FGD and DeNOx
NEWSLETTER

November 2021
No. 522

Table of Contents

COAL – U.S.

·        EPRI Investigating SCR Issues

COAL – WORLD

·        More Than 14 GW of New Coal Capacity to be Built in Indonesia by 2030

·        The 1.2 GW Vun Ang 2 Coal-Fired Plant in Vietnam Authorized to Enter Construction

·        Bangladesh Will Move Forward With Some Coal Plants But May Reduce its Ambitious Plans

·        Pakistan Slowing Down Coal Plant Construction

·        Philippines Power Capacity Expected to Grow More Than Twofold by 2030

·        India Coal-Fired Capacity in 2030 Will be Close to the Peak in the U.S.

·        China Accounts For Much of The New Coal Capacity

·        Fortum Enext Reduces NO_x Emissions at Indian Power Plant

·        Croatia Announces 2033 Coal Phase-Out

·        Japan’s Push For Ammonia And Hydrogen Seen As Lifeline For Coal Plants 

·        G20 Pledges Not to Fund New Coal Plants Overseas

·        China Will Not Tear Down Old Coal Plants

·        Alstom  Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Plant Meets NO_x Limits and More at Plomin 2 Power Plant

·        German Environmentalists Wanted Tougher NO_x Control For Gas Turbines and Lignite Plants

·        EEB Critical of  EU Efforts to Reduce Power Plant NO_x and Other Pollutants

·        Lignite Plants Can Install Hybrid SCR Systems

·        STEAG Operates Plants and Provides Equipment and Services

·        Power Plant SO₂ Emissions Linked to High Risk Pregnancies in China

BIOFUELS

·        Growth Energy Tells USDA Biofuels, Ag Can Help Meet Climate Goals

BIOMASS

·        ANDRITZ and Pohjolan Voima Commission Metris BOA Measurement and Analysis System at Hämeenkyrö CHP Biopower Plant, Finland

·        ANDRITZ to Supply 11th High-Efficiency Powerfluid Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler to Japan

·        Enviva Notes the Promise of Wood Bioenergy in the New IEA Report

·        Drax and Bechtel Partnering to Set Up BECCS Plants Around the World

·        Drax Opening a Public Consultation on BECCS

·        Carbon Sequestration Clusters Moving Forward in UK

·        Stadtwerke Bielefeld Provides Electricity and Heat From Biogas and Wood

·        Biomethane is an Important Fuel For Central and Eastern Europe

·        Uniper WTE Facility in UK Proposed With Fabric Filters, DSI and SNCR

·        Punjab: Ferozpur’s Biomass Power Plant Generating Electricity using Stubble

WASTE-TO-ENERGY

·        AI Optimizes Energy Generation From Waste

BUSINESS

·        GE is Splitting into Three Companies

·        How Do We Best Address Climate Change?

·        Fuel Tech Reports Third Quarter Profit

·        Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Reports Better than Anticipated Results

·        Toshiba Announces Strategic Reorganization to Separate Into Three Standalone Companies to Enhance Shareholder Value

·        IEA Says We Are Not Moving Fast Enough to Net Zero

·        US Supreme Court to Consider EPA Power to Regulate CO₂ Emissions

·        CEMS QA Needs to Progress as ELVs are Lowered

·        Mercury QA in Europe Somewhat Different Than in the U.S.

·        Groome Industrial Service Introduces Patented KinetiClean Gas Turbine HRSG Tube Cleaning

·        Uniper Engineering and Fortum eNext: Combine Forces

·        Uniper Technologies Know How for SCR Management

·        RWE is Making Synthesis Gas From Sewage Sludge

COAL – U.S.

EPRI Investigating SCR Issues

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems have become a key environmental controls component for most fossil power generation plants in the U.S. and much of the world. Accordingly, there is a continuing need to implement best practices and resolve key operability issues to maximize their reliability, efficiency, and performance. For both coal- and gas-fired plants, issues need to be addressed that pertain to flexible operations, catalyst management strategies, improved catalyst formulations, testing protocols and incorporation of advanced instrumentation. Key challenges for coal-fired power plants are the consequences of lower quality fuels on catalyst performance and life, flexible operations, and the ability to minimize NO_x while concurrently maximizing mercury oxidation and curtailing the formation of SO₃. Specifically, for gas-fired plants, the potential benefits of combined NO_x and CO catalysts, along with strategies to minimize ammonia slip and formaldehyde releases, are of prime interest.

Research Value

The program benefits the power industry and public at large by enabling power generators to reduce emissions without compromise to power grid reliability. More specifically, Program 232 supports cost-effective and reliable reductions of emissions of NO_x, mercury, and condensable particulate matter (of which NO_x is a precursor).

Approach

Guidelines, technical reports, case studies and data analysis are aimed at reducing costs and maximizing performance of SCR systems. Staff responsible for SCR operation and performance can use the tools, project reports, services, meetings, and webcasts developed through this program to optimize their SCR system's O&M practices, auxiliary hardware choices, testing procedures and protocols, and catalyst management strategies.

Accomplishments

EPRI has led the power industry for decades in developing, advancing, and demonstrating cost-effective solutions to SCR issues impacting system reliability and performance, and in implementing advanced concepts leading to lower NO_x and other emissions. Accomplishments include:

• SCR forums on key industry issues, including multiple webcasts on specific SCR related issues
• Assessments of improved performance achieved through enhanced ammonia/NO_x mixing
• Periodical updating of SCR O&M guidelines
• Laboratory and field assessments of continuous ammonia monitors
• Catalyst management software and best practices for minimization of total cost of operation
• Predictive tool for deposition of ammonium bisulfate and subsequent fouling of air heater surfaces
• Case studies of impacts of fuel quality considerations on catalyst performance and longevity
• Field testing programs to determine catalyst deactivation rates
• Assessments of near-commercial NO_x control technologies and advanced SCR concepts (i.e., new catalyst formulations)
• Understanding flue gas conditions and SCR catalyst effects on mercury oxidation to improve capture in downstream FGD systems.

Current Year Activities

Specific R&D efforts and anticipated deliverables in 2021 may include:

• Case studies of flexible operation impacts for different applications (e.g., fuels and SCR designs) including long-term catalyst degradation, along with development of strategies to minimize issues that arise during flexible operations.
• Improved understanding of fuel quality impacts on SCR performance. This may include technology transfer tools to help operators better understand the relationships between SCR performance and fuel quality and combustion impacts, along with best practices to minimize these impacts.
• Investigation into advanced/more accurate instrumentation for monitoring NH₃, NO_x, and SO₃.
• Identification and resolution of issues specific to gas-fired SCR and CO catalyst applications, such as:
  
  
  • Assessments of combined CO/SCR catalysts, including long-term performance and economics.
  • Improved controllability of ammonia slip.
  • Formaldehyde releases and, if needed, control methods.
    
    
• Web-based tools to more easily acquire needed SCR-related information contained in the library of EPRI documents.
• Multiple web-based forums conducted throughout the year on key SCR related issues.

COAL - WORLD

More Than 14 GW of New Coal Capacity to be Built in Indonesia by 2030

Coal is expected to remain the dominant power source in Indonesia's energy mix this decade, according to a report by state-controlled utility PLN, which expects 14-16 GW of generation capacity to come on line by 2030.

This will account for up to 36.6-pc of proposed total capacity additions of 40.9 GW, which also includes power plants being developed under the country's 35 GW power generation project. The additional coal-fired capacity will be broken down into an expected 3.5 GW of mine-mouth capacity and 12.5 GW of non-mine-mouth capacity.

The country is still dependent on coal for its baseload needs because of its availability and lower cost compared with other baseload fuel sources, PLN said. The company said coal-fired plants accounted for 181 GWh or 65-pc of the country's total generation output in 2020. There are currently 237 coal-fired plants in the country with an installed boilerplate capacity of 34.61 GW.

Coal demand for power generation will increase significantly if power plant construction follows the targets set out in the PLN report. If all projects come on line on their targeted commercial operation dates, the power sector will need 140mn-170mn t of coal by 2030, a 33-62-pc increase from last year's consumption of 105mn t. The consumption volume will depend on demand growth in the coming years, PLN said.

An increase in coal demand in Indonesia will make the domestic market an attractive alternative to the export market for local coal mining firms because of lower transportation costs, especially if coal prices decline as a result of oversupply, the country's energy, and mineral resources ministry (ESDM) said. While coal prices are high this year, a move towards greener energy in some countries may result in lower coal demand in the international market in the near future, the ministry said. A larger domestic market will help absorb output from coal mining companies and support coal prices, the ESDM added.

The 1.2 GW Vun Ang 2 Coal-Fired Plant in Vietnam Authorized to Enter Construction

The 1.2 GW (2 x 600 MW) Vung Ang 2 ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired power plant in Vung Ang (Vietnam) is expected to enter construction in December 2021 after developers completed the necessary procedures. The US$2.2 bn project, owned by Mitsubishi Corp and Korea Electric Power, is expected to start commercial power generation in late 2025. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction will also participate in the project. 

Vietnam’s total capacity amounts to 69.7 GW in 2020 (+27% compared to 2019), including 22.2 GW of coal, 20.1 GW of hydro, 16.5 GW of solar, 7.5 GW of gas and 2.5 GW of oil. The draft Power Development Plan 8 (PDP 8) of Vietnam forecasts an installed capacity of 144 GW in 2030, with coal-fired power plants accounting for 31% of the country's installed capacity in 2030. Consequently, more than 20 GW of coal-fired capacity could be installed between 2021 and 2030.

Bangladesh Will Move Forward With Some Coal Plants But May Reduce its Ambitious Plans

Bangladesh’s minister of power, energy, and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, surprised energy watchers recently when he said the country is planning to “review” all but three of 29 planned coal-fired power plants.

“We are keeping the three coal-fired power plants that are under construction. At present, we are aiming for [40 to 41GW of total generation capacity], where only 5 GW is coal based,” said Minister Hamid during a webinar run by the Centre for Policy Dialogue. “We are reviewing how we can move from coal-based power plants.”

Confirming the minister’s comments, Mohammad Hossain, director general of the ministry’s research body, Power Cell, later told China Dialogue that “Bangladesh could be set for a paradigm shift away from coal” toward the “true alternative” of imported liquified natural gas (LNG).

Bangladesh has one of the largest coal power pipelines in the world, a total of 29 power plants amounting to 33.2 GW of capacity, according to a 2019 study by an Australian organization that tracks fossil fuel investment. Hossain confirmed that 26 power plants accounting for 28 GW of capacity “are now going through [sic] reviewing process” to find less expensive alternatives. That’s 90% of the coal pipeline.

“It would dramatically swing the nation’s power development away from coal,” said Simon Nicholas, energy finance analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

In earlier comments at the webinar, Hossain said that: “Coal power is no more a cheap option and it’s becoming more expensive for imported coal. Hence, the government is reconsidering its earlier plan on coal-power generation in its energy mix.”

The costs of renewables have been undercutting coal for years and recent price crashes in oil and gas mean that these two fossil fuels are now also price competitive with coal.

Bangladesh’s coal power dream would also be highly dependent on imports of both equipment and coal, an expense, and a liability in the age of Covid-19-induced lockdowns and supply chain disruptions.

In addition, Bangladesh’s Power Development Board must also pay costly subsidies to operators of underutilized power plants in the form of “capacity payments”. With a coal power utilization rate of just 43%, from 2018-19 the government reportedly burned US$1.1 billion in payments to power plant operators. One third of the energy ministry’s budget has been allocated to capacity payments for idle power plants in the 2020-2021 financial year.

With the IMF predicting that GDP growth in Bangladesh could slip to just 2% this year, compared to a pre-Covid forecast of 7.4%, power demand is expected to be lower, meaning capacity payments will continue to rise unless steps are taken to revise plans for new capacity. Power Cell’s Hossain also acknowledged in the webinar that the government will need to review the country’s power system masterplan considering the radically changed outlook for the economy and power demand.

The 29 coal-fired power plants currently in Bangladesh’s pipeline are at varying stages of development. The three that Minister Hamid suggested will continue as planned —Rampal, Matarbari and Payra — have entered construction and are nearing completion. Their financiers include Chinese, Japanese and Indian export credit, and international cooperation agencies. Other projects have signed engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) deals, equity investment deals or are only at the stage of memoranda of understanding.

