General Electric (GE) has said it will supply advanced gas turbine technology for a new 450-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in the Polish city of Stalowa Wola. Once off and running, the Stalowa Wola plant will be the largest gas-fired power plant in Poland.

At a press conference in Warsaw in early October, GE executives said the American company will provide a Frame 9F 5-series gas turbine and generator to Abengoa, the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the Stalowa Wola project. Abengoa is an international company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors. GE also has signed a separate contract with Abengoa to provide maintenance services for the plant for 12 years.

The new plant, located adjacent to the existing Stalowa Wola Power Station, is owned by Elektrociep³ownia Stalowa Wola, a joint venture between Tauron, the second largest utility in Poland, and PGNiG, the state-owned national gas and oil giant. The facility, located about 230 kilometers southeast of Warsaw, is expected to begin commercial service in May 2015.

The new plant will have a capacity of 450 megawatts of electricity and 240 megawatts of thermal power for heating and will operate at a thermal efficiency of 59.7 percent, making it one of Europe’s most efficient power plants. The plant’s carbon dioxide emissions will be about 50 percent lower than a similar-sized coal-fired plant. The project fits into the government’s strategy of diversifying the energy supply for Poland, which currently gets 95 percent of its electricity from coal-fired plants.

“Poland estimates that it needs to add about 2.4 gigawatts of gas thermal capacity by the end of 2015 to reduce its reliance on coal-fired power,” said Nani Beccalli, GE president and CEO for Europe. “Projects such as Stalowa Wola are a step on the road to a cleaner, more diverse energy future for the country."