Turboden to supply 5MW geothermal ORC plant to Stadtwerke München

Turboden, a Pratt & Whitney Power Systems company with 30 years of expertise and experience in the design and manufacture of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power generation systems, will supply a 5MWe geothermal ORC turbogenerator unit to the German utility SWM – Stadtwerke München.

“This 5MWe geothermal plant is going to be an important benchmark for both Turboden and the European geothermal industry,” said Paolo Bertuzzi, General Manager of Turboden. “We are already having other negotiations in Europe and in other markets thanks to the support of Pratt & Whitney Power Systems.”

The geothermal plant is a 5MWe ORC turbogenerator based on a two pressure level cycle, fed with geothermal fluid at 140°C (284°F) and cooled by air condensers. The plant will provide the existing district heating network, which is already fed by a 600kW Turboden biomass unit, with an additional 4MW of thermal power for space heating. The startup is planned for the last quarter of 2011.

SWM – Stadtwerke München is one of the biggest city utilities companies in Germany, and supplies energy and municipal services making an enormous contribution to the standard of living in Munich. General Contractor Karl Lausser GmbH was awarded the public works contract.

In the geothermal application, Turboden offers a series of modular ORC units with high efficiency, ranging in sizes from 1MW to 10MW and scalable solutions for larger plants. Geothermal Turboden ORC can produce electricity from geothermal sources with medium to low temperature, ranging between 90°C – 180°C (195°F and 356°F).

With Turboden, Pratt & Whitney Power Systems offers a spectrum of ORC products, characterized by high efficiency, high reliability, low maintenance costs and ease of installation and operation.

Turboden systems are driven by a simple evaporation process and are entirely enclosed, which means they produce no emissions. The ORC systems can be powered with a variety of renewable energy sources including geothermal, biomass, solar thermal power and industrial waste heat.

Turboden, a Pratt & Whitney Power Systems company, is an Italian company and a global leader in the design, manufacture, and servicing of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbogenerators, which harness heat to generate electrical power from renewable sources, including solar energy, biomass, geothermal energy and waste heat. Turboden has more than 115 plants installed worldwide and offers standard turbogenerators from 200 kW to 4 MW (standard units) and up to 10 MW (customized units). Turboden is a specialist in ORC technology in the world. www.turboden.it

Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. company (NYSE:UTX), is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, industrial gas turbines and space propulsion systems. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.