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[Geoff Thomas]

Siemens to build Europe’s largest forest-biomass-fired power plant
  Order valued at over EUR50 million  (= 60.6428 Million USD)


Siemens Power Generation (PG) is building Europe’s largest 
forest-biomass-fired power plant in Vienna, Austria. The order is 
valued at over EUR50 million. Purchaser is WIEN ENERGIE Bundesforste 
Biomasse Kraftwerk GmbH & Co. KG. Following the groundbreaking ceremony 
in April 2005, plant construction began on schedule and commissioning 
is scheduled for June 2006. The plant will then thermally recycle as 
much as 200,000 tons of timber per annum. The biomass-fired power plant 
will have an electrical capacity of 24.5 megawatts (MW) and also feed a 
maximum of 37 MW of district heat into the city’s supply network. In 
cogeneration mode the plant’s efficiency will increase to over 80 
percent.

The new plant will be capable of supplying almost 50,000 households 
with electricity and approximately 12,000 with district heat. If this 
energy were generated in a conventional power plant, some 44,000 tons 
of heavy oil would need to be used alternatively. This would be 
equivalent to an additional annual CO2 burden of approximately 144,000 
tons, which is avoided in this case through the recycling of forest 
biomass.

With approximately 3.97 million hectares of forest, some 47 percent of 
the country’s surface area, Austria is among those European countries 
with the highest density of forests. In general, the use of biomass is 
CO2-neutral, while plants require about the same amount of CO2 for 
growth that is released on combustion. Against this backdrop the new 
plant in Vienna constitutes a milestone in ecological power and heat 
generation.

Siemens PG is the general contractor for the overall project. The 
company is to supply the steam generator, fuel handling system, steam 
turbine-generator and flue-gas cleaning system with catalytic reactor. 
Delivery and installation of the entire electrical and instrumentation 
and controls equipment, and integration of the plant into the existing 
power plant infrastructure are also part of the order.

The Power Generation Group (PG) of Siemens AG is one of the premier 
companies in the international power generation sector. In fiscal 2004 
(which ended September 30), Siemens PG posted sales amounting to 
approximately EURO 7.5 billion and received new orders totaling EURO 
9.2 billion. Group profit amounted to EURO 961 million. On September 
30, 2004, PG had a workforce of approximately 30,900 worldwide.

Reference Number: PG 200505.052 e
Press Office Power Generation
Peter Pauls
P.O.Box 32 20, 91050 Erlangen, Germany
Phone: +49-9131 18-7032; Fax: -7039
E-mail: peter.pauls at siemens.com