Chinese companies dominate both the EPC and equity investment market in Bangladesh. According to information on EPC contracts gathered by Market Forces, Chinese construction companies are involved in up to 16.5 GW worth of EPC contracts. Japanese companies, the second largest EPC contractors in Bangladesh, are involved in just 2.4 GW of coal power capacity. According to Greenpeace figures, up to 98% of proposed Bangladeshi coal-fired power plants with Chinese involvement also include equity investment.

Coal power was seen as a solid investment that could deliver stable returns from operating plants. But the governments’ review will be of concern to investors and contractors. EPC companies could lose out on a lot of business in one of their most promising markets, although they may be eligible for partial compensation under force majeure and other insurance clauses. Equity investments in coal-fired power plants that do not reach the commissioning stage will also suffer losses.

Insurers will also feel the ripple effects, according to Wang Yan, an independent researcher in environmental, social and governance performance of companies. The minister’s comments “are like a red light” to these companies, warning them that “coal-fired power plants are not a comfortable and profitable deal anymore”, she said.

The companies who have signed the most EPC deals for coal-fired power plants in Bangladesh include Power China, China Energy Engineering Corporation, and First Northeast Electric Power.

Though of a much larger scale than elsewhere, Bangladesh’s potential pivot from coal is not an isolated incident this year. In June, the 700 MW Qasim coal power project in Pakistan was cancelled, in large part due to lack of demand. A number of Vietnam’s coal power projects, long plagued with financing and construction start problems, are also looking increasingly unfeasible in the post-Covid world. In a consultation session held earlier this month, Vietnam’s Energy Institute suggested that the country’s next decade-long power plan due to come into force next year could see up to 9.5 GW of planned coal capacity cancelled and 7.5 GW postponed until at least 2030, about half of the country’s total planned coal power.

IEEFA’s Simon Nicholas notes that these shifts on the demand side also raise huge uncertainties for the region’s number one coal exporter, Indonesia, which has been banking on growth markets in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan as the Chinese and Indian markets shrink.

The review of coal power review may not be all good news for the climate though.

Firstly, three large coal-fired power plants, amounting to 5 GW of capacity, will still be connected to the grid, increasing Bangladesh’s carbon emissions, and requiring costly capacity payments.

Secondly, the government is likely to pivot from coal to imported liquified natural gas (LNG), according to Hossain because the “domestic gas reserve is depleting rapidly.” He added: “LNG will be the true alternative to domestic natural gas in Bangladesh.”  

Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is more or less equal to coal in terms of greenhouse gas emissions when accounted for on a whole-lifecycle basis. Given current overcapacity in the power sector, LNG plants would also likely lie idle and be a drain on the ministry’s budget.

Some Bangladeshi researchers and advocacy groups, such as Transparency International Bangladesh and Waterkeepers Bangladesh, are pushing for an alternative power sector development path that would radically expand renewables.

There is some interest in developing renewables in the country and from foreign investors. Last month, Power China signed an EPC contract to develop 500 MW of solar and wind energy in Bangladesh, the largest ever addition of renewable capacity in the country.

However, on paper the government remains cautious about renewables expansion, with their 2016 forecast signaling a negligible role for renewables through to 2041.

EPC companies that may see proposed coal projects in Bangladesh held up or even cancelled.

Source: China Dialogue, compiled using project-level data provided by Market Forces

cross-checked with Minister Hamid’s comments

Pakistan Slowing Down Coal Plant Construction

The Pakistani government last month unveiled new renewable generation targets, seemingly putting an end to the sanctioning of fresh coal-fired projects. And with most of the country's incremental coal-fired capacity prioritizing domestic production, growth in coal imports could be limited in the years ahead.

"We have decided that we will not have any more power based on coal," prime minister Imran Khan said during an address to the Climate Ambition Summit in December. "We have already scrapped two coal-fired power projects that were supposed to produce 2,600 MW of energy and replaced this with hydroelectricity."

The focus for Pakistan's coal industry will be coal-to-gas or coal-to-liquids production, and "by 2030, 60pc of all energy produced in Pakistan will be clean energy through renewables," Khan said.

This commitment to boosting renewables generation will require a substantial build-out of Pakistan's hydro, wind, and solar capacity, which currently makes up 27.5pc of installed power capacity and covered 35.3pc of January-October's 108TWh of power output, according to government data.

The country has numerous renewables projects scheduled to connect to the grid in the mid-2020s, but over the next three years, domestic coal, imported coal and nuclear are expected to make up the bulk of the incremental capacity, according to a plan from the country's state-owned national transmission and dispatch firm NTDC released in April (see chart).

These projects, many of which have received significant Chinese investment as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, will expand Pakistan's total coal and lignite-fired capacity by around 85pc to 8.5 GW by 2023. But the bulk of the projects that have already been fully permitted will ultimately burn domestically produced lignite, rather than seaborne coal.

Installed capacity running on seaborne coal could rise by around 828 GW by the end of 2023 to 5.1 GW, equivalent to an additional 1.5mn t/yr of NAR 5,700 kcal/kg coal burnt in 40pc-efficient plants at a load factor of 56pc.

Pakistan operates four major coal-fired power plants, with around 4 GW running on imported coal and 660 MW of using domestic lignite.

Coal/Lignite Project Pipeline

Around 2.6 GW of domestic lignite-fired capacity is under construction and set to be added to the grid in 2021-23, although Covid-19 has delayed work on some of these projects. Hubco, the developer of the 330 MW ThalNova and Thar Energy projects, said in a recent investor presentation that construction delays mean the commercial start-up of these plants is now expected in 2022.

Construction work is also under way on the Asian Development Bank-backed 660 GW supercritical Jamshoro 5 plant in Sindh, with start-up planned for 2023. The unit is intended to run 80pc on imported coal and 20pc on domestic lignite, although local government has been lobbying for it to be converted to run 100pc on domestic supply.

As these projects are already under construction, they appear highly unlikely to be affected by Khan's announcement. Also, there are several other planned projects at an advanced stage that are unlikely to be cancelled.

On the imported coal front, the 300 GW China-backed Gwadar plant in Balochistan is planned to come on line in 2022, with local press expecting the imminent signing of a power purchase agreement. Further out, the expansion of the Jamshoro plant to include a second 660 MW unit is at the planning stage and provisionally due on line in 2025.

In any event, 2021 is unlikely to see a sharp rise in structural coal imports from the power sector, with new capacity not scheduled to be added until 2022 at the earliest. There should be additions of capacity that will run on imported coal in 2022-25, but government policy means any further growth is unlikely.

Outside of the power sector, Pakistan's coal imports have been driven by strong cement demand, with November receipts hitting a 28-month high. Argus' Seaborne Coal Outlook forecasts that Pakistan's coal imports will rise to 20mn t in 2021 from 14mn t in 2020.

*Please note that the start-up dates for some imported coal projects differ between the two charts in this article. This is because the IGCEP 2047 dates have been left as they were in the April update; the dates in the "Pakistan's incremental imported coal-fired capacity" chart are likely to be more accurate. By Alex Thackrah.

Pakistan’s Imported Coal-Fired Capacity Build-Out GW

Committed” Incremental Capacity As Per April IGCEP 2047 GW

Philippines Power Capacity Expected to Grow More Than Twofold by 2030

The annual power consumption in the Philippines is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8% from 82.5 TWh in 2020 to 145.1 TWh by 2030. To fulfill its growing power demand, the Philippines government plans to increase its total installed power capacity from 27.6 GW in 2020 to 58.4 GW in 2030. With no plans for nuclear power development and limited potential of hydropower development, most of the installed capacity is expected to be sourced from thermal power and renewable (excluding hydro) power, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The Philippines plans to increase its renewable power capacity from 5.3 GW in 2020 to 22.2 GW by 2030. Similarly, it also plans to increase thermal power capacity from 18.4 GW in 2020 to 30.7 GW by 2030 driven by coal fired thermal power plants.

Aditya Sharma, Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “By 2030, the power demand in the country is going to increase significantly. This demand is expected to be driven by multiple factors including the rapid industrial growth and increased residential power demand. Further, with government implementing plans like Total Electrification Program (TEP) for total electrification by 2022, the electrification rate in the country is going to increase. Since, Philippines does not import electricity, it needs to rapidly develop its total power capacity to sustain this growing power demand.

“The government plans to rapidly increase its solar PV deployment, which will help to reach its target capacity of 15.3 GW by 2030 as per National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) 2018-2030. It will also help the country to keep checks on its growing carbon emission. GlobalData estimates that the Philippines will increase its solar PV capacity from 2.16 GW in 2020 to 15.29 GW in 2030. Even under its new Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2018–2040, the government has announced its NREP 2020-2040 (draft), where it plans to add 11,070 MW of new solar capacity.”

India Coal-Fired Capacity in 2030 Will be Close to the Peak in the U.S.

The peak U.S. coal capacity was 330 GW. India will be closing in on this number by 2030.

India has a total of 209.2 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired capacity (including lignite) as of March 2021. This forms 55% of the total installed capacity and 71% of the total power generation. India’s new draft National Electricity Policy mentions the addition of new coal-fired capacity into the generation mix, although it does not provide details as to the amount of capacity to be added. However, in the past few years, various government studies have provided projections for India’s power generation mix. The Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) January 2020 report on optimal generation mix projects India’s total coal-fired capacity to be 267 GW by the end of FY2029/30 and to form 33% of the total capacity and 54% of the total generation.

India will continue to add 2-3 GW of net new coal-fired capacity annually for another 5-10 years, subject to financing remaining available, which, in turn, is conditional upon operational viability at a sufficiently high tariff to deliver a return on, and return of, capital.

For existing coal-fired power plants, the long-delayed enforcement of emissions regulation for coal-fired power plants is likely to be implemented soon. The environment ministry recently extended the timelines for coal-fired power plants to be environmentally compliant to 2024, with plants allowed to meet the deadline in a phased manner depending on their location. Plants with space constraints to incorporate emissions control equipment will have to be retired, as noted in the National Electricity Plan 2018. Also, plants that need to be retrofitted to implement emissions control systems are not financially viable and will therefore become candidates for retirement as they will rank lower in the merit dispatch order due to their expensive tariffs. This could accelerate the pace of retirement of end-of-life coal-fired power plants to above the average 2 GW annually seen in the last few years, except FY2020/21.

Base-load capacity is becoming an increasingly irrelevant phenomena in modern electricity systems across the globe. India should take advantage of the falling cost of renewables plus rising viability of battery storage, which can provide clean grid firming, to meet the incremental power demand. Accelerating India’s renewable energy capacity commissioning is critical to support faster electrification of transportation (electric vehicles) and other industries. Ultralow cost renewables would also enable development of a green hydrogen economy to strengthen India’s long-term objective of energy security.

China Accounts For Much of The New Coal Capacity

In 2020, 50.3 GW of global coal power capacity was commissioned while 37.8 GW of global coal power was retired, causing a net increase in the global coal fleet of 12.5 GW (Figure 1, solid gray line). China commissioned 38.4 GW1 of new coal plants in 2020, making up nearly 80% of the global total (blue bars). The country also retired 8.6 GW of coal power in 2020, leading to a net 29.8 GW increase in China’s coal fleet. Meanwhile, most countries have been scaling back their coal plans (green bars), leading global coal power capacity outside China to decline since 2018—a trend that accelerated in 2020 (dashed grey line.

Excluding China, the global coal fleet declined by 17.2 GW in 2020, led by retirements in the U.S. (–11.3 GW), European Union (–10.1 GW), and UK (–3.3 GW). Still, meeting the Paris climate goal of a 50 to 75% reduction in coal power by 2030 means OECD nations should phase out their coal fleets this decade, given their role as historic emitters. Countries like the U.S., Japan, and Poland are nowhere near on track for such a reduction, with the latter two countries constructing new coal plants. Outside China, there was a marked slowdown in 2020 commissioning. India, notably, grew its coal fleet by only net 0.7 GW in 2020, after adding an average 15.0 GW a year from 2010 to 2019.

