Elecnor Announced EUR 86 Million Contract Award in Belgium
The Spanish infrastructure, energy and telecommunications group Elecnor, has been awarded a contract for 86 million euros to build a green Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant in the Belgian city of Ghent. This is the first contract the company has won in Belgium.
The plant is promoted by the Gentse Warmte Centrale (GWC), a society set up for this project by Belgian Eco Energy (BEE)—a Belgian energy company specialised in the production and supply of locally generated renewable energy—and the British fund manager Equitix.
The plant will have an electrical generation capacity of 19.9 megawatts (MW) by burning locally sources non-recyclable demolition wood. The facility will be located in a former coal terminal in the port of Ghent (North Sea Port), one of the most dynamic in the country. In addition, the project includes the production of steam to service a nearby industrial company.
During the implementation of this project, Elecnor will carry out all the geotechnical and topographical studies required, as well as the engineering work. In addition, the contract includes all construction work, such as demolition, earthmoving, piling and building, together with electrical and mechanical assembly.
The works on the CHP plant in Ghent, which are expected to take about 2 years, will have a significant economic impact on the city, as it will lead to the creation of up to 300 temporary jobs and about 35 permanent jobs. This contract joins the portfolio of biomass projects that Elecnor has undertaken in recent years, including the Viseu and Fundao facilities in Portugal.
The wide diversification of the businesses in which it operates has allowed Elecnor to consolidate itself on an international level and to find new opportunities in a highly mature and competitive market such as Europe. In this respect, the company has recently been awarded the electrification of over 730 km of railway lines in Lithuania, a strategic project for the country’s railway network valued at over 350 million euros. In Italy, Elecnor has been deploying optical fibre (FTTH) for over two years, specifically in the city of Novara, with Enel Open Fiber, an Enel subsidiary. Moreover, IQA, the Elecnor Group’s subsidiary in the UK, has won the contract for 66 million euros to deploy the United Kingdom’s fibre optic network together with a local company.
