Power

Eskom is continuing with its capacity expansion with the construction of two coal-fired power plants, Medupi and Kusile, as well as a pumped storage scheme, Ingula.

A round-up of some of this week's key news items from the international coal industry, from updates on clean coal technologies to the latest on the UK ending its coal-fired power plants.

The World Coal Association recently published a report highlighting the role of high-efficiency, low-emission coal technologies in helping meeting India’s growing energy demands while minimising CO2 emissions.

The IEA Clean Coal Centre has said it is concerned at the lack of any substantial mention of carbon capture and storage and biomass in the UK government’s energy plan.

Andrea Clavarnio, Chairman of Assocarboni, the Italian coal association, has called for policies to support the development of cleaner coal technology – including carbon capture and storage – to be accepted at COP21.

US coal company, Peabody Energy, has called on policymakers to recognise the important role coal plays in the global energy mix and support development of high-efficiency low-emission coal and CCS technologies.

OECD countries, including the UE, Germany and Japan, have agreed to limit official export credits for subcritical and supercritical coal-fired power plants.

Martin Engineering has announced the formation of a new global business unit focusing on the cleaning of boilers and air pollution control components in the power, biomass, pulp and paper and cement industries.

Phil Hewitt, Director of UK energy industry analysts, EnAppSys, provides insight into the government’s decision to phase-out coal-fired power plants by 2025.

The UK is on the verge of an energy crisis, according to a new report, with energy demand set to outstrip dispatchable supply for the first time from early 2016.

The Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Amber Rudd, has announced that the UK will close all of its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2025, bringing an end to the fuel that has powered the country since the Industrial Revolution.

An event at the European Parliament enabled industry experts to elaborate on key CCS projects and discuss measures to accelerate the deployment of CCS in Europe.

A round-up of some of this week’s key news items from the international coal industry, from updates on projects to the latest developments on reducing emissions.

The Electric Power Research Institute releases a study on available technology that has the potential to help coal-fired power plants significantly reduce CO2 emissions through more efficient combustion and use of heat, compared to CCS.

Benjamin Sporton, CEO of the World Coal Association, indicates the IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook is a reminder of the need for coal and use of clean coal technologies.