Fortum Enext Reduces NO_x Emissions at Indian Power Plant

Fortum eNext successfully completed its first commercial combustion modification project in India. The NO_x emissions of a coal-fired boiler are, for the first time, cut down by almost 60% reaching levels well below 300 mg/Nm³ also fulfilling India's set target of 450 mg/Nm³.

The project was aimed at reducing nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions on one of the coal-fired power plants in India with a capacity of over 100 MWe. The boiler was commissioned during Q1 in 2020 and it has been in operation since then. Performance Guarantee Tests have also been duly completed.

The project met the guaranteed values of 290 mg/Nm³ of NO_x (at 6% oxygen reference) in all mill combinations and load conditions (60%, 80% and 100%) by using local Indian coal with the lowest NO_x values remaining well below 200 mg/Nm³.

Sanjay Aggarwal, Managing Director, Fortum India, said, “India’s existing coal-fired power plants will need to go through technological upgradation to meet the stringent emission norms. Even the 15–20 years old power plants have potential to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their air emissions significantly, like in the case of NO_x emissions, by adopting the best available technologies. With this project, we have been able to demonstrate that it is not only possible to meet the existing NO_x emission norms in India, but also overtake them and with some margins.”

Juha Suomi, Head of Sales, Fortum eNext, said, “Reducing the emission levels of power plants will not only help make the energy sector more sustainable but also curb the air pollution levels, thereby taking India closer towards achieving its climate goals. Fortum is committed to supporting India in achieving this goal by offering its knowledge and expertise to the energy sector.”

Fortum eNext has advanced technology for reducing NO_x emissions by using only primary combustion modification on the boiler with minimal capital expenses and no operating expenses. During the course of the project, Fortum carried out various field data analyses; tests with local coals in different coal mill operations and combinations, measurements of NO_x emission levels at different production loads; and modification to the existing coal burners and combustion staging, based on Computational Fluid Dynamic modelling combined with Fortum’s excessive experience on previous retrofit projects.

Croatia Announces 2033 Coal Phase-Out

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced at the COP26 conference in Glasgow that the country’s only coal-fired power plant, the 200 megawatt (MW) Plomin power station, will close by 2033 at the latest. The announcement has been welcomed by Europe Beyond Coal,   which said it expected the plant, which accounts for 40 percent of Croatia’s greenhouse gas emissions, to close by 2030 at the latest. In 2017 the government announced that it planned to extend the life of the 125 MW Unit 1 by 15 to 20 years without environmental assessment. However, a fire at the 1969 vintage plant resulted in the unit being closed leaving just the 200 MW Unit 2 operating.

Japan’s Push For Ammonia And Hydrogen Seen As Lifeline For Coal Plants 

Japan’s peak climate NGO, the Kiko Network, has expressed alarm at the government’s push to heavily subsidize the use of hydrogen and ammonia to extend the life of its fleet of coal-fired power plants. Kiko argues most of the projects in Southeast Asia, North America, Russia, and Australia earmarked to supply hydrogen and ammonia to Japanese power plants are based on natural gas or lignite. While the use of carbon capture and storage has been proposed to reduce emissions associated with the projects, it remains an expensive technology. JERA, Japan’s largest power utility, has announced it is aiming to use 20 percent ammonia in its fuel mix for about two months at a 1,000 MW unit at its Hekinan power station.

G20 Pledges Not to Fund New Coal Plants Overseas

Leaders from the G20, who today represent the world’s biggest coal producers and consumers, agreed to take the first steps to weaken coal’s future, though they fell far short of what is necessary to sufficiently address climate change. In a joint communiqué released at the end of their summit in Rome, the G20 leaders said they would end the financing of coal-fired power plants overseas, but the statement included no new commitments on curbing the use of coal domestically.

The communiqué also sent an important symbolic message as United Nations-led climate talks got underway this week in Glasgow. The  leaders pledged to “pursue efforts” to limit the global average temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, compared to preindustrial times.

But the world is currently not on track to achieve that goal, which scientists say is necessary to avert the worst effects of climate change. This stark fact hangs over the Glasgow climate summit, raising fears that the summit will yield similar half-steps.

Beyond vague, if well-meaning targets, what matters are concrete measures that countries are taking to rein in the emissions of planet-warming gases more quickly.

“We remain committed to the Paris Agreement goal to hold the global average temperature increase well below 2 degrees C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees C above preindustrial levels,” the final statement read, referring to the agreement among world nations to work together to cut emissions to limit global warming.

To actually achieve the 1.5 degree target, countries in the group would have to strengthen their national climate targets. The existing country commitments put the world on a path to far higher levels of warming, with the global average temperature rising by 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, which would put the world on a path to far more harrowing heat waves, fires, and flooding.

Nor did the G20 agree to specific financial arrangements to encourage emerging economies to make the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

China Will Not Tear Down Old Coal Plants

A new edict prohibits the tear down of older coal-fired power plants, which will simply be put on standby. The purpose is to have backup power, but another advantage could be BECCS. This is the only likely negative emissions option. If the crisis rises to the level predicted by some environmentalists, BECCS is the only backwards tipping point.

China's top economic planner and energy administrator on Wednesday issued a notice about upgrading coal-fired power plants nationwide, in which they banned the demolition of obsolete and closed coal-fired power units, as part of efforts to support the country's carbon emissions reduction goals.

The plants will serve as standby power sources during emergencies and peaks, according to the notice jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA), underscoring China's intensifying efforts to meet environmental protection goals, while ensuring power supplies after recent shortages. Obsolete and closed coal-fired power units "shall not be torn down, but they may be shut down," the NDRC and the NEA said.

In principle, all coal-fired power units should create the conditions to be transformed into standby emergency power suppliers and peaking power sources. Dismantling the units will require approval from the NDRC and the NEA, read the notice. 

The overall transformation scale of coal-fired power units during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) should surpass 350 million kilowatts, the notice said. 

By 2025, coal-fired power plants must adjust their consumption rate to an average of 300 grams of standard coal per kilowatt-hour, it noted.

Workers installed solar panels on the roof of an industrial building in Xiajiang county, East China's Jiangxi Province on October 25, 2021. The distributed solar power plant can generate electricity for industrial use or sell surplus power to the grid.

The plan came after the COP26 climate talks, where China reaffirmed its goal of achieving a carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.

Even if China's coal output rises amid a nationwide power shortage, it does not signal a return to reliance on coal-fired power, analysts stressed. 

The notice was tailored to support the structural optimization and upgrading of the energy industry, improving the cleanness of coal-fired power units, and facilitating the clean and low carbon transformation of the power sector. 

The challenge now is how to make coal-fired power more flexible, as the generation and grid connections of wind and solar power plants have put increasing pressure on peak shaving in the grid. Global Times 

Alstom  Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Plant Meets NO_x Limits and More at Plomin 2 Power Plant

Alstom installed an SCR system at the existing Plomin 2 power plant in Plomin, Croatia, which has a gross power output of 210 MWe.

The SCR plant is based on Alstom’s SCR technology, which is one of the most advanced solutions currently on the market, thanks to high removal efficiency of nitrogen oxides. It has been successfully applied in more than 50,000 MWe of generating capacity.

“The SCR plant keeps NO₂ concentration below 80 mg/Nm³, thus not only complying fully with IED regulations, but reducing our environmental footprint in the Plomin region beyond what is required

“Croatia was under the obligation of harmonizing its industrial facilities with border emission values pursuant to the EU Directive by January 1, 2018,”, pointed out Perica Jukić, the President of the Management Board of HEP d.d. “The deNOx facility at Plomin 2 Power Plant forms part of these measures, although the installation of new expensive equipment is not always cost-effective in most thermal facilities, due to their old age. With this in mind, HEP has been developing the projects of new, replacement generating units on existing locations, including the site of TE Plomin. Modern technological solutions, with a high degree of fuel efficiency and more efficient systems and measures for limiting polluting emissions will be implemented in the replacement unit in Plomin, as well as on other locations, which will facilitate capacity and generation increase while also lowering the environmental impact”, said Jukić.

The SCR system was built according to requirements specified by TE Plomin. This includes for instance state-of–the-art Ammonia Direct Injection System (ADIS) to inject ammonia water directly in flue gas without any external conditioning (evaporation, dilutions). In order to ensure the SCR plant delivers the guaranteed performance, Alstom engineers conducted Computerized Flow Dynamics modelling in Alstom’s Lab in Växjö Sweden.

German Environmentalists Wanted Tougher NO_x Control For Gas Turbines and Lignite Plants

In May 2021, the German Bundesrat voted a compromise allowing business as usual pollution levels for German coal and lignite power plants.

The Bundesrat i voted on the adoption of EU pollution limits for large combustion plants at the national level, known as the 13. BImSchV. The item had been taken down from the agenda of the March session following the objection of Green led regions Back in March, NGOs had called on the Parliament to reject the adoption of those standards that are not fit to protect people’s health and the environment from toxic industrial pollution [1].

The Greens had initially demanded the standards to require more effective controls on nitrogen oxides emissions from gas turbines and at least a symbolic tightening on mercury pollution limits for coal combustion, however they now seem ready to endorse an even weaker proposal [2].

The EU Industrial Emissions Directive requires all operators of Large Combustion Plants to comply at the latest by August 17, 2021, with emission ranges set by EU law according to the current best available techniques to prevent pollution (BATs). These emission limits should have been transposed into German law as early as August 2018.

Germany should choose to adopt stricter emission limits that would prevent thousands of premature deaths and save society €5.6 billion a year in terms of health and other air pollution-related costs just for coal combustion. However, three years later than the implementation deadline, the German government’s proposal aligns to the most indulgent possible limit values to favor the lignite industry [3]. This would not trigger any further abatement by German plants of toxic pollutants such as mercury (Hg) and nitrogen dioxide (NO_x), and leave citizens exposed to tons of dangerous emissions that could be avoided [4]. Enforcing the strictest NO_x limit would allow Germany to cut the pollution load by more than 80%.

With coal phase out discussions happening in several central and eastern European countries, and the European Commission possibly strengthening emission limits in the near future, the German Bundesrat’s vote has far reaching implications beyond national borders.

References

[1] https://eeb.org/germany-close-to-miss-key-chance-to-slash-toxic-industrial-pollution/

[2]The new amendments tabled https://www.bundesrat.de/drs.html?id=178-3-21 as a “compromise” from the Green led Baden-Württemberg, ruled by Winfried Kretschmann, are almost aligned to the government proposal. The following changes were made:

·       For hard coal plants, the initial higher level of ambition of 2µg/Nm³ for mercury emissions, due to apply 3 years after entry force is delayed by another year and aligned up to 4µg/Nm³ maximum EU limit for “system relevant plants”

·       For lignite plants the situation is worse:  the initial marginal improvement proposal on mercury due to apply as from 2025 (5µg/Nm³) is weakened further to 6µg/Nm³, meaning business as usual for all RWE lignite plants and the Lausatia / MIBRAG plants firing higher mercury containing lignites (e.g. KW Schkopau, HKW Chemnitz Nord and KW Lippendorf, of which one unit is owned by Energie Baden-Württemberg AG EnBW.) For plants with capacity <1500MWth and the high mercury input plants where this was relevant, the higher permissible EU level of 7µg/Nm³ has been copied over from EU minimum requirements.

A 2019 study commissioned by North Rhine Westphalia confirms that already since 2012 all RWE lignite units achieve values below 5µg/Nm³, of which the highest one is Neurath (5µg), due to the 10mg/kg fuel input threshold, the limit of 5µg/Nm³ will be set anyways.
https://oekopol.de/archiv-de/DE_671-gutachten-im-rahmen-der-entwicklung-einer-medienuebergreifenden-quecksilber-minderungsstrategie-fuer-nordrhein-westfalen-vergabe-nr/

A very recent study commissioned by the German Federal Environmental Protection Agency (DE UBA) confirms that at least 3.3 tonnes of mercury per year of operation of lignite power plants could be prevented on an annual basis if dedicated mercury controls would be required (achieving 80% reduction.   

