Retrofit Decarbonization of Coal Power Plants—A Case Study for Poland

Staffan Qvist, Paweł Gładysz, Łukasz Bartela and Anna Sowiżdżał
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Staffan Qvist: Qvist Consulting Limited, Middlesex, Southall UB1 3EP, UK
Paweł Gładysz: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
Łukasz Bartela: Department of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Anna Sowiżdżał: Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-37

Abstract: Out of 2 TW e of coal power plant capacity in operation globally today, more than half is less than 14 years old. Climate policy related to limiting CO 2 -emissions makes the longer-term operation of these plants untenable. In this study, we assess the spectrum of available options for the future of both equipment and jobs in the coal power sector by assessing the full scope of “retrofit decarbonization” options. Retrofit decarbonization is an umbrella term that includes adding carbon capture, fuel conversion, and the replacement of coal boilers with new low-carbon energy sources, in each case re-using as much of the existing equipment as economically practicable while reducing or eliminating emissions. This article explores this idea using the Polish coal power fleet as a case study. Retrofit decarbonization in Poland was shown to be most attractive using high-temperature small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to replace coal boilers, which can lower upfront capital costs by ~28–35% and levelized cost of electricity by 9–28% compared to a greenfield installation. If retrofit decarbonization is implemented globally by the late 2020s, up to 200 billion tons of otherwise-committed CO 2 -emissions could be avoided.

Keywords: retrofit decarbonization; decarbonization; climate change; repowering; renewable; nuclear; coal; CO 2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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