World's cleanest coal plants receive recognition
Published by Harleigh Hobbs,
Editor
World Coal,
During the Power-Gen International (8 – 10 December 2015) in Las Vegas, Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company, honored coal-fired power plants for top global and US environmental performance with its Advanced Energy for Life Clean Coal Awards.
The awards were based on the lowest sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions rates as well as the best heat rate, a measure of a plant's efficiency, which results in a lower carbon footprint.
Companies presented the awards include Dynegy Inc. and Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) from the US, Korea Southeast Power Co. (KOSEP) from South Korea and Trianel Kohlekraftwerk Lünen GmbH & Co KG (Trianel) from Germany.
The plants honored include:
- Dynegy’s Coffeen plant – both globally and in the US – for the lowest emissions profile for SO2. The Coffeen plant has an SO2 emissions rate that is 99% lower than the US coal plant average. The 915 MW power plant operates in Central Illinois and is 50 years old. Dynegy uses low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal and added a wet scrubber in 2009.
- KOSEP's Yeongheung lant for the lowest global emissions profile for NOX, with an emissions rate that is 85% below the US average. The Yeongheung plant is a 5080 MW supercritical coal-fueled plant in Yeongheung Island, South Korea.
- Trianel's Lünen plant for the lowest global heat rate. This 750 MW ultra-supercritical power plant has a level of efficiency of approximately 46%, which is approximately 25% more efficient than the average US coal plant. The plant also has a collection of emissions controls to reduce SO2, NOX and particulates to low levels. Lünen has been in operation since 2013 and delivers affordable electricity to more than 1.6 million households. Municipal utility companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are the joint owners.
- SWEPCO’s John W. Turk Jr plant for the lowest NOX rate and lowest heat rate among US coal plants. The John W. Turk Jr plant is a 600 MW ultra-supercritical power plant built in Fulton, Ark., in 2012 by SWEPCO, a unit of American Electric Power. The plant has a heat rate that was 14% better than the US coal fleet average this past year at 9038 Btu per KWh. Additionally, the plant's NOX rate is 82% better than the US average.
"At a time of heightened global discussion about the benefits of advanced coal technologies, Peabody is proud to showcase clean energy solutions that achieve meaningful emissions improvement," Peabody Energy President and CEO Glenn Kellow said. "These plants are demonstrating the best results worldwide and offer a powerful model to achieve our global environmental goals."
These honours follow recent Advanced Energy for Life (AEFL) awards at Power-Gen events in India, Europe and Asia. The AEFL awards were created in 2014 to recognise the cleanest US coal plants and were expanded in 2015 to honour the cleanest coal plants in the world.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/09122015/worlds-cleanest-coal-plants-receive-recognition-3257/
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