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/quecksilberemissionen-aus-industriellen-quellen-teil-2

The EEB study of 2017 confirms those enormous pollution saving potential by requiring BAT levels of 1µg/Nm³ https://eeb.org/library/mercury-emissions-from-coal-power-plants-in-germany-de/

·       Nothing is proposed on the more critical NO_x parameter, which led Germany to vote against the EU standards in the first place. The current average in Germany is around 180mg/Nm³ due to optimization of primary measures (boiler tuning) only. A level of 150mg/Nm³ would have required introduction of the technique called Selective Non Catalytic reduction (SNCR), achieving 20-30% better abatement. A limit of 100mg/Nm³ or below would have required the more effective catalytic version (SCR), enabling to cut further NO_x pollution by at least 75%. See EEB study / briefing here https://eeb.org/library/specific-nox-briefing/

·       The only positive initial ambition to tackle NO_x emissions from gas turbines (cutting the limit from the proposed 30mg/Nm³ to 10mg/Nm³) meant further investment in DeNOx (SCR) but has been given up by the Greens as well. The proposal would allow not even built plants to sideline the SCR controls, if the operator applied for a permit before the entry into force of the law. This stance will not achieve the necessary 65% NO_x reduction required under the EU NEC Directive.

[3] The EEB heavily criticized the draft proposal as an example of “Klientel-politik” in its August 2020 submission to the public consultation on the German draft law (https://eeb.org/library/eeb-submission-to-german-draft-law-implementing-the-2017-lcp-bref/, in German), because it failed to look at the important public benefits that would be delivered by stricter limits.

[4] The public benefits of preventing just the NO_x pollution could amount to 11,9 Billion € over 10 years. Requiring lignite operators to meet the strict mercury level of 1µg/Nm³ could also prevent a damage cost of about €165 Million per year of operation. Considering all air pollutants, a potential €5.6 Billion in annual air pollution cost “savings” could be achieved. The EEB also criticized the lack of transparency on public access to monitoring data in Germany, and authorities’ failure to correct those flaws.

EEB Critical of  EU Efforts to Reduce Power Plant NO_x and Other Pollutants

“Our years of inaction, complacency and derogations are costing citizens millions in terms of health and environmental costs. Where are the national laws, the implementation, and the enforcement? Why have polluting activities always come before public health and environmental protection? There is no more time to waste: toxic plants must comply or close” said Riccardo Nigro, Campaign Coordinator for coal combustion and mines at the European Environmental Bureau.

National examples

·        Germany is the worst EU country in making data on pollution performance of LCPs publicly available. Emission data from 2018 and 2019 is still not reported to the European Commission (breaching reporting deadline by more than one year). The Commission is not taking any action to rectify this situation.

·        Romania’s government is planning a multi-million state aid to allow the refurbishment of plants to make them BAT compliant. At the moment, two lignite plants, Isalnita and Craiova, are still waiting to get the permit update according to the BAT.

·        In Slovenia, the Sostanj 6 lignite plant is not using its state-of-the-art secondary NO_x reduction equipment (SCR), according to our sources, for purely economic reasons. The operator prefers to daily fine-tune the amount of lignite to be burned in order to remain on the higher BAT limit instead of abating decisively pollutants with the DeNOx technology they already have.

·        Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment granted post-2021 exemptions to the Pątnów I and Konin power plants belonging to ZE PAK. Thanks to Greenpeace Poland and Frank Bold, the Administrative Court of Warsaw overturned the decision of the Ministry, which now has to reconsider the issue.

·        In Bulgaria, derogations are in the business plans of the operators: the Bulgarian Executive Environmental Agency has been systematically granting derogations to polluting lignite power plants upon request. For poisonous mercury, the derogation is granted. or an endless period, despite the EU requirement to phase it out by 2027 the latest. The decision on the derogation request of the notorious polluter Brikel is still pending on the eve of the August 17 deadline.

·        Czech coal and lignite plants decided to depend on the “BAT derogations” – exemptions from the new emission limits which can be permitted by the regional authorities. In total, 18 Czech plants have applied for such derogations. 

·        In the United Kingdom, permit writers have systematically granted air pollution derogations to protect coal operations throughout their operating lifetime. Even the one and only plant fitted with secondary DeNO_x (Ratcliffe – owned by E.ON, then UNIPER) is not required to use that abatement system, able to cut NO_x emissions by at least 85%. Considering that this plant will finally close in 2025 (when the LCP BREF derogation will end), this translates to up to an additional health cost transfer bill to citizens up to € 96 million just due to the NO_x parameter.

References

[1] New EEB factsheets show where countries were at back in 2017: https://eeb.org/library/industrial-plant-data-viewer-country-factsheets/ 

[2] https://eeb.org/library/background-briefing-on-the-2017-lcp-bref-transposition-for-coal-fired-power-plants 

[3] Data used to derive the BAT standards date back to commercially operating plants in 2010. See more background information here.

[4] https://meta.eeb.org/2020/09/10/europes-worst-polluters-revealed/

[5] For lignite plants only, since the entry into force of the standards, based on the difference between higher BAT emission levels (upper range) and the lower ones.

6] https://meta.eeb.org/2020/10/22/industrial-pollution-its-time-to-enter-the-digital-age/
[7] https://meta.eeb.org/2021/04/15/romania-promises-billions-to-coal-polluters-against-eu-state-aid-rules/

Lignite Plants Can Install Hybrid SCR Systems

New emission limits for acid gases are a real challenge for existing lignite plants; typical current limits of 200 mg/m3 are under review. For example, China has set limits of 100 mg/m3 NO_x for stations up to twelve years old. Mercury has been added to the list of regulated flue gas components and there are tough new stringent limits for fine particulates.

New lignite plants can be designed to include the recognized ‘best available technologies’ to reduce pollutant emissions:  selective catalytic reduction (SCR), particulate bag houses, carbon injection and flue gas desulphurization (FGD). But it may not be possible to retrofit these adaptations to older plants due to the cost, a lack of space, and duration of plant outage.  The same reasons make a potential efficiency upgrade from sub to super or ultra-supercritical (USC) steam conditions unlikely.

However, there are some suitable retrofit technologies which can extend the operating lifespan by 10 – 15 years, improve performance and reduce emissions. Such modifications include replacing aged equipment; selecting technologies that can be added to existing plant in a straightforward manner; and fitting treatment methods that are cheaper than mainstream technologies and require a shorter outage time for installation.

Hybrid systems incorporate low NO_x burners (LNBs) and selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technologies to match the efficiency of a new SCR NO_x unit. Originally conceived as an ammonia slip trap ‘compact SCR’, at one quarter scale, it can match the full SCR performance but fit into existing piping.  An ozonizer forming part of a hybrid system that oxidizes rather than reduces NO can achieve lower levels of NO_x than SCR and can also oxidize mercury to soluble HgO.

https://www.sustainable-carbon.org/blogs/how-to-improve-the-performance-of-lignite-power-plants/

STEAG Operates Plants and Provides Equipment and Services

STEAG operates seven hard coal power plants and one refinery power plant in Germany, as well as three hard coal power plants at international locations. Industry and public utilities alike are consumers of the electricity. Existing power plants are continuously optimized so that energy generation from hard coal is becoming more and more economical and flexible. At the same time, STEAG is expanding its generation portfolio based on renewable energies. Around 100 systems run on biomass, bio or mine gas and geothermal energy. Around 100 more are operated as decentralized energy contracting systems.

Some of the systems generate electricity and heat. Decentralized generation systems with combined heat and power (CHP) and thermal systems are a core competence. The principle of combined heat and power can be used with any fuel, i.e. with fossil energies as well as with regenerative energies, which also use a thermal process. STEAG Energy Services has also been working on projects for energy, municipal and industrial partners, such as highly efficient gas-fired power plants, for many decades. Whether it is conventional natural gas as fuel or special fuels such as coke oven or residual gases from chemical production, flexible, environmentally friendly, and most economical operation is always the focus 

Steag develops and sells holistic IT solutions for system monitoring, optimization and operational management and support the planning, operation and maintenance of power plants, waste incineration plants, cement plants and wind turbines. The spectrum therefore ranges from the energy supply with fossil fuels and renewable energies to electrical and heating networks and storage systems. The development of sustainable and economical supply concepts is the heart of their work. IT solutions transform costs into reliable performance.

The combined cycle power plant Gersteinwerk, Germany has a Steag expert system

The primary goal of the SR :: EPOS monitoring system was to monitor the thermodynamic process quality of the entire power plant process or the sub-processes of various plant components. The system recognizes process deviations at short notice, continuously identifies all controllable losses and detects changes in important units. All calculations for changes and deviations had to be based on measurement data validated in accordance with VDI 2048. 

The benefits:

• Systematic system analysis
• Determination of the block parameters
• Identification of controllable losses
• Current condition monitoring of important components
• Recognition of optimization potential

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Power Plant SO₂ Emissions Linked to High Risk Pregnancies in China

A study by Shudda Rafiq of the Center for Disaster Resilience and Recovery in Australia shows the correlation of reduced high pregnancy risks with the installation of FGD systems in China. This was a good location for such a study because of the large number of systems which were installed in a very short time frame. McIlvaine Company contributed the data on the FGD installations at the specific power plants. 

BIOFUELS

Growth Energy Tells USDA Biofuels, Ag Can Help Meet Climate Goals

In comments submitted to the USDA, Growth Energy discussed the continued innovation of low-carbon biofuels and the importance of appropriately crediting farmers for their efforts to address climate change. These comments are in response to USDA’s proposed Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Program (CSAF).

CSAF, announced by USDA Secretary Vilsack in September, is an initiative to partner with agriculture, forestry, and rural communities and to finance the deployment of climate-smart farming and forestry practices to aid in the marketing of climate-smart agricultural commodities. In their comments, Growth Energy asked USDA to credit farmers for instituting carbon-friendly agriculture practices and take them into consideration when rating carbon intensity scores for biofuels, particularly for programs like sustainable aviation fuel and overall efforts to address climate change.

“USDA is best positioned to accurately determine how precision agriculture and improved practices lower carbon intensity scores for farming, and therefore the overall carbon intensity for ethanol,” wrote Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “This will make biofuels like ethanol a more attractive solution towards addressing climate change when advanced farming practices are appropriately recognized.”

The comments also urge USDA to acknowledge actions taken by biofuels producers which decrease carbon emissions, including significant investments in carbon capture and sequestration projects around the country.

In order to fully capture the economic and environmental benefits brought by the CSAF Program, Growth Energy called on USDA to work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release growth-oriented Renewable Volume Obligations for 2021 and 2022, continue investments in higher blend infrastructure programs, and coordinate with the administration to provide year-round access to E15.

“We urge USDA to continue bringing biofuels to the table as our country designs a national strategy to reduce overall carbon emissions. Biofuel production allows our farmers and rural economies to participate in consistent markets as we also work to reduce the environmental impact of the agriculture sector. We are grateful for [USDA’s] consideration of these comments and look forward to working with the department to advance these important initiatives.”

BIOMASS

ANDRITZ and Pohjolan Voima Commission Metris BOA Measurement and Analysis System at Hämeenkyrö CHP Biopower Plant, Finland

International technology group ANDRITZ and Finnish energy company Pohjolan Voima have commissioned a Metris BOA measurement and analysis system for the combined heat and power plant at Metsä Board’s Kyro mill in Kyröskoski, Hämeenkyrö, Finland. The system, which is the first of its kind to be installed in Finland, is used to extend the lifecycle of the power plant’s boilers as well as to reduce maintenance and cut emissions.

The Metris BOA system was installed as part of Hämeenkyrön Voima’s switch from fossil fuel to recycled fuels. The latter create new requirements with regard to condition monitoring of the boilers as the risk of erosion and corrosion damage on heating surfaces increases when these types of fuel are used.

ANDRITZ Metris BOA is a web app that utilizes live data as well as historical data from the plant to optimize and analyze power plant processes and monitor the equipment installed. Indicators and advisors increase the operators’ awareness of opportunities to optimize consumption of utilities, improve efficiency, or keep the combustion process running at the optimum level. Machine-learning algorithms trained using historical data monitor important equipment and processes to reduce unplanned shutdown time and identify deviations at an early stage before any serious failure occurs. Initial results show that emissions from the plant have decreased, the quality of ash has improved, and the plant availability has increased with Metris BOA.

