E.ON Kraftwerke is planning to build a new state-of-the-art hard coal power plant in the port of Antwerp in line with the strictest environmental protection requirements.

 

Power market

Capacity on the Belgian power market is tight. New capacity is urgently required because of the political decision to phase out nuclear energy - which currently constitutes more than 50 percent of the power generated in Belgium - by 2015. Ten percent of power requirements are satisfied by "antiquated" hard coal power plants with an average efficiency of around 36 percent.

 

Region

 

The port of Antwerp is home to the world's second largest cluster of the petrochemical industry, which is a large consumer of electricity and steam.The power plant is located on the premises of Bayer Antwerp, which fronts the Schelde River. The need for cooling water is quite low due to the natural draft cooling tower in use. There is no problem withdrawing cooling water from the Schelde and then returning it to the river. Thanks to a water depth of approx. 15.5 meters, coal freighters with a capacity of up to 160,000 tons can call at the port. These characteristics make Antwerp one of the best places in Europe to operate coal-fired power plants.

 

Power plant

 

The new hard coal power plant is known as the "Antwerp Power Plant" (APP). It has a net electrical output of approx. 1,055 megawatts.In addition to electricity, the new power plant will provide up to 35 megawatts of process steam to Bayer. This is essentially produced in the form of combined heat and power generation, and is secured using an auxiliary boiler. In addition, the power plant is equipped to be able to supply heat to the surrounding industrial and residential areas. Feasibility studies are currently being performed to investigate the options in this regard. At over 45 percent, the plant's high efficiency lowers CO₂ emissions by over 20 percent compared to older plants.

One of the APP's special features is that it has been certified as being "Carbon Capture Ready" by TÜV Nord. This means that enough space has been reserved in order to retrofit the plant with a CO₂ capture system, and that process studies have been performed and realistic storage options are present. The permit procedure is in full swing and the environmental compatibility study has been completed. The application documentation for the construction permit was submitted in mid-August 2009. The environmental permit documentation will be submitted in mid-September. As with all planned new builds, E.ON will also conduct an open and transparent dialog with all stakeholders and the responsible certifying authorities in Antwerp. A dialog with the future plant's immediate neighbors has been ongoing since mid-2008.