The face of cleaner power Standardkessel

THE FACE OF

CLEANER POWER

Technology provider Standardkessel GmbH, together with its sister company Baumgarte, has amassed more than 160 years of experience ‘full of energy’ in the industrial and municipal power plant sector. Industry Europe spoke to sales and marketing manager Detlef Simon to find out more. Emma-Jane Batey reports.

Headquartered in Duisburg, just north of Düsseldorf in Germany, technology supplier Standardkessel GmbH, alongside its sister company Baumgarte Boiler Systems, which supplies complete systems for energy from waste, is actively looking forward to the next chapter in its history. In 2010 the company celebrated its 85th anniversary, and Baumgarte’s 75th anniversary, giving the group an accumulated 160 years of providing power plant solutions and components across Europe and beyond.

This milestone gave the company the perfect reason to both reflect on its success and make a clear plan to be well-positioned to continue to deliver customer- and environmentally-focused power plant solutions. Total power solutions

Standardkessel supplies complete systems and components for power plants, both for industrial and municipal energy needs. Using four different forms of energy creation – biomass, heat recovery downstream gas turbines, energy from waste and coal, gas and oil – Standardkessel prides itself on always being able to deliver a power plant solution that meets the precise needs of each customer.

Sales and marketing manager Detlef Simon explained, “We have a very strong balance of customisable solutions and standard components, which allows us to tailor-make each and every plant so that it is perfectly in tune with the demands of the customer, whether that is an urban municipality or a paper mill. We have our own engineering team and we manufacture the boiler components in close co-operation with specialised and reliable long-term partners.” With our broad band of different technical solutions we have always the right one to offer.

The concept-to-completion approach to power plant delivery is a cornerstone of Standardkessel’s continued success. The company appreciates that its strength comes from its long-term experience and wide range of reference plants across different applications. This range of projects over many years, coupled with its tailor-made focus, means that Standardkessel Baumgarte understands the varying needs of

different plants, and the types of challenges they face over a period of time.

Such challenges are often handled in conjunction with the changing legislative and political influence around energy generation and provision. Mr Simon said, “Market development in terms of geography is mainly politically driven by subsidies and legislation, particularly in terms of biomassfired power plants and energy from waste, as the deciding factor is primarily financial. But we are finding that renewable energy is being increasingly requested, with people understanding more about the whole situation of sustainable energy supply while nuclear power plants and big coal-fired power plants are coming under increasing political pressure. I believe this will lead to smaller units close to consumers, such as combined cycle plants, which can produce electricity and process steam for industrial use or for providing district heat for cities.”

Future force

This understanding of the wider power generation industry is an important aspect in the next successful chapter for Standardkessel Baumgarte. The company is highly experienced in assisting clients in each and every phase of the project, from project development to process design, execution and during operation and maintenance. Its extensive range of supply and services includes different grate systems – air-cooled and water-cooled, boilers and flue gas treatment systems, with all types of repairs, power plant operation and maintenance available for plants that range from industrial clients with their own energy supplies to utility companies.

Standardkessel Baumgarte is mainly active in Europe, where it has concentrated its activities during its long history, but the group

has intensified its worldwide activities in recent years, looking further afield for its future business development activities.

Mr Simon concluded, “We certainly see an exciting potential in decentralised power stations, both in our established European market and beyond. This is in some part to do with the fact that the production of electricity and heat will more increasingly be combined, as practicality and legislation meets a greater appreciation for environmentally sustainable energy provision. Energy from waste is the state-of-the-art solution instead of landfill, which meets all manner of future-focused targets, with Germany at the forefront in Europe, and Italy, Spain and the UK not far behind. We are also very interested in building urban power plants that are gas-fired, so totally clean, which can be used for both heat and power generation in cities. Additionally these power plants can be used as back-up to wind and solar power because they are always in service even when there is no wind or the sun is not shining. As a true partner in the power plant industry, Standardkessel Baumgarte is leading the way for both urban and industrial power generation solutions in the future.” n