ANDRITZ to Supply 11th High-Efficiency Powerfluid Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler to Japan

ANDRITZ has received another order from the Toyo Engineering Corporation and Nippon Steel Engineering (Karatsu) joint venture to supply a 50-MW PowerFluid circulating fluidized bed boiler on an EPS basis. The boiler will be part of the biomass power plant in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, in Japan. Start-up is planned for 2024.

ANDRITZ PowerFluid (CFB) boiler systems are capable of efficiently combusting different types of fuel with varying consistency and moisture content in a single furnace without any hardware modifications being required. The turbulent regime in a fluidized bed combined with the scrubbing effects of the thermally inert bed material provide the prerequisites for complete, controlled, and uniform combustion. Emissions from fluidized bed combustion are inherently lower than from conventional technologies.

This order once again confirms ANDRITZ’s strong partnership with Toyo Engineering Corporation. ANDRITZ is proud to be part of this remarkable project and make another important contribution towards the Japanese power industry’s move from fossil fuel to renewable energy resources.

Enviva Notes the Promise of Wood Bioenergy in the New IEA Report

Enviva has welcomed a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for a more rapid transition to net-zero carbon emissions, a tripling of public investments in clean energy technology, and a growing role for ‘modern bioenergy’.

The IEA World Energy Outlook report is designed to provide independent, objective, scientific assistance to decision-makers gathering at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, UK.

In the report, the IEA warned that current progress on clean energy remains “far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero” and calls for urgent action from governments globally. The report also states that “modern bioenergy plays a key role in meeting net-zero pledges.”

“While there is no silver bullet to achieve net zero, sustainable wood bioenergy is a proven technology that can be expanded at scale —today — to accelerate the energy transition,” said John Keppler, chairman and CEO at Enviva.

“The IEA is a prominent member of the growing chorus of respected climate and energy authorities and policymakers that recognize the role modern bioenergy plays as a part of the global solution to climate change.”

To achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the report calls for coal to be phased out at a more rapid pace and replaced with low emissions energy sources that complement one another, such as wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower and bioenergy.

The report further states: “There is a growing role for alternative, low emissions fuel such as modern bioenergy and hydrogen-based fuels in all scenarios. These play a key role in the achievement of net-zero targets.”

The IEA report echoes the sentiment of a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report issued a few months ago that time is running out to put in place the measures needed to further prevent ‘irreversible damage’ from climate change, said Enviva.

USIPA, UK REA Slam Chatham House Report on US Wood Pellets

Chatham House report disputing the positive effect of BECCS is refuted by several associations.

The U.S. Industrial Pellet Association and U.K. Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) are slamming a new Chatham House report on biomass energy that they say uses deeply flawed carbon accounting methods.

The paper focuses on the use of U.S. wood pellets in power and combined-heat-and-power (CHP) applications in the European Union and U.K., claiming that European governments are not properly accounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions created through the supply and use of U.S. wood pellets.

USIPA, however, is stressing that the Chatham House report contradicts the UN IPCC on the role of sustainable biomass as an essential tool for mitigating climate change. “The conclusions of its latest report are deeply flawed and are based on a total rejection of carbon accounting and reporting guidelines as determined by the world’s leading authority on climate science,” USIPA said in a statement.

“These methodologies were reaffirmed by the UN IPCC in 2019 following a review of the latest scientific literature, and with input from thousands of climate scientists. A peer-reviewed paper published this year by 28 leading academics also found that the UN IPCC reporting approach is “accurate, has no gaps and does not assume that bioenergy is carbon neutral although it has sometimes been described as such.” 

“That Chatham House continues to cling to a thoroughly debunked position while vigorously promoting it to the public as a consensus view, deeply undermines its standing as a trusted forum for debate and dialogue.

“Only two months ago, the UN IPCC released its Sixth Assessment report, representing our latest and best understanding of both the causes of climate change and the action needed to prevent it. The report shows indisputably that sustainable biomass is essential to limiting global temperature rise and avoiding the worst impacts of a warming planet. In particular, the IPCC pathways that give humanity the best chance at achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement rely significantly on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). The models show BECCS is needed to extract almost 5bn tons of CO₂ a year — or twice the EU’s annual emissions — by mid-century, increasing to 17bn by 2100.

“Chatham House must ask itself why the IPCC would champion sustainable biomass, indeed citing the need for its rapid expansion, if it is not a climate solution,” USIPA added.

REA is also speaking out to criticize the report and its methodologies, calling for a fair and honest science-led debate that avoids polarizing statements and recognizes the role of biomass in decarbonizing energy systems.

“Today’s Chatham House report misrepresents well-established carbon accounting methodologies for the use of biomass in energy, set out and reaffirmed by the thousands of scientists at the UN IPCC,” said Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the REA. “This is an approach that has also been verified by leading independent scientific bodies such as the UK’s Climate Change Committee and the International Energy Agency, whose scenarios for achieving Net Zero carbon emissions all demonstrate a critical role for the use of sustainable biomass and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

“Calls to restrict the types of biomass feedstocks used fail to appreciate that in sustainably managed forests, where biomass feedstocks originate, forestry activities are driven by higher-value sectors such as supplying wood to the construction and furniture industries, which pay much higher prices for wood fiber than the bioenergy sector. These activities drive the availability of low-value residues and thinning’s as a by-product of sustainable forestry, which then go to bioenergy because they lack other markets.

“Use of this type of biomass is also certified through independent schemes, such as the Sustainable Biomass Program, which audit sustainable supply chain practices and go beyond even the strict national sustainability governance arrangements in place in the UK and EU. This results in increased carbon stocks in the forest where biomass originates, as proven by real-world data from forests in the United States, for example, where forest cover and sequestered carbon have more than doubled since the 1950s, due to careful stewardship and supply of sustainable wood products.

“Earlier this year, 28 leading climate scientists published a peer-reviewed academic paper that warned against exactly the kind of misconception seen in today’s report, which are borne out of a failure to appreciate whole system dynamics present in bioenergy use and forest carbon. Therefore, it remains disappointing that Chatham House continues to take an inaccurate and minority view that misrepresent robust carbon accounting methodologies, along with the critical need for biomass use in power, heat, and transport decarbonization.

“The REA calls for a resetting of this increasingly polarized debate. With COP 26 approaching, it is essential that a fair, honest, and science-led debate is had. This must recognize the need for bioenergy in decarbonizing energy systems and enable all stakeholders to engage with the established and verified carbon accounting methodologies that sit behind bioenergy use.”

Drax and Bechtel Partnering to Set Up BECCS Plants Around the World

Power plant engineering and construction giant Bechtel is partnering with a renewable energies company to explore the potential of bioenergy production sites combined with carbon capture and storage.

The EPC firm announced its strategic agreement with Drax to create Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) plants around the world. The focus for both companies working together is identify design optimization for engineering and building BECCS plants. Drax already has undertaken what it calls the largest decarbonization project in Europe–converting its power station in North Yorkshire, England, to use biomass instead of coal.

Jason Shipstone, Drax Group Chief Innovation Officer, said: “Negative emissions technologies such as BECCS are crucial in tackling the global climate crisis and at Drax we’re planning to retrofit this to our UK power station, demonstrating global climate leadership in the transformation of a former coal-fired power station.”

Bechtel will focus its study on strategically important regions for new build BECCS plants, including North America and Western Europe, as well as reviewing how to optimize the design of a BECCS plant using state-of-the-art engineering to maximize efficiency, performance, and cost.

“Technological advancements have created new opportunities to improve how we bring power to communities worldwide,” Jamie Cochrane, Bechtel Manager of Energy Transition, said in a statement. “We are resolved to work with our customers on projects that deliver effective ways to contribute to a clean energy future. Tackling the big global challenges related to climate change is key to meeting aggressive environmental targets and we are proud to partner with Drax to optimize design and explore locations for the new generation of BECCS facilities.”

Drax Opening a Public Consultation on BECCS

Drax Group plc has announced it will open a public consultation on November 1 to gather input related to its proposals to develop bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, U.K.

Drax’s planned BECCS project aims to permanently remove 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. The proposed scheme is also expected to create and support more than 10,000 jobs in the U.K.

Carbon Sequestration Clusters Moving Forward in UK

The U.K. government, on October 19, issued an update on the U.K.’s CCUS Cluster Sequencing Process, confirming that the Hynet and East Coast Clusters are moving forward. Drax’s bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project will play a vital role in the East Coast Cluster.

A statement issued by Greg Hands, Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, explains that the CCUS Cluster Sequencing Process was launched in May 2021. The government’s 10 point plan includes a commitment to deploy CCUS in at least two industrial clusters by the mid-2020s, and four by 2030, he added.

Our cluster sequencing process, which has, through the CCS Infrastructure Fund, £1 billion to provide industry with the certainty required to deploy CCUS at pace and at scale, has completed the first phase of the evaluation of the five cluster submissions received by my department,” Hands said. “I am today, confirming that the Hynet and East Coast Clusters have been confirmed as track 1 clusters for the mid-2020s and will be taken forward into Track-1 negotiations.”

The East Coast Cluster is made up of the Zero Carbon Humber and Net Zero Teesside projects. Together those industrial clusters made up 50 percent of the U.K.’s industrial emissions. Drax is an anchor project for Zero Carbon Humber.

“Today’s Government announcement is welcome news, and a crucial next step on the U.K.’s decarbonization journey,” said Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax Group. “Drax’s bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project will play a vital role in the East Coast Cluster, enabling the U.K.’s most carbon intensive regions decarbonize helping the U.K. to reach net zero.

“BECCS at Drax will protect and create tens of thousands of jobs, whilst showcasing the U.K.’s global leadership in a vital negative emissions technology,” he added. “The first BECCS unit at Drax could be operational in 2027, delivering the world’s largest carbon capture project, permanently removing millions of tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere, playing a vital role in the fight against the climate crisis.”

A statement released by Drax indicates the company is ready to invest more than £2 billion in two BECCS units at Drax Power Station. Those BECCS projects could remove at least 8 million metric tons per year of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while supporting the creation of a new global industry and delivering tens of thousands of new jobs.

Stadtwerke Bielefeld Provides Electricity and Heat From Biogas and Wood

In Dornberg, the  biogas plant generates almost 4.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity and 4.8 million kilowatt hours of heat annually in a climate-friendly manner: enough to supply around 1,700 households with electricity and 320 households with district heating. In total, the Dornberg biogas plant saves the environment 3,450 tons of CO₂ per year. 

Biogas achieves its maximum efficiency and supply level and its best climate balance when it is used to generate electricity and heat at the same time, as is the case with us — with so-called combined heat and power.

The biogas plant generates biogas by fermenting biomass. In this case, these are liquid manure and solid manure as well as energy crops, especially maize. The biomass is delivered on short transport routes from fields within a maximum radius of ten kilometers and from the pig fattening right next to the facility. The raw material used to generate biogas is known as the substrate or input material. While the maize substrate is stored in a silo, a line for the liquid manure substrate leads directly from the pigsty to the fermentation tank.

In the fermenter, the fermentation tank, the biomass is broken down by microorganisms with the exclusion of light and oxygen. The main products of degradation are high-energy methane (CH₄ ) and carbon dioxide (CO₂ ). Since both are gaseous, they separate from the fermentation substrate and form the main components of the biogas. The fermentation process thus produces biogas. The biogas then flows through a 3.6-kilometer pipe to a combined heat and power plant below the university. Here it is burned in an engine: With combined heat and power, electricity and district heating are generated.

In 2009 the utility  invested 8.5 million euros and built a wood power plant. It generates heat and electricity from residual forest wood and wood from landscape maintenance that can no longer be processed. It is supplied daily by five large trucks with trailers from a radius of 100 kilometers. The power plant is equipped with combined heat and power. This means that it also uses the heat of the water vapor, which is used to generate electricity via a generator, for district heating. With 25,000 tons of wood per year, the power plant produces up to 5.5 megawatts of thermal energy and 1.35 megawatts of electricity — enough to supply around 2,900 households with district heating and around 3,900 households with electricity every year.

The plant filters the resulting smoke in several stages. A so-called cyclone separator filters the coarse dust particles, and an electrostatic precipitator filters the fine dust. In order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, part of the smoke is also fed back into the boiler. Before the flue gas is finally released into the open through the 35 meter high chimney, its composition is analyzed. The measured pollutant concentrations are continuously transmitted online to the approval authority. This also enables the authorities to monitor compliance with the legally prescribed emission limit values ​​around the clock.

