POSCO E&C has successfully completed construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Krakow, Poland, valued at US$250 million.
Last November, the company obtained permission to use the waste-to-energy plant from developer Krakow Communal Holding. It completed construction and trial operations over seven months before transferring the facility to the developer on June 28.
On June 28, POSCO E&C completed construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Krakow, Poland. The plant will not only process 220,000 tons of household waste annually but will also produce and supply electricity and district heating.
The waste-to-energy plant of Krakow is the largest daily waste-incineration facility in Poland, capable of processing 220,000 tons of household waste annually in an eco-friendly way. By using the heat from incineration, it will produce 11 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity and supply 35MWh of district heating. Also, the ash from the waste incineration, after undergoing a screening process, will be used as a road construction material.
Now that the facility has been completed, the city of Krakow will be able to simultaneously meet EU requirements concerning waste disposal and sell the generated electricity at a higher price by obtaining Green Energy certification from the government.
POSCO E&C was praised for its contributions to expanding construction plans when it won the contract for the waste-to-energy plant in October 2012 despite competition from companies renowned for their advanced incineration technology, including CNIM of France, KEPPEL of Belgium and HITACHI of Japan.
For three and a half years, the construction site was well managed by POSCO E&C according to the strict environmental standards of Poland. As a result, Krakow’s Department of Labor Safety and Environment Inspection and Regional Environmental Protection Agency found no violations in their safety inspection, recognizing it as an accident-free site.
The waste-to-energy plant of Krakow was presented with the SARP Award of the Year in 2015, which is given by the Association of Polish Architects and recognizes industry-leading building designs.
Also, it was selected as one of the “Top 10 Outstanding Public Investment Projects 2016”—a list that is determined by citizens’ evaluation of the public policies and projects of Poland’s central and local governments.
“I have been deeply impressed by POSCO E&C’s technology and its ability to implement such strict management of the site,” stated Tadeusz Trzmiel, Deputy Mayor of Krakow. “I appreciate how wonderfully they have constructed the cutting edge facility, which will be responsible for protecting our environment.”
“The successful construction of the waste-to-energy plant in Krakow has raised the status of the nation’s construction industry to a higher level, and is expected to become a solid foundation for POSCO E&C to enter into the environment market of Poland and Eastern Europe,” POSCO E&C CEO Han Chan-kun noted.