Our Bogorodchany project demonstrates our ability to adapt proven infrastructure technology, such as combined heat and power (CHP), to under-served markets such as Ukraine. Many of the country’s generation assets are old, inefficient, and dependent on cheap supplies of Russian natural gas in order to achieve profitability. But as the market continues to evolve, Russian gas prices continue to rise and converge with European prices, the aging Ukrainian infrastructure needs new, efficient generation facilities that utilize more cost-effective fuel resources.
Capturing Waste Heat for Electricity Generation
The Bogorodchany cogeneration plant is located in the Bogorodchany industrial zone in the Ivano-Frankovsk province of Western Ukraine, and comprises a 30 megawatt combined heat and power plant. The plant uses exhaust heat from the Bogorodchany KC21 compressor station on the Soyuz natural gas pipeline that transports Russian and Central Asian natural gas through Ukraine to Western Europe. The compressor station burns a small percentage of the pipeline gas to maintain compression along the pipeline. Our new facility captures the exhaust heat from the seven gas turbine-driven compressor units at KC21 to generate electricity via five new heat-recovery boilers and a steam turbine.
We have led the development on the project and will own and operate the facility upon its completion. In addition to electricity, the plant will produce and sell 20,000 Gcal of thermal energy (heat) to the local district heating network. Our partner in this project is an affiliate of SC Transgas, a Ukrainian state corporation that owns and operates high-pressure gas pipelines, including the Soyuz pipeline, that transport 80 percent of Russian and Central Asian gas through Ukraine to Europe.
The project cost is approximately $90 million. We have a fixed-price turnkey contract with PSG International of the Czech Republic, which includes industry-standard performance and output guarantees. Long term financing will be provided through the Czech Export Bank.
As an extremely low-cost power producer, the plant will be a highly competitive seller of electricity into the Ukrainian energy market. In addition, as a zero emission facility, the plant will generate a substantial volume of carbon credits. This facility will be the first of several cogeneration plants that we develop along the Soyuz pipeline.