test on the construction site in Mannheim.

GKMs new block 9 has been designed for a gross electrical rated output of 911 megawatts (MW) and will help ensure security of supply in the southern part of Germany, particularly in the Rhine-Neckar region. In regular operation, the power plant will achieve an efficiency rate of over 46%, and this will place it among the most modern power plant blocks in the world.  In addition, up to 500 MW of thermal power can be decoupled as district heating to be fed into Mannheims district heating network; this will raise the level of fuel utilisation to 70%. In total, up to 2,000 people are working on the completion of the new block, which will be connected to the grid in mid 2015.

Alstoms delivery scope includes the complete engineering, installation and commissioning of the steam generator with coal mills, hard-coal firing and flue gas denitrification, as well as design, manufacture and commissioning of the turbine and generator.

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1 By way of comparison: the pressure on an average car tyre is 2 to 3 bar.

About GKM
Grosskraftwerk Mannheim Aktiengesellschaft (AG) operates one of Europes most efficient hard-coal power plants in Mannheim. The company has ensured a secure generation of power and district heating for over 90 years. It does so in a particularly environmentally and climate-friendly manner by using combined heat and power. GKM is also a major supplier of single-phase traction power for DB Energie GmbH.

Press contacts
Beatrix Fontius (Alstom Deutschland) Tel: 0621 329 2547 beatrix.fontius@power.alstom.com
Thomas Schmidt (GKM) Tel: 0621 868-4322 - thomas-f.schmidt@gkm.de