NEW POWER PLANT PROJECT UNVEILED

PLANS for an important electricity generating station have been made available for public scrutiny by the Balearic ministry for Commerce, Industry and Energy. The installations, which would be undertaken by Sampol Engineers and Builders, are to take the form of a 50 megawatt supply station located on the main road to Valldemossa opposite the Parc Bit environmental technology unit and the Balearic University campus. The approval of this project signals the end of the monopoly on power supply currently held by GESA-Endesa in the Balearics.
An official log of events in the Islands, known as the Boletin Oficial de Las Baleares, indicates that the electricity station project tendered by Sampol consists of three diesel-driven generators, each with a power output of 15'290 kilowatts at a steam turbine of 3'900 Kw. Director Juan Antonio Vicens confirmed yesterday, however, that the centre will only use natural gas for conversion to electricity which will commence with the arrival of the undersea gas pipeline linking the mainland to the Balearics in 2008. To give an idea of comparison of size and output, the GESA-Endesa installations at Son Reus and Es Murterar each have a power level of approximately 500 megawatts. Vicens explained that the electricity generating centre, very similar to the one the company built at Terminal 4 in Barajas airport in Madrid, introduces an “innovative” concept in power distribution because as well as producing electric energy, the installations also provide thermic energy for heating and refrigeration. According to Sampol, the new installation will substitute the energy plant which currently exists in Parc Bit and is powered by diesel motors.
The new plant will also make use of residual heat and energy production and save on transport and distribution.