Amyntaio Power Plant
| Amyntaio Power Station | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Official name | ΑΗΣ Αμυνταίου |
| Country | Greece |
| Location | Amyntaio,Western Macedonia |
| Coordinates | 40°37′8″N21°41′2″E/ 40.61889°N 21.68389°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1983 |
| Commission date | 1987 |
| Owner(s) | Public Power Corporation(PPC) |
| Operator(s) | |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Lignite |
| Site elevation | 660 m (2,165 ft) |
| Cooling source | Polyfytos Lake |
| Cogeneration? | Yes |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 2 x 300 MW |
| Make and model | Turbo generatorbyLMZ;Sulzer boilerbyStein Industrie |
| Nameplate capacity | 600 MW |
Amyntaio Power Station(Greek:ΑΗΣ Αμυνταίου) is a 600 MWcoal-firedpower stationnearAmyntaioinWestern Macedonia,Greece.Build and commissioned in the mid 1980s, the power station is fuelled bylignitefrom the adjacentAmyntaio coal mine.
Today it is one of six power plants in an area called theWestern Macedonia Lignite Center,which is located in thePtolemaida Basinand constitutes the largestcoalfieldin Greece and theBalkans.Both the power plant and the adjacent mine are owned by thePublic Power Corporation(PPC).
Construction[edit]
The power station was constructed between 1983 and 1986[1]by a consortium of FrenchAlsthom-AtlantiqueandStein Industries,RussianEnergomachexportandZarubezhenergoproektand GreekBiokat.
It consists of two units with a generation capacity of 300 MW each.Turbo generatorsare built by RussianLMZ,whileSulzer boilersare supplied by FrenchStein Industrie.[2]The plant's 200 metres (660 ft) tall chimney is one of thetallest structures in Greece.
Thelignitefuel is dug out by severalbucket-wheel excavatorsand transported bybelt conveyorsfrom the adjacentopen-pitAmyntaio coal mine.[3]Feedwateris transported from the nearbyLake Vegoritidaand the artificialLake Polyfytos,some 50 km south of the plant.
Operation[edit]
The power plant's first unit has been in operation since January 1987 with the second unit following in August 1987. Its lifespan is limited by the remaining exploitable deposits in the Amyntaio mine.[4]As PPC requested article 33Limited lifetime derogationstatus for its Amyntaio andKardiaplants, excluding them from compliance with stricter emission limits set by theEUdirective 2010/75, they are expected to be shut down by the end of 2023.[5]
In 2013, the Greek government included the Amyntaio power plant in a list of assets which PPC was required to spin-off to a subsidiary. This subsidiary was set to be turned into a new competing electricity company following its privatization.[6]Following large scale protests and limited corporate interest in entering the Greek lignite market, the newSyriza-led government however announced it would call off the privatization.[7]
Cogeneration of Heat and Power[edit]
The power station is equipped to make productive use ofwaste heat,supplying the nearby town ofAmyntaioand the villages ofFilotasandLeveawithco-generateddistrict heat.Connecting to the power stations steam pipelines, the municipalDistrict Heating Company of Amyndeooperates an extensive network connecting 1250 public and residential buildings.[8]
Originally constructed in 2005, the district heating network is currently being expanded by a planned 50% to cover a larger share of the three villages' heating requirements. Accordingly, the equipment is being upgraded to allow for thermal loads up to 34MWth.[9]
The Amyntaio district heating project is the third project of its kind in Greece following similar projects inKozaniandPtolemaida.It has become a model project in transnational cooperation with the neighbouringNorth Macedonia.[10]
Environment[edit]
In spite of investments in heat cogeneration, overall efficiency of the power station remains relatively low, significantly contributing to the country'scarbon dioxideemissions. At the same time,air pollutionbyrespirable suspended particlesandsoil acidificationbyNOxemissions remains high, in spite of moderate investments in filtering technology. Since 2001, NOx emissions of the Amyntaio power plant even significantly increased, reaching 2.5 kg/MWh in 2008, the highest value of all power plants in Greece. This is explained by the low and further decreasingcalorific valueof the low-quality lignite of the Amyntaio coal mine,[11]which however has been found low insulfur[12]andmercury.[13]
After a pollutant emissions reduction plan as required byEUdirective 2001/80 has been approved, the environmental permits of Amyntaio were renewed in 2008. With its lifetime being limited to 2023, the Amyntaio power plant however remains excluded from compliance with the stricter emission limits set by the EU directive 2010/75. Subsequently, neither the implementation ofdesulphurisationtechnology nor the replacement ofelectrostatic precipitatorsto reduce particle emissions is planned for this power plant, though preliminary studies have been completed.[14]
Emission data[edit]
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,256,992 | 4,396,383 | 4,609,479 | 5,056,625 | 5,016,496 | 4,197,293 | 4,095,373 | |
| Data:European Commission,2015[15] | |||||||
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Amyntaio Power Plant".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-07.Retrieved1 April2015.
- ^"Lignite-Fired Plants in Greece".24 November 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 18 July 2009.Retrieved1 April2015.
- ^"Dirty Great Machines – Bucket Wheel Excavator | Technology Documentary | Reel Truth. Science".Insidexploration.7 April 2019.
- ^Ministry of Development (Greece)(February 2009)."Energy Outlook of Greece"(PDF).p. 14.
- ^"Annual Report 2013"(PDF).Public Power Corporation.2014. p. 180.
- ^"Annual Report 2013"(PDF).Public Power Corporation.2014. p. 105 ff.
- ^"Syriza MP reiterates party plan to end 'Little PPC' as first move".27 January 2015.Retrieved1 April2015.
- ^ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΣΗ ΤΗΛΕΘΕΡΜΑΝΣΗΣ ΑΜΥΝΤΑΙΟΥ.22 February 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved1 April2014.
- ^European Commission(2012)."Expansion of district heating network infrastructure of Amyntaio area"(PDF).
- ^"Know-how transfer for district heating applications in Bitola and Novaci".IPA Cross-Border ProgrammeMacedonia–Greece. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved1 April2015.
- ^M. Emmanouilidis; et al. (July 2012)."Detailed examination of Greek lignite thermal power stations on the basis of NOx emissions".pp. 966–975. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2015-04-02.Retrieved2015-04-02.
- ^G.C. Spyropoulos; et al. (2011)."Investigating the long-term environmental performance of the Greek electricity sector on the basis of SO2emissions ".Proceedings of the 12thInternational Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, 8–10 September 2011 in Rhodes, Greece.CERTH.Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved1 April2015.
- ^José Antonio Rodriguez Martin; et al. (September 2014). "Local deposition of mercury in topsoils around coal-fired power plants: is it always true?".Environmental Science and Pollution Research.Vol. 21, no. 17. pp. 10205–14.doi:10.1007/s11356-014-2873-0.
- ^"Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2013"(PDF).Public Power Corporation.October 2014. p. 55.Retrieved1 April2015.
- ^"Verified Emissions for 2014"(XLS).European Commission.1 April 2015.Retrieved2 April2015.