UNION FENOSA INVESTIT 200 MILLIONS D'EUROS POUR REDUIRE LES EMISSIONS DE SES CENTRALES THERMIQUES

UNION FENOSA investira 200 millions d'euros tout au long de l'année 2008 dans la rénovation de ses centrales thermiques au charbon afin de réduire leurs émissions de polluants. Ce projet s'inscrit dans le programme Clean Coal lancé en 2006.

Le plan vise à installer des techniques de production plus efficaces dans les centrales thermiques à charbon afin de réduire les rejets d'oxyde de soufre (SOx), d'oxyde d'azote (NOx) et de poussières. Dans ce but, UNION FENOSA a mis en place des procédés de désulfuration et de dénitrification et importe du charbon à basse teneur en soufre. Ces initiatives répondent à la nouvelle Directive européenne sur les grandes installations de combustion (GIC) qui entrera en vigueur le 1er janvier 2008.

Specifically, in order to reduce SO2 emissions, in 2008 UNION FENOSA will have two desulphuration plants, one on La Robla unit 3 (León) and another on Narcea unit 3 (Asturias). These plants will capture 95% of the SO2 in the flue gases.

The company will also install new burners in its boilers and improve the performance of its electrostatic precipitators (which trap particles). These changes will cut NOx and particle emissions from the La Robla 2, Narcea 3 and Meirama power plans to the limit allowed for these technologies.

The issue of CO2 emissions from thermal power plants will be addressed in the future using capture and sequestration systems. These systems may reduce CO2 emissions by 90%.

CO2 capture and sequestration

In the long term, under European Union directives, after 2020 every coal-fired power plant in Europe must have CO2 capture and sequestration components, and existing plants must be retrofitted. To this end, UNION FENOSA is participating in Spanish and European research projects to develop commercial techniques for CO2 capture and sequestration. UNION FENOSA and Endesa are together leading the CENIT CO2 research programme, sponsored by the Industry Ministry, to develop technology in this area.

In the medium term, UNION FENOSA's Strategic Plan for 2007-2011 (BIGGER Plan) envisages having sites for building 1,200 MW of new-generation supercritical coal-fired power plants, which will have lower CO2 emissions because of their higher performance. These plants will also be adapted, when the technology is available, to capture and sequester the CO2 they emit.

Supercritical coal-fired power generation is a commercially-available technology that offers up to 45% thermal efficiency (compared with 36%-38% using the existing fleet). Supercritical plants are the closest that coal-fired power generation comes to the efficiency attained by combined cycle plants (55%).

The next stage will be Ultra Supercritical plants, which will theoretically attain temperatures of 700ºC and steam pressures of 300 bar, providing up to 53% thermal efficiency. This technology is currently at the research stage and will be ready by 2015 (Thermie AD 700 project).

Contact:

Julio Pastor
Jefe Relaciones Informativas
UNION FENOSA
Avda. San Luis, 77
28033 Madrid (España)
Email: [email protected]