The Southwest Electric Power Design Institute, a subsidiary of China Power Engineering Consultancy Corp., signed an engineering service contract on 7 November with Sichuan Baima CFB Demonstrative Power Station Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of the State Grid Corp. of China, for a 600MW demonstrative circulating-fluidized-bed (CFB) unit in Chengdu. The plant is located on the right bank of the Tuojiang River, about 9km SW of Neijiang. It currently has one 300MW CFB unit, which was commissioned in April 2006, in operation. Sichuan Baima plans to add a 600MW CFB unit, which will be one of the first and largest supercritical CFB units in the world. According to the contract, the institute will be responsible for surveying, investigating and engineering the project in various design stages as well as for the bidding and budget preparation. Presently, the project is undergoing a feasibility study. It is expected that the preparations, including water, electricity supply, access road and land leveling, will start at the end of 2008. The unit could go into operation by the end of 2010.