Biomethane is an Important Fuel For Central and Eastern Europe

Central and eastern Europe's path to decarbonization is set to get a boost from biomethane, with regional production capacity poised to surge as the current decade progresses, according to a senior executive at German energy company Uniper.

Biomethane could replace conventional natural gas in the electricity generation, industrial, fuel, and heating sectors, in addition to providing a cleaner source of fuel for power stations than coal, which currently dominates electricity production in countries such as Poland.

Biomethane is a source of methane produced either by "upgrading" biogas or through the gasification of solid biomass.

Poland, Hungary, and Romania have a combined biomethane production capacity potential of up to 100 TWh, Peter Arp, Uniper vice president, origination CEE, said during an Atlantic Council conference on central and eastern Europe June 10. Of that, 50% is located in Poland, less than 20% in Romania, and the rest in Hungary, he told Net-Zero Business Daily in a phone interview June 15.

In contrast, Germany (see graphic below; for reference 11 TWh equals about 1 billion cubic meters), Europe's largest biomethane market at the moment, currently has around 10 TWh of capacity, he said in the interview.

Germany's share of European biomethane production is about 40%, according to IHS Markit's plant tracker for the sector.

More than 92% of European capacity is connected to the gas grid, facilitating a variety of potential heating, power, and industrial uses.

Poland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine

Poland and Hungary offer positive conditions for market access, while Romania has "huge first mover potential," Arp told the conference.

Ukraine adds another 80 TWh of potential, but the risk profile is higher, he added.

The production costs throughout the region will be below those in Germany, Arp said in the interview.

Poland "has space, so, everybody who has space has an advantage for biomethane," he said. "This would be a chance for investments, and biomethane will help us also to get the gas greener."

The substantial agricultural base in Poland provides ample potential feedstock, Arp said. Construction on much of the first of the region's plants could begin in around 18 months' time, according to Uniper estimates, and can be expected to be up and running two or three years after that.

Uniper is currently purchasing liquefied biogas in Germany under long-term contracts, but "would love to buy it" from Poland or the US, said Arp.

Germany has a very large biogas market at the moment, he said, but upgrades to biomethane plants are missing.

The problem with biogas is that while it can be used by power plants, it cannot be injected into the existing pipeline infrastructure, said Arp. That is why Uniper is looking into biomethane, he said.

Uniper finds customers and other stakeholders asking for green alternatives regularly, Arp said in the interview.

Uniper operates power generation, energy trading, natural gas storage, and supply businesses. The Dusseldorf-headquartered company has 34 GW of generation capacity. Its biggest shareholder is Finnish energy company Fortum. Uniper operates one power plant in the central and eastern European countries where Arp sees biomethane growth—the 428-MW Gonyu gas-fired facility in northwest Hungary.

Ambitions

Poland will have almost a new power system by 2040, Minister for Climate and the Environment Michal Kurtyka told a session at the Atlantic Council conference.

The revamp will come from mostly zero-emission sources, with a heavy investment in renewable energy sources, Kurtyka said.

Poland does not make the top 10 countries for European biomethane capacity at the moment, but the Polish government has big plans for the sector.

In March, the government released its Polish Energy Policy 2020 battleplan. The government envisages that by 2030 some 10% of gas transported in networks will be biomethane and hydrogen, according to international law firm Dentons.

The government estimates that the share of renewable energy will reach an overall 23% of gross domestic consumption by 2030 and at least 28.5% by 2040. In addition, a 14% share of renewable power in transportation by 2030 would be achieved through the use of biocomponents and biofuels, development of advanced biofuels, electromobility policies, and biomethane.

Earlier in 2020, the Polish Power Exchange and state-controlled energy company PGNiG signed an agreement to develop a biomethane market.

Hard-to-abate sectors

Biomethane will allow countries to reduce emissions in some hard-to-abate sectors, such as heavy industry and freight transport, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It also helps to make some existing gas infrastructure more compatible with a low-emissions future, thereby improving the cost-effectiveness and security of energy transitions in many parts of the world, the multilateral agency added.

Upgrading biogas captured from landfill sites is typically the cheapest option to produce cost-competitive biomethane, the IEA said in a report issued in 2020 titled Outlook for biogas and biomethane: Prospects for organic growth.

Under the IEA's Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) in the report—that is, enactment of each country's currently stated energy and climate policies—by 2040, European biomethane use would reach 12 million mt of oil equivalent (mtoe) in 2040, accounting for 2.5% of the gas used by natural gas grids.

The potential for biomethane production today globally is over 700 million mtoe, which is higher than biogas because of the inclusion of woody biomass as a feedstock for thermal gasification, the IEA said in the report.

https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/biomethane-capacity-in-central-eastern-europe-to-soar-uniper.html

Uniper WTE Facility in UK Proposed With Fabric Filters, DSI and SNCR

The EMERGE Center is a proposed  waste to energy recovery facility being developed by Uniper UK at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station site. This report details the assessment of Best Available Techniques (BAT) applicable at the Installation in relation to plant design, emissions control, and energy efficiency. The assessment shows that the following technologies represent BAT:

In the case of NO_x  SNCR had higher NO_x emissions but lower CO₂ emissions thereby justifying the BAT selection.

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/ng11-0ee-uniper-uk-limited/supporting_documents/Best%20Available%20Techniques%20Assessment.pdf

Punjab: Ferozpur’s Biomass Power Plant Generating Electricity using Stubble

A biomass power plant in Punjab generates electricity using paddy stubble amid the problem of stubble burning by farmers in the state. Talking to ANI, Satish Bedi, General Manager Commercial, Sukhbir Agro Energy Limited said, " The power plant's capacity is 18 MW per hr, it is stubble based and uses 600 tons of stubble in a day and around 2-2.25 lakh tons of stubble in a year."

Bedi said that this initiative is favorable for farmers as they are paid for selling stubble.

"This is favorable for farmers. We take all the stubble from farmland and the land becomes empty for farming again. Farmers are also paid for selling the stubble. It is cherry on top for them."

Bedi further said that if more power plants are set up in the state, more electricity would be generated and the stubble burning problem would be eliminated.

"If 24-26 plants like this are set up in Punjab, we would generate a lot of electricity for the state. This will resolve the environmental problem and also eliminate the stubble burning problem. Moreover, this plant provides direct employment to 1500 people, which will help in employment generation as well," he said. (ANI).

WASTE-TO-ENERGY

AI Optimizes Energy Generation From Waste

In the first of its kind AI pilot project at a customer’s energy from waste plant in Germany, Uniper overcame the challenges of using AI in WTE while delivering multiple benefits. The site team initially approached Uniper help to improve firing control in their waste incineration boiler. Uniper quickly  identified that traditional ways to use AI wouldn’t help in this case. Data analysis and prediction models would be able to explain some developments; however, the plant need a tool that directly supports their day-to-day operations of the combustion process. So, Uniper developed an AI tool that can function as the autopilot of the combustion process.

By using artificial neural networks, capable of modelling and processing non-linear relationships between inputs and outputs in parallel, the AI tool effectively learns from the plant’s best human operator to control firing-rate in the boiler.

Capable of handling huge complexities, the AI tool learnt the plant’s whole process – from waste input to energy output. It uses 24 measurements and leverages all relevant sensor data to analyze an 80-minute timeframe. The AI tool is constantly optimizing the firing-rate control in the boiler, 24/7, including during dead times. It brings together the on-site team’s expertise and data combined with their expert know-how in operations and engineering to continuously self- optimize their processes and predict complex events before they happen.

The input signals used by the neural network include all the measurements recorded by the plant’s sensors, such as steam flow, with the outputs controlling firing-rate in the boiler. Our AI uses all that information to understand the process continuously over time and make optimized decisions about the operation of 12 different control functions such as dampers and the load factor. Every second it’s in operation, it’s making a difference.

The results of the trial exceeded both their and their customer’s expectations. This pilot has run for 16 months and well over 10,000 run hours to date.

 Customer Benefits

·       Increase in efficiency

·       Cost reduction

·       Reduction of carbon footprint

·       Optimization measures give added value of 150.000-300.000€ per unit per year

·       Further unlocking energy efficiency and carbon-reduction potential of Energy from Waste plants

·       Continuous optimization – driven by plant data

·       Increased waste throughput

BUSINESS

GE is Splitting into Three Companies

GE will become separate, publicly traded companies for its aviation, healthcare, and energy businesses. The company said it hopes to spin off the healthcare business to shareholders in early 2023 and that the separation of its renewable energy and power business will occur in early 2024.

"By creating three industry-leading, global public companies, each can benefit from greater focus, tailored capital allocation, and strategic flexibility to drive long-term growth and value for customers, investors and employees," said CEO Larry Culp in a press release.

"We are putting our technology expertise, leadership, and global reach to work to better serve our customers," he added.

Since Culp took over GE in 2018, he has sold off assets and restructured the business in order to cut costs and lower GE's massive debt pile. In 2016 it sold its appliance business to Chinese household goods manufacturer Haier for $5.4 billion.

The company's GE Capital made it a corporate powerhouse, providing financing for businesses large and small. In March of this year it closed the books on GE Capital as a standalone unit with the sale of its aircraft leasing arm.

The company expects one-time costs associated with the split, including separation pay, of about $2 billion. After the spinoffs, the aviation-focused company will keep the GE name. The new, smaller GE will retain a 19.9% stake in the healthcare company.

CNN explains GE has struggled since the 2008 financial crisis proved to be a body blow to GE Capital, and after the company made a disastrous bet on the fossil fuel industry when the world was turning toward renewable and cleaner energy solutions. The company has been selling off assets to clear its enormous debt load. But it often found itself selling those assets for a fraction of what it had paid for them.

In December GE agreed to pay $200 million to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had misled shareholders about the deterioration of its insurance and power businesses in the years before its stock price imploded.

Although GE's shares have gained ground so far this year, they have essentially matched the improvement in the broad US stock market through Monday's close. And the stock is far below the strength it once had in its glory days.

At its height in early 2001, its stock was worth more than $500 billion, which made GE one of the most valuable companies on the planet at that time. Now what is left of the company is worth $119 billion, or only 23% of that former value. Just a few months before Culp joined the company, GE was kicked out of the Dow. And in July, it completed a reverse 1-for-8 stock split to support its sagging price.

By splitting into three companies it believes it will be able to maximize value without a bygone conglomerate structure.

How Do We Best Address Climate Change?

This newsletter documents expansion of coal-fired power in a number of Asian countries. One reason that these countries are moving ahead is because of a different “Discounted Future Value.” The grandfather in Europe setting up trust funds is operating with a much smaller discount than the famer with starving children in Bangladesh. He is focused on what electricity can do for his family next year. All of the decisions should be made based on maximizing life quality. However, Tribal factors and the discounted future value result in different conclusions about life quality benefits http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/SURS/subscriber/Default.htm

One of the biggest attractions of carbon negative technologies such as BECCS with CHP is that it can reverse the impact of previous inaction. If the coal plant in Bangladesh is slightly modified to burn biomass, beneficial use of waste heat is undertaken, and CO₂ is sequestered, the plant will take out as much CO₂ as it once contributed.

The need for a flexible approach is needed because there is lots of uncertainty  McIlvaine once testified before Senate sub committees on mitigation strategies based on  the harm SO₂ would have on the forests. This was part of an EPA contract and was the best information available at the time. Later it turned out that acidification was less of a problem but the SO₂ formed particulate  created a much bigger problem.

There are so many variables and such a complicated problem that we have to assume that the situation could be better or worse than we now anticipate. One variable is cloud cover. Some clouds increase warming and others decrease it.

A series of recent studies have shed new light on that role. As the world warms, cloud cover will change across the globe. and these changing clouds will probably speed up global warming. That means the Earth may be slightly more sensitive to greenhouse gases than some older estimates might have suggested.

“Clouds are a big uncertainty,” said Paulo Ceppi, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and a co-author of one of the new studies. “And so that was the main motivation. We want to understand how clouds will change and how this cloud feedback will affect global warming.”

