Kuldiga
Boiler output: 4,000 kWth (700 kWel)
Combustion system: hydraulic reciprocating step grate
Fuel: wood chips, forest wood chips
Year of construction: 2012
Location: Latvia
Project description:
“Kuldiga is located in the “Courland” region in the middle of Latvia. The Kuldiga region covers an area of 1,757 km2, the city of Kuldiga has about 13.2 km2 and 12,000 residents. Since 2011, Kuldiga is listed in the UNESCO Tentative List.
Kuldigas Siltumtikli is a municipal company with the following tasks: – production and supply of steam and warm water – heat supply for the city, corporate customers as well as other consumers – sewer works, construction and maintenance of the district heating, construction of boiler plants for the municipal heat demand in Kuldiga – power generation by means of the CHP plant – strategic and investment planning for the district heating structure in Kuldiga and the surrounding region
Construction of the cogeneration plant started in 2011. In September 2012 the building was completed, the installation was finished and the CHP plant was put in operation.
The thermal capacity is 3,815 MW (max. 4.2 MW), the electrical output is max. 0.72 MW. Electricity is produced by use of the ORC system. The main advantage is that electricity can be produced over the whole year without interruption (at a lower rate during summer, as the heat production amounts to 20-30%). Only during summer the production has to be interrupted for 2 weeks for the annual maintenance. In 2015, the heat production from October until April was 5000-6000 MWh and 500 MWh from May until September. In 2015, the electricity production from October until April was 450-530 MWh and 50-100 MWh from May until September. 65% of the produced electricity is resold to the governmental energy company as green energy, 35% is reserved for own use.
In 2016, Kuldigas Siltumtikli was awarded the so-called “Green Excellence Award” by the Latvian government.”