Siemens Power Generation (PG) has been awarded a contract by Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group Co Ltd (SNCG) in China to supply two entrained-flow gasifiers with a thermal capacity of 500 MW each and further key equipment for a coal gasification plant.
The coal gasification plant is to be used for the Shenhua Ningmei DME project in Ningxia Province in northwestern China.
When the plant is ready to operate in early 2009, Shenhua Ningmei DME will produce 830,000 tons per year of the clean, environmentally-friendly synthetic fuel dimethyl ether (DME). The contract is worth about EUR30 million for Siemens.
As a low-cost, widely available fuel, coal is destined to play an important role in meeting the world's future energy needs. From the standpoint of environmental and climate protection considerations, techniques like coal gasification and liquefaction are gaining preference.
In addition to being the world's second-biggest energy consumer, China also happens to have some of the world's largest reserves of coal, along with the United States and Russia.
Coal is used to satisfy 76 per cent of China's primary energy consumption and 70 per cent of its electricity generation. In view of the country's fast-rising energy consumption and the fact that it does not have ample reserves of crude oil and natural gas, China is investing heavily in the production and processing of coal. Besides being used for power generation, coal is also increasingly being used to produce synthetic gases and as a source of carbon for the chemicals industry.
"