Cloud research is a tricky business. Clouds sometimes have a warming effect on the local climate and sometimes a cooling effect — it all depends on the type of cloud, the local climate, and a variety of other conditions.

Climate change only complicates the matter. Global warming is expected to increase certain types of clouds in certain places and decrease them in others. All in all, it’s a big, complex patchwork of effects all over the globe.

For years, scientists have struggled to determine exactly how clouds would change with future warming — and whether they’ll make climate change worse, or whether they might dampen some of its effects. It’s been a difficult question to answer. Scientists typically use computer models to make predictions about future climate change. But clouds are famously difficult to simulate, especially on a global scale.

Over the last few months, though, several studies have begun to get to the bottom of it. They’re all coming to the same conclusions: Some of the worst-case global warming scenarios may be less likely than scientists previously thought. But some of the best-case scenarios are also certainly not going to happen either.

These studies all center on the same question: How much, exactly, would the world warm if carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere were to reach double their preindustrial levels?

It’s a hypothetical question for now. But that soon could change.

Before the Industrial Revolution, around 150 years ago, global carbon dioxide levels hovered around 280 parts per million. Double that would be 560 ppm. Today, concentrations are already higher than 410 ppm and climbing every year.

This CO₂-doubling question — a metric known to scientists as “equilibrium climate sensitivity” — has been a central question among climate researchers for decades. It’s also been a difficult one to make progress on.

In 1979, a seminal report from the National Academy of Sciences suggested the planet would probably warm by anywhere from 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius in response. For years, study after study came to more or less the same conclusion. It’s only recently that researchers have begun to narrow it down — and improvements in cloud research have had a lot to do with it.

Last year, a groundbreaking new study found that a doubling of CO₂ likely would result in warming of anywhere from 2.6 degrees to 3.9 degrees Celsius. It’s a substantially narrower projection, ruling out some of the higher-end projections and eliminating much of the lower range. The study pulled together all the most recent research on climate sensitivity, accounting for multiple different lines of evidence — including recent advancements in cloud research. And over the last few months, several recent studies — focused primarily on clouds — also have supported a narrower climate sensitivity range.

A February study in Nature Climate Change suggested a likely sensitivity of around 3.5 C. A May study, also in Nature Climate Change, put it around 3 C. Both studies suggested that clouds, on a worldwide scale, probably would have a moderate amplifying effect on the rate of global warming.

These studies used real-world observations to draw their conclusions. They compiled large quantities of data on cloud behavior — how clouds react to changes in temperature, humidity, and other weather variables — and then conducted statistical analyses of those observations to figure out how clouds are likely to respond to future climate change.

It’s a fairly traditional way of tackling the problem, according to Mark Zelinka, a climate scientist and cloud expert at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and co-author of both the May study and the study from last year.

A newer study, on the other hand, has taken a less conventional approach. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study used machine learning to figure out how clouds respond to changes in their environments.

Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence in which computers sift through large quantities of data, identify patterns, and then use those patterns to construct algorithms that predict how future data should behave under various conditions. In this case, the researchers used real-world observations of the way clouds respond to environmental change.

The machine learning approach came to a similar conclusion: a narrower climate sensitivity, which rules out most of the milder climate scenarios. The study found that there’s almost no chance of a climate sensitivity below 2 C.

“I have thought for a while the cloud problem was particularly suited for machine learning approaches,” said Ceppi, who conducted the study with fellow climate scientist and machine learning expert Peer Nowack. “If you want to understand the relationship between clouds and temperature or humidity or winds, it’s quite hard to tease out the individual effects of each of these environmental variables.” Machine learning can be a simpler way to tackle such a complicated set of data, he said.

Machine learning is showing promise in other kinds of cloud research as well. Some research groups are experimenting with incorporating machine learning components into global climate models as a way to work around the difficulties of simulating clouds.

Fuel Tech Reports Third Quarter Profit

“We reported profitable operations in the third quarter, progressed in the ongoing development of our Dissolved Gas Infusion (DGI^TM) business, and ended the quarter with $36.3 million in total cash and no debt,” said Vincent J. Arnone, President and CEO.

“Our FUEL CHEM^® segment continued to perform well, with higher revenues and segment operating profits compared to the same period last year. FUEL CHEM benefitted from the operations of our current installed base, including recent program installations; an overall rise in demand for energy attributable to the resumption of economic activity following a period of reduced activity due to the impact of COVID-19; and increased seasonal power usage. Revenues at FUEL CHEM for the first nine months of 2021 equaled revenues produced by this segment for all of 2020.

“Our Air Pollution Control (APC) business continued to face headwinds due to ongoing project delays and cancellations that have resulted in a lack of new orders, and changes in project timing. However, as previously announced we secured $4.5 million in new contracts during Q3 2021 from customers in Korea, North America, and Europe. We are also encouraged by the pace and depth of our business development activities, which reflect an increased focus on global emissions protocols across a variety of fuel sources. Our current global sales pipeline has increased to $50 -75 million from the $40-50 million range, and we have good visibility to incremental contracts to be awarded before the end of Q4 2021 in the amount of $3 to $5 million.”

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Reports Better than Anticipated Results

Q3 2021 Highlights:

−       Revenues of $160.0 million

−       Net income of $13.6 million

−       Earnings per share of $0.12

−       Consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $18.7 million

−       New bookings of $194 million in third quarter 2021; anticipated fourth quarter 2021 bookings of $250 million to $300 million and full-year 2021 bookings at the highest level of annual bookings since 2017

⁻           2022 adjusted EBITDA target raised to $110 million to $120 million¹

"Our better-than-anticipated results in the third quarter of 2021, combined with recent and anticipated bookings, have positioned us for a robust fourth quarter and an even stronger 2022," said Kenneth Young, B&W's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Despite the continued adverse effects of COVID-19 on our customers and global supply chain challenges, we are doing what we said we'd do—booking Renewable waste-to-energy projects, growing our Environmental business, investing in our ClimateBright^TM decarbonization platform and expanding our clean energy offerings through strategic acquisitions."

"During the third quarter, we booked two renewable new-build projects, including a $35 million contract to supply waste-to-energy technologies for new-build facilities in Greenland and a $38 million technology award for new-build waste-to-energy facilities in East Asia, and we've made significant progress toward booking another two or three renewable new-build projects in 2021," Young continued. "In addition, our ongoing international expansion helped drive the award of two environmental emissions contracts in the Asia-Pacific region during the third quarter, while interest in our decarbonization technologies is expanding, as demonstrated by our recent agreement to jointly develop an innovative biomass-to-hydrogen clean energy project in Australia utilizing our BrightLoop^TM hydrogen production technology." 

"We also further expanded our clean and renewable energy businesses by announcing two acquisitions in the third quarter," Young added. "We closed the acquisition of a controlling stake in a leading solar installation and services firm, Fosler Construction Company Inc., at the end of September, and we're excited about the substantial opportunities we see for solar installation and construction services in the U.S. and the support we can provide to further accelerate Fosler's growth. We also signed an agreement to acquire VODA A/S in Denmark, which in conjunction with our existing aftermarket services business, will form B&W Renewable Service to create a platform for our expanding renewable service business in Europe. We are continuing to explore additional acquisition opportunities in both emerging technologies and mature markets and aggressively pursuing opportunities to further increase shareholder value."

"Our continued pursuit of an overall pipeline of more than $6.5 billion of identified project opportunities through 2024 has led to accelerating bookings momentum with bookings of approximately $90 million in October 2021 alone.  Additionally, for the full-year 2021, we are anticipating the highest level of annual bookings since 2017 and we expect to end the year with significantly higher backlog compared to the end of 2020. More than 60% of our pipeline is related to Renewable and Environmental opportunities, which will directly reflect the performance of our long-term strategy," Young stated. "Based on current expectations, including the impact of the COVID-19 Delta variant on our customers and our supply chain disruptions, we are targeting at least $70 million of adjusted EBITDA for full year 2021, which represents a significant operational improvement compared to 2020. We are also raising our 2022 adjusted EBITDA target to $110 million to $120 million as we anticipate the continued momentum of our ongoing growth strategies, strong backlog, accelerating bookings, and acquisition strategy."

Babcock & Wilcox Environmental segment revenues were $38.2 million in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 51.4% compared to $25.3 million in the third quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily driven by increased volume in our Allen-Sherman-Hoff project business as well as higher overall project activity in the current quarter as compared to the prior-year period which was impacted by the postponement of new projects as a result of COVID-19. Adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 million, compared to $2.2 million in the same period last year, primarily driven by the higher volume partially offset by an increase in allocated cost for shared resources. Adjusted gross profit was $7.9 million in the third quarter of 2021, compared to $6.9 million in the prior-year period.

Toshiba Announces Strategic Reorganization to Separate Into Three Standalone Companies to Enhance Shareholder Value

Toshiba Corporation announced its intention to separate into three standalone companies:

•        Infrastructure Service Co.¹, consisting of Toshiba’s Energy Systems & Solutions, Infrastructure Systems & Solutions, Building Solutions, Digital Solutions and Battery businesses;

•        Device Co.², comprising Toshiba’s Electronic Devices & Storage Solutions business; and

•        Toshiba, holding its shares in Kioxia Holdings Corporation (KHC) and Toshiba Tec Corporation (TOKYO: 6588).

The separation will create two distinctive companies with unique business characteristics leading their respective industries in realizing carbon neutrality and infrastructure resilience (Infrastructure Service Co.) and supporting the evolution of social and IT infrastructure (Device Co.). The separation allows each business to significantly increase its focus and facilitate more agile decision-making and leaner cost structures. As such, both companies will be much better positioned to capitalize on their distinct market positions, priorities, and growth drivers to deliver sustainable profitable growth and enhanced shareholder value. At the same time, Toshiba intends to monetize shares in Kioxia while maximizing shareholder value and return the net proceeds in full to shareholders as soon as practicable to the extent that doing so does not interfere with the smooth implementation of the intended spin-off.

Infrastructure Service Co. will consist of Toshiba’s Energy Systems & Solutions, Infrastructure Systems & Solutions, Building Solutions, Digital Solutions and Battery businesses. Its products and services will include power generation, transmission and distribution, renewable energy, energy management, systems solutions for public infrastructure, railways, and industry, building energy-saving solutions, and IT solutions for government agencies and private companies. The Company’s increased focus, combined with its innovative technological solutions, will enable it to play a leading role in driving the transition to renewable energy to meet ambitious global carbon neutrality goals and advancing infrastructure resilience.

Device Co. will comprise Toshiba’s Electronic Devices & Storage Solutions business. Its products will include power semiconductors (silicon, compounds), optical semiconductors, analog integrated circuits, high-capacity hard disk drives (“HDD”) for data centers (nearline HDDs) and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It will be a leader in supporting the evolution of social and IT infrastructure.

Toshiba will hold the Company’s ownership stake in Kioxia Holdings Corporation (KHC) and Toshiba Tec Corporation. In connection with the separation of the businesses, Toshiba will seek to convert the shares of KHC into cash as soon as practicable while maximizing shareholder value. As part of this process, Toshiba intends to return the net proceeds of Kioxia shares to shareholders in full to the extent that doing so does not interfere with the smooth implementation of the spin-off.

IEA Says We Are Not Moving Fast Enough to Net Zero

A new energy economy is emerging around the world as solar, wind, electric vehicles, and other low-carbon technologies flourish. But as the pivotal moment of COP26 approaches, the IEA’s new World Energy Outlook makes it clear that this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero, highlighting the need for an unmistakable signal of ambition and action from governments in Glasgow.

At a time when policymakers are contending with the impacts of both climate change and volatile energy markets, the World Energy Outlook 2021 (WEO-2021) is designed as a handbook for the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which offers a critical opportunity to accelerate climate action and the clean energy transition. The new analysis—which the IEA is making available for free online—delivers stark warnings about the direction in which today’s policy settings are taking the world. But it also provides clear-headed analysis of how to move in a well-managed way towards a pathway that would have a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

The WEO-2021, the IEA’s annual flagship publication, shows that even as deployments of solar and wind go from strength to strength, the world’s consumption of coal is strongly growing this year, pushing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions towards their second largest annual increase in history.

