Decarbonization Initiatives among Leading Power Utility Players

Abstract: Decarbonization of the power sector means a reduction of its CO2 intensity, which reduces the emission of carbon dioxide per unit of electrici­ty generated. In order to meet the emission reduction targets pledged to the Paris Agreement on climate change, power utility companies need to devel­op strategies on how to decarbonize their generation assets. Companies must achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which is necessary to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement of capping global temperature rise at 1.5°C and to meet the less ambitious 2°C target. Rapid decarbonization of the power sector is needed particularly as heat and transport sectors are electrified, creating an increase in demand for electric power. Decarbonization is being achieved by increasing the share of low-carbon energy sources, particularly renewables, and a corresponding reduction in the use of fossil fuels. Worldwide, renewa­bles now produce a third of power capacity.

9th International Scientific ERAZ Conference – ERAZ 2023 – Conference Proceedings: KNOWLEDGE BASED SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, hybrid – online, virtually and in person, Prague, Czech Republic, June 1, 2023

ERAZ Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ERAZ conference partners: Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Maribor (Slovenia); University of National and World Economy – UNWE, Sofia (Bulgaria); Center for Political Research and Documentation (KEPET), Research Laboratory of the Department of Political Science of University of Crete (Greece); Institute of Public Finance – Zagreb (Croatia); Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Ohrid, University of St. Kliment Ohridski from Bitola (North Macedonia)

ERAZ Conference 2023 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-72-1, ISSN 2683-5568, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.2023

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

Suggested citation

References

Biofit Factsheet Coal Conversions. (2020). Coal to Biomass Conversions. https://www.biofit-h2020.eu/publications-reports/Biofit-Factsheet_CoalConversions.pdf 

Crolius, S. H. (2019, July 18). The Evolving Context of Ammonia-Coal Co-Firing. Https://Www.Ammoniaenergy.Org/Articles/the-Evolving-Context-of-Ammonia-Coal-Co-Firing/

Davis, S. J., Lewis, N. S., Shaner, M., Aggarwal, S., Arent, D., Azevedo, I. L., Benson, S. M., Bradley, T., Brouwer, J., Chiang, Y. M., Clack, C. T. M., Cohen, A., Doig, S., Edmonds, J., Fennell, P., Field, C. B., Hannegan, B., Hodge, B. M., Hoffert, M. I., … Caldeira, K. (2018). Net-zero emissions energy systems. In Science (Vol. 360, Issue 6396). American Association for the Advancement of Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas9793

EIA. (2020). Capital Cost and Performance Characteristic Estimates for Utility Scale Electric Power Generating Technologies. https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/powerplants/capital­cost/pdf/capital_cost_AEO2020.pdf

Energy, E., Andersen, S. H., Sadler, D., & Sotiropoulos Michalakakos, T. (2019). Hy-Impact Se­ries Hydrogen in the UK, from technical to economic. https://www.element-energy.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Element-Energy-Hy-Impact-Series-Summary-Doc­ument.pdf 

Georgievski, V., & Kiteva, R. N. (2022, September 23). Decarbonization initiatives among lead­ing power utility players. Conference Proceedings / International Conference “Energetics 2022.” https://zemak.mk/zbor-dva-za-megunarodnata-konferencija-energetika-2022/

Goldmeer, J. (2019). Power to Gas: Hydrogen for Power Generation. https://www.ge.com/content/dam/gepower/global/en_US/documents/fuelflexibility/GEA33861%20Power%20to%20Gas%20%20Hydrogen%20for%20Power%20Generation.pdf 

IEA. (2014). Emissions Reduction through Upgrade of Coal-Fired Power Plants. https://www.iea.org/reports/partner-country-series-emissions-reduction-through-upgrade-of-coal-fired-power-plants  

IEA-ETSAP, & IRENA© Technology Brief E21. (2013). Biomass Co-firing. https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E21-Bio­mass-Co-firing.pdf  

Nik, M. (2022, August 30). Energy crisis: Can the EU tame soaring prices? https://www.dw.com/en/energy-crisis-can-the-eu-tame-soaring-prices/a-62960012 

Pawlak–Kruczek, H., Czerep, M., Niedzwiecki, L., Karampinis, E., Violidakis, I., Avagianos, I., & Grammelis, P. (2019). Drying of Lignite of Various Origins in a Pilot Scale Toroidal Fluid­ized Bed Dryer using Low Quality Heat. Energies, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/en12071191 

Qvist, S., Gładysz, P., Bartela, Ł., & Sowiżdżał, A. (2021). Retrofit decarbonization of coal power plants—A case study for Poland. Energies, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010120 

Rystad Energy. (2022, April 26). Carbon capture capacity poised to surge more than 10 times by 2030, but aggressive investment needed to meet mid-century targets. https://www.rystaden­ergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/carbon-capture-capacity-poised-to-surge-more-than-10-times-by-2030-but-aggressive-investment-needed-to-meet-mid-century-targets 

Sanchez del Rio, M., Gibbins, J., & Lucquiaud, M. (2017). On the retrofitting and repowering of coal power plants with post-combustion carbon capture: An advanced integration option with a gas turbine windbox. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 58, 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.09.015 

Sarunac, N., Ness, M., & Bullinger, C. (2014, November 1). Improve Plant Efficiency and Re­duce CO2 Emissions When Firing High-Moisture Coals. https://www.powermag.com/improve-plant-efficiency-and-reduce-co2-emissions-when-firing-high-moisture-coals  

Statistisches Bundesamt. (2022, September 9). Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis). https://Www.Destatis.De/  

Tamura, M., Gotou, T., Ishii, H., & Riechelmann, D. (2020). Experimental investigation of ammo­nia combustion in a bench scale 1.2 MW-thermal pulverised coal firing furnace. Applied En­ergy, 277, 115580. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APENERGY.2020.115580 

Wang, R., Chang, S., Cui, X., Li, J., Ma, L., Kumar, A., Nie, Y., & Cai, W. (2021). Retrofitting coal-fired power plants with biomass co-firing and carbon capture and storage for net zero carbon emission: A plant-by-plant assessment framework. GCB Bioenergy, 13(1), 143–160. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12756  

Zhang, C., Zhai, H., Cao, L., Li, X., Cheng, F., Peng, L., Tong, K., Meng, J., Yang, L., & Wang, X. (2022). iScience Understanding the complexity of existing fossil fuel power plant decarbon­ization. ISCIENCE, 25, 104758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci