Tuzla Thermal Power Plant

Last updated

Tuzla Thermal Power Plant
Tuzla Thermal Power Plant02A.jpg
Tuzla Thermal Power Plant
Country
Location Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates 44°31′12″N18°36′22″E / 44.52000°N 18.60611°E / 44.52000; 18.60611
StatusOperational
Commission date 1963
Owner(s) EBiH
Operator(s)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Cogeneration?Yes
Power generation
Units operational1 × 100 MW
2 × 200 MW
1 × 215 MW
Make and model Škoda
LMZ
Electrosila
Rafako
Zamech
Dolmel [1]
Nameplate capacity 715 MW
Annual net output 3,100 GWh
External links
Website www.epbih.ba
Commons Related media on Commons

Tuzla Thermal Power Plant is a coal-fired thermal power plant in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is operated by Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EBiH).

Contents

History

Construction of the first two units started in 1959. The first 32 MW unit was commissioned in 1963 and the last 215 MW unit was commissioned in 1978. [1] [2]

There is a plan to build a new 450 MW unit by the Gezhouba Group. [2] [3]

Description

The power station has an installed electric capacity of 715  MW (without two 32 MW units) and it produces around 3.1 TWh of electricity per year. [1] [2] In addition, it supplies heat for Tuzla and Lukavac. The plant burns 3,300,000  tons of coal annually. [1]

Units 1–6 are supplied from the Kreka and Banovići mines. Unit 7, at the moment,[ as of? ] is not built. [4]

Unit 4 has a 100-metre (330 ft) flue gas stack, Unit 6 a 165-metre (541 ft) flue gas stack. [5]

Background

For several years a new 450 MW unit has been planned at the Tuzla coal power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, owned and operated by the state-owned Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine.

Although it is usually cited as a replacement for existing units, Elektroprivreda BiH plans to close only the existing units 3 and 4 (total 310 MW) in 2018 and 2021 respectively, while units 5 and 6 (total 415 MW) will continue to operate until after 2030. Thus Tuzla 7 would result in additional coal capacity compared to the current situation.

Financing

An Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract worth EUR 785 million was signed with China Gezhouba Group Co. on 30 August 2014, but it was later admitted that the plant would not be economically feasible. In May 2016 an annex to the contract was signed, which brought the cost down to EUR 722 million. [6]

In December 2014 a Memorandum of Understanding on financing the facility was signed with the Exim Bank of China, and in November 2016 a framework agreement on financing was signed. [6]

On 27 November 2017, The China Exim bank and Bosnian power utility Elektroprivreda BIH signed a 613 million euro loan agreement for the Tuzla 7 lignite power plant. [7] [8]

Opposition

Environmental impacts and policies

The environmental permit for Tuzla 7 is incomplete as it does not cover the foreseen ash landfill on the Šićki Brod site. According to Article 71 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Law on Environmental Protection, an environmental permit must include measures for managing waste produced by the facility in question. (Environment of Bosnia and Herzegovina) [9]

In addition, using the Šićki Brod site as an ash landfill would contravene the Tuzla Canton and Lukavac and Tuzla municipality spatial plans, and is opposed by the Lukavac municipality council and the population living in the local communities surrounding the location. In April 2016 they presented a petition with 2100 signatures against the site to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The government has still no answer to all the protesters in 2019. The ash landfill, if it is ever built, would destroy a whole ecosystem. With the ash reaching deep down to natural water springs which many local people use to drink and use, the whole area would depend on non-potable tap water. The ash would also directly pollute more than 150,000 people just around Lukavac and Tuzla. Nearby places like Plane, Bistarac, Bukinje, Brgule and Lukavac already have a problem with pollution; with the ash landfill built, the area would suffer even more, which would be hazardous for all the people living there. Drinkable water would be polluted as would the land which many farmers use to grow food. [9]

Scarce water resources

The Tuzla power plant takes cooling water from the Modrac Reservoir, the same source as much of the drinking water for Tuzla. This reservoir is fed mainly by the Turija River and the Spreča River; it already suffers from pollution caused by coal production and separation. If the Banovici coal power plant is built – another project just a few kilometers away from Tuzla—it will directly compete with the Modrac Lake for water in drier periods. [9]

Health impacts

In November 2013, the Center for Ecology and Energy from Tuzla launched a report on the health impacts of existing and planned coal thermal power plants in the Tuzla area. Using the methods developed in the World Health Organization's Health Response to Air Pollutants in Europe project, the study found that in 2013 in Tuzla existing power plants will have caused the loss of 4900 years of life, 131,000 lost working days and more than 170 hospitalizations due to cardiac and respiratory diseases. [9]

Although the Tuzla coal plant is the largest source of pollution in the area, it should be taken into account that this situation is aggravated further by the cumulative impacts with other pollution sources such as the Coke (fuel) plant and soda factory in Lukavac, thus increasing the health risks even further.

Average life expectancy has shortened to 51 years in places nearby. [9] [ failed verification ]

Local protests

The air quality in Tuzla is notorious, ranked second by the World Health Organisation among Europe's most polluted towns in 2017. [10]

The legal limits for pollutants PM2.5 (fine particles) and SO2 were breached in the long winter of 2017–2018. The Clean Air Movement—a group of citizens living in Tuzla concerned about the worsening health condition as a result of air pollution exposure—took to the streets to demand that authorities find long-term solutions to this ever-present problem. The authorities, however, have still no answer to all the protesters. The air pollution reached its peak in 2018 and the beginning of 2019, with the air quality index reaching more than 500, which is by all standards hazardous for all people. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fossil fuel power station</span> Facility that burns fossil fuels to produce electricity

A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel, such as coal or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, which then operates an electrical generator. The prime mover may be a steam turbine, a gas turbine or, in small plants, a reciprocating gas engine. All plants use the energy extracted from the expansion of a hot gas, either steam or combustion gases. Although different energy conversion methods exist, all thermal power station conversion methods have their efficiency limited by the Carnot efficiency and therefore produce waste heat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NLC India Limited</span> Central Public Sector Undertaking

NLC India Limited (NLC) is a central public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. It annually produces about 30 million tonnes of lignite from opencast mines at Neyveli in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India and at Barsingsar in Bikaner district of Rajasthan state. The lignite is used at pithead thermal power stations of 3640 MW installed capacity to produce electricity. Its joint venture has a 1000 MW thermal power station using coal. Lately, it has diversified into renewable energy production and installed 1404 MW solar power plant to produce electricity from photovoltaic (PV) cells and 51 MW electricity from windmills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banovići</span> Town and municipality in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Banovići is a town and municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The intensive development of Banovići began with the construction of the railway Brčko-Banovići in the year 1946. Due to its quality, brown coal from Banovići is well-known all over Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ugljevik Power Plant</span>

The Ugljevik Power Plant is a coal-fired power plant in Ugljevik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is owned and operated by Rudnik i termoelektrana Ugljevik, a subsidiary of Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske. RiTE Ugljevik is an integrated coal mining and power generating company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal-fired power station</span> Type of thermal power station

A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are over 2,400 coal-fired power stations, totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a third of the world's electricity, but cause many illnesses and the most early deaths, mainly from air pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turceni Power Station</span>

The Turceni Power Station is situated in Gorj County, on the banks of the Jiu River, halfway between the cities of Craiova and Târgu Jiu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health and environmental impact of the coal industry</span>

The health and environmental impact of the coal industry includes issues such as land use, waste management, water and air pollution, caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products. In addition to atmospheric pollution, coal burning produces hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products annually, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals. Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine</span>

Elektroprivreda BiH or JP Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine d.d. is a Bosnian public electric utility company with headquarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kakanj Power Station</span> Power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kakanj Thermal Power Plant is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's largest coal-fired power plant having an installed electric capacity of 450 MW and producing around 2.3 billion Kwh of electricity per year. The power plant is operated by Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine. The chimney of Kakanj Power Plant is 300 metres tall and is one of the tallest man-made objects built in former Yugoslavia.

Rovinari Coal Mine is an open-pit mining exploitation, the largest in Romania, located in Rovinari, Gorj County. The legal entity managing the Rovinari mine is the National Company of Lignite Oltenia which was set up in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pljevlja Power Station</span>

Pljevlja Power Station situated in Pljevlja is the only coal-fired power station in Montenegro. It went into service in 1982 and has a generation capacity of 210 MW. It produces about a third of the state's electricity. The chimney of the power plant is 250 meters tall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Chennai Thermal Power Station</span> Thermal power station in India

The North Chennai Thermal Power Station is a power station situated about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Chennai city. It is one of the major power plants of Tamil Nadu and has a total installed capacity of 1,830 MW (2,450,000 hp).

TPP Kostolac is a coal fired thermal power plant complex operated by Elektroprivreda Srbije, located on the right bank of Danube river, in Kostolac, Požarevac. It is the second largest power plant in Serbia after TPP Nikola Tesla. Within the complex, there are 4 operational units as of October 2020. It makes around 10% of the total available capacity of the electric power system of Serbia and almost 11 percent of the total electric power production in EPS's system.

CEE Bankwatch Network is a global network which operates in central and eastern Europe. There are 17 member groups, multiple non-governmental organizations based in different locations; the network is one of the largest networks of environmental NGOs in central and eastern Europe. Bankwatch's headquarters rest in Prague, Czech Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center</span>

The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center (VCHEC) is a power station located in St. Paul, in Wise County, Virginia. It is operated by Dominion Virginia Power, Dominion Resources Inc.'s electric distribution company in Virginia. The 600 MW plant began power generation in July 2012 after four years of construction. The plant deploys circulating fluidized bed boiler technology (CFB) to use a variety of fuel sources including bituminous coal, coal gob, and bio-fuels. VCHEC is placed under stringent environmental regulations by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afşin-Elbistan power stations</span> Coal fired power stations in Turkey

The Afşin-Elbistan power stations are coal-fired power stations in Afşin in Kahramanmaraş Province in Turkey. The area is a sulfur dioxide air pollution hotspot: Air pollution can be trapped by the surrounding mountains, and Greenpeace say that measurements they took nearby in late 2020 show illegal levels of particulates and nitrogen oxides. The Environment Ministry has not released the flue gas measurements.

Kemerköy power station is a 630 MW coal-fired power station in Turkey in Kemerköy, Muğla, completed in 1985, which burns lignite mined locally. Originally state owned by Electricity Generation Company it was sold in 2014 to Limak- IC İçtaş. In 2020 it received 140 million lira ($25,000,000) capacity payments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeniköy power station</span> Coal fired power station in Turkey

Yeniköy power station is a 420 MW coal-fired power station in Turkey in Yeniköy, Muğla built in the late 20th century, which burns lignite mined locally. The plant is owned by Limak- IC İçtaş and in 2020 it received 93 million lira ($16,000,000) capacity payments. The area is a sulfur dioxide air pollution hotspot and as of 2017 the air pollution caused by Yeniköy and neighboring Yatağan power station and Kemerköy power station is estimated to have caused 45,000 premature deaths. It is estimated that closing the plant by 2030, instead of when its licence ends in 2063, would prevent over 7000 premature deaths.

Coal in Turkey generates between a quarter and a third of the nation's electricity. There are 54 active coal-fired power stations with a total capacity of 21 gigawatts (GW).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Coal-Fired Plants in Bosnia & Montenegro". industcards.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Zuleva, Maja (21 September 2010). "Swiss Alpiq bids for $1.1 bln Bosnia power unit". Reuters . Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  3. Zuleva, Maja (21 October 2010). "Alpiq's $1.1 bln investment in Bosnia may be halted". Reuters . Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  4. Dugorocni plan elektroprivreda.ba
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. 1 2 Tuzla 7 lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  7. Rushed loan approval for Tuzla 7 coal plant, but project far from ready
  8. "UPDATE 1-Bosnia secures $732 MLN energy loan from China's Exim bank". Reuters. 27 November 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tuzla 7 lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina".
  10. "Protests spread in Western Balkans along with air pollution".
  11. Protests spread in Western Balkans along with air pollution CC BY-SA icon.svg Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.