“The world’s hugely encouraging clean energy momentum is running up against the stubborn incumbency of fossil fuels in our energy systems,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “Governments need to resolve this at COP26 by giving a clear and unmistakable signal that they are committed to rapidly scaling up the clean and resilient technologies of the future. The social and economic benefits of accelerating clean energy transitions are huge, and the costs of inaction are immense.”

The WEO-2021 spells out clearly what is at stake: what the pledges to reduce emissions made by governments so far mean for the energy sector and the climate. And it sets out what needs to be done to move beyond these announced pledges towards a trajectory that would reach net zero emissions globally by mid-century – the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario from the landmark IEA report published in May, which is consistent with limiting global warming to

1.5°C.

As well as the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, the WEO-2021 explores two other scenarios to gain insights into how the global energy sector may develop over the next three decades – and what the implications would be. The Stated Policies Scenario represents a path based on the energy and climate measures governments have actually put in place to date, as well as specific policy initiatives that are under development. In this scenario, almost all of the net growth in energy demand through 2050 is met by low emissions sources, but that leaves annual emissions still around today’s levels. As a result, global average temperatures are still rising when they hit 2.6°C above pre-industrial levels in 2100.

The Announced Pledges Scenario maps out a path in which the net zero emissions pledges announced by governments so far are implemented in time and in full. In this scenario, demand for fossil fuels peaks by 2025, and global CO₂ emissions fall by 40% by 2050. All sectors see a decline, with the electricity sector delivering by far the largest. The global average temperature rise in 2100 is held to around 2.1°C.

For the first time in a WEO, oil demand goes into eventual decline in all the scenarios examined, although the timing and speed of the drop vary widely. If all today’s announced climate pledges are met, the world would still be consuming 75 million oil barrels per day by 2050 — down from around 100 million today — but that plummets to 25 million in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. Natural gas demand increases in all scenarios over the next five years, but there are sharp divergences after this.

After decades of growth, the prospects for coal power go downhill in the Announced Pledges Scenario — a decline that could be accelerated further by China’s recent announcement of an end to its support for building coal plants abroad. That move may result in the cancellation of planned projects that would save some 20 billion tons in cumulative CO₂ emissions through 2050 —an amount similar to the total emissions savings from the European Union reaching net zero by 2050.

The differences between the outcomes in the Announced Pledges Scenario and the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario are stark, highlighting the need for more ambitious commitments if the world is to reach net zero by mid-century.

“Today’s climate pledges would result in only 20% of the emissions reductions by 2030 that are necessary to put the world on a path towards net zero by 2050,” Dr Birol said. “Reaching that path requires investment in clean energy projects and infrastructure to more than triple over the next decade. Some 70% of that additional spending needs to happen in emerging and developing economies, where financing is scarce, and capital remains up to seven times more expensive than in advanced economies.”

Insufficient investment is contributing to uncertainty over the future. Spending on oil and natural gas has been depressed by price collapses in 2014-15 and again in 2020. As a result, it is geared towards a world of stagnant or even falling demand. At the same time, spending on clean energy transitions is far below what would be required to meet future needs in a sustainable way.

“There is a looming risk of more turbulence for global energy markets,” Dr Birol said. “We are not investing enough to meet future energy needs, and the uncertainties are setting the stage for a volatile period ahead. The way to address this mismatch is clear — a major boost in clean energy investment, across all technologies and all markets. But this needs to happen quickly.”

The report stresses that the extra investment to reach net zero by 2050 is less burdensome than it might appear. More than 40% of the required emissions reductions would come from measures that pay for themselves, such as improving efficiency, limiting gas leakage, or installing wind or solar in places where they are now the most competitive electricity generation technologies.

These investments also create huge economic opportunities. Successfully pursuing net zero would create a market for wind turbines, solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, electrolyzers and fuel cells of well over USD 1 trillion a year by 2050, comparable in size to the current oil market.

Even in a much more electrified energy system, major opportunities remain for fuel suppliers to produce and deliver low-carbon gases. Just in the Announced Pledges Scenario, an additional 13 million workers would be employed in clean energy and related sectors by 2030, while that number doubles in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario.

US Supreme Court to Consider EPA Power to Regulate CO₂ Emissions

The US Supreme Court, which is dominated by Republican appointees, has agreed to hear a case brought by Westmoreland Mining, North American Coal Company and some states including West Virginia challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. At issue is the decision by the Court of Appeals District of Columbia’s court to strike out a 2019 rule introduced by President Trump on the grounds it relied on a flawed interpretation of the Clean Air Act. The EPA argues that as President Obama’s Clean Power Plan has lapsed, the coal companies and states are seeking “an impermissible advisory opinion.” The Lignite Energy Council, a lobby group representing mining companies and power utilities that own six brown coal-fired power stations and five mines, has also been granted approval to file a brief in the case.

CEMS QA Needs to Progress as ELVs are Lowered

David Graham of Uniper reviewed CEMs quality assurance at the AQE conference last month in the UK. In Europe, the quality assurance of Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) is largely governed by EN 14181 which was first published in 2004 and revised in 2014. CEMS are referred to as Automated Measuring Systems (AMS) and there are three Quality Assurance Levels: QAL1 (Certification); QAL2 (Calibration) and QAL3 (Control). QAL1 requires that the AMS is type-approved, with a suitably low certification range, and that it is acceptable for the given process application. QAL2 requires that the AMS is calibrated by a third-party accredited test laboratory using a defined Standard Reference Method (SRM); a linear calibration relationship is established between the AMS output and the SRM test readings.

The calibration relationship is checked annually, by the test laboratory, by means of an Annual Surveillance Test (AST). QAL3 requires regular zero and span checks to be performed by the operator in order to check that the drift of the AMS over time is not excessive, i.e., the AMS remains under control. As Emission Limit Values (ELVs) are lowered under the Industrial Emissions Directive, and the associated Best Available Techniques Reference documents (BREFs) for each process industry, there can be issues with every component of the quality assurance process which is based upon evaluation at the daily ELV. This presentation reviewed each element of the QA process and highlighted issues associated with low concentration measurement whilst reviewing both existing and potential solutions.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/PDF/AQE_2021_EN_14181_Issues-David_Graham.pdf

Mercury QA in Europe Somewhat Different Than in the U.S.

David Graham also addressed mercury measurement QA, which is somewhat different than the U.S. He referenced the superior sorbent trap method. This brings up the whole issue of measuring just gaseous mercury or total mercury. You can search the Monitoring Newsletter for 1,000 articles on mercury and 247 articles on ”mercury and traps.”

We interviewed a number of experts who were divided on how much mercury was emitted as a particulate. We pointed out that the goal of most systems was to capture the mercury on carbon or dust particles. So any of these particles which escape will have mercury attached to them.

Furthermore this mercury particulate is likely to be deposited much nearer the plant than gaseous mercury. This aspect brings us into the discussion of tribal values. If a regulation reduces the amount of mercury traveling around the world but increases the mercury deposit in nearby lakes, should this be taken into account?

We will ask David to weigh in on this question. Here are his concluding points and a link to his full paper.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/PDF/AQE_2021_Global_mercury_monitoring_requirements-David_Graham.pdf

Groome Industrial Service Introduces Patented KinetiClean Gas Turbine HRSG Tube Cleaning

Groome Industrial Service Group, a provider of specialty maintenance services across a range of industries, has announced it now provides the patented KinetiClean system. With its recent acquisition of Explosive Professionals, Inc. (ExPro), Groome has added the KinetiClean technology to its suite of innovative offerings.

KinetiClean is recognized as the method that provides the deepest cleaning effect on gas turbine HRSG boiler and fin tubes via a proven Kinetic Shockwave cleaning method. A patented air system utilized after the blast features automated high-pressure, high-volume air distribution.

ExPro brings a long track record of safety and success in industrial and HRSG cleaning to Groome Industrial. ExPro has primarily focused its work in recent decades on boiler cleaning and slag removal through the utilization of explosives. As well, the brand has deep relationships in a variety of industries that include coal-fired utilities, refinery, waste-to-energy, chemical and plastics manufacturing, and pulp and paper.

Jeff Bause, CEO of Groome, explained, "We are excited to combine these two great niche businesses in the power generation space. Together they will create cross-selling opportunities, in particular with KinetiClean for gas turbine HRSG tube cleaning. The integration of this pair of companies also offers synergies by uniting the two management teams and company cultures."

Bause expanded, "Both companies have extremely talented teams that deliver strong value to clients each and every day. This transaction is a great thing for all our clients, as we at Groome will now be able to provide the KinetiClean technology to our clients and expand our already exceptional line of value-add services."

Uniper Engineering and Fortum eNext: Combine Forces

Fortum eNext and Uniper Engineering are among the first business units within the Fortum Group, which Uniper is part of, to team up and create added value for  industrial and utility customers through expanded services and increased expertise.

This alliance brings together two independent engineering service providers with a strong market position and an established portfolio based on broad experience in serving energy-intensive industries and engineering know-how covering the whole life cycle of a power plant. With the combined 1,500 experts and geographical reach of Uniper Engineering and Fortum eNext, we are able to serve our customers globally, while having an even wider local presence in Germany, UK, Finland, and Sweden. Our teams have jointly developed an offering focusing mainly in the area of turbine and generator maintenance and modernization services as well as in engineering and delivering solutions for smart, next-generation low-carbon energy systems.

“Our offering and our expertise complement each other perfectly. Therefore, in the future we will be able to operate more strongly in the market together and offer our customers an even more comprehensive range of services through expanded in-house disciplines”, says Dr. Cord Landsmann, COO for Uniper Engineering.

Customers will benefit from highly specialized expert services for the entire turbine train and beyond. With a shared OEM-independent approach, Fortum eNext and Uniper Engineering are qualified to maintain and upgrade a wide selection of equipment originally supplied by different manufacturers. The increased number of experts close to the customer brings flexibility and the ability to respond fast when support is needed.

“With increased capabilities and resources, we are able to offer the technically best suitable solution for each case and support our customers in their specific needs. Experience from the first concrete projects shows that both teams share a strong ‘customer first’ attitude – and that’s ideal!”, says Kimmo Kohtamäki, Vice President for Fortum eNext.

Uniper engineering is a functional unit within Uniper. It bundles energy engineering services from different Uniper business units: Uniper Technologies GmbH, Uniper Technologies Ltd, Power Engineering Services Ltd and Uniper Anlagenservice GmbH. We are specialized on tailormade engineering solutions for the complex, fast-moving world of energy with decades of experience in electrical, mechanical, and rotating equipment, as well as civil and process engineering and digital solutions. Uniper Engineering has over 1,100 experts and more than 2,000 customers worldwide.

Fortum eNext helps utilities and energy-intensive industries improve their operations and reduce emissions. Building on their heritage and know-how of running and optimizing their own fleet, they offer highly specialized expert services throughout the life cycle of a power plant. Fortum eNext has over 300 professionals and more than 2,000 clients worldwide.

Uniper Technologies Know How for SCR Management

·       Operation of 10 SCR pilot plants from 1985 – 1987

·       Design and operation of a certified bench scale SCR test reactor since 1988

·       Development of a MARA system for AIG tuning since 1989

·       Design of a catalyst management system since 1990

·       Commercial catalyst management services since 1992 at coal-and oil-fired units and waste incineration plants

·       Experience from the operation of  >40 SCR reactors in Uniper’s power plants

·       More than 150 customers worldwide, mostly with several SCR reactors

·       Detailed test results of almost all commercially available catalyst materials

·       Design and operation of a bench test reactor in Columbus, Ohio 2004-2011

·       Implementation of a lifetime database / calculation tool (LEONID) since 2004

·       80% of coal-fired power stations in Germany use Uniper’s services.

RWE is Making Synthesis Gas From Sewage Sludge

The positive connotations of sewage sludge may be few and far between, but RWE sees things differently. The project ITZ-CC¹, has set itself the goal of making carbon and phosphorus found in sewage sludge reusable. Therefore a pilot plant is being built in the Innovation Centre Niederaußem, which encompasses the entire conversion chain from the introduction of the sewage sludge and other raw materials containing carbon into a high temperature conversion reactor through to the production of phosphorus products and synthesis gas. The plant  started operation in early 2021. The costs of the project amount to approximately €6,7 million and 50% of this is being funded by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

FGD & DeNOx tofc