PGNiG TERMIKA for the Environment
Heat in harmony with nature
Heat and electricity generation may be more and more environment friendly. The
PGNiG TERMIKA cogeneration plants in Warsaw provide good evidence here. The
plants in Żerań, Siekierki, Wola, Kawęczyn and Pruszków have undergone a deep
metamorphosis – they have adapted their technologies to requirements of eco
standards. And care of the environment is a top priority part of the company’s
development plans.
A radical improvement has been achieved thanks to implementation of both highly efficient
filters and advanced desulphurisation and nitrogen oxide reduction technologies. This also
applies to waste management, with the process converting sulphur compounds captured
from flue gas into synthetic gypsum as a good example. One of the ways towards the target
is also fuel diversification. Apart from hard coal, used up with a growing share of biomass,
the age of natural gas is coming. Therefore, the planned and just started investment projects
cover gas cogeneration units.
Affiliation to PGNiG Group has accelerated those projects. Some innovative ventures, as the
start-up of a heat accumulator at Siekierki, the first such facility in Poland, deserve special
attention. All those initiatives are extremely costly, and some projects are co-financed by the
European Union. Till now, the company has consumed PLN 100 million of EU funding.
However, the expenditures are significantly higher. Only in 2012, PGNiG TERMIKA invested
PLN 268 million in environment protection. This amount corresponds to average spending in
the last years. And the effect is a clearly perceptible reduction of the impact on the
environment in the Warsaw metropolitan area. All the plants keep their emissions of sulphur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ash significantly below the mandatory standards. And the
expenditures will be recovered over time because of lower environmental fees.
Heat accumulator
The heat accumulator installed at Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) Siekierki is a tank,
47 meters high and 30 meters in diameter, which absorbs heat as hot water when the
demand for heat is lower (in the middle of a day) and provides energy in peak times (in the
morning and evening). This way, the accumulator evens out the output of the CHP plant in
the daily cycle, allowing it to produce heat with more efficient units and to expand the scope
of work of units in the cogeneration mode.
The accumulator provides measurable ecological, technological and financial benefits. As it
enables the plant to decrease the number of emergency start-ups of backup water boilers,
the fuel consumption level, and hence pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, can be
reduced. This project draws on Scandinavian experiences and in Poland it is a unique
solution – the first one implemented on such a scale. It was built in only 15 months, for PLN
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52 million. The heat accumulator was brought into use in March 2009, increasing the energy
safety of Warsaw. It can store energy sufficient to heat about 25 thousand flats for 24 hours.
WetFlue Gas Desulphurisation Plant at CHP Siekierki
The Wet Flue Gas Desulphurisation Plant at CHP Siekierki was brought into use in
September 2011 (Stage 1) and in May 2012 (whole plant). It has reduced the sulphur dioxide
emission level by 90% for the 8 boilers covered by the project, i.e. by about 8,000 tons a
year. In addition, the emissions of particulate matter and other compounds contained in flue
gas have declined. This is the largest investment of that kind implemented at Polish CHP
plants. Its cost amounted to PLN 489 million, including an EU subvention of PLN 40 million
(about 8%).
The flue gas purification process uses a highly efficient traditional wet calcareous and
gypsum method. This is the flue gas desulphurisation method that is most commonly used by
the power sector. The core of this technology is scrubbers, where the process of extensive
washing of flue gas with a washing liquid (limestone suspension) is run. As a result, the
undesired sulphur dioxide is dissolved and reacts with the sorbing agent. The end product of
the process is synthetic gypsum, having practical applications. As it is very clean it may be
further used, for example, in the cement or construction sector. Besides being advantageous
to the environment, this system also generates substantial financial benefits, since it allows
the plant to burn considerably less expensive coal, with a high content of sulphur.
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Denitrification Plant at CHP Siekierki
This SCR Denitrification Plant is the first such investment project being implemented in
Poland. Under this project, CHP Siekierki has been building, since 2010, four independent
SCR systems for its four core generation units, i.e. 300 MW OP-430 boilers. Three of those
systems are finished, of which two were brought into use in 2012 and the third on 13
January 2013. The start-up of the fourth system is scheduled in December 2013. The project
had to be staged to ensure uninterrupted supplies of heat to Warsaw. The ultimate effect will
be a 30% reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions from 2014 on.
The flue gas purification process is based on the reaction of ammonia, supplied in a safe
concentration, with nitrogen oxides contained in flue gas. This reaction reduces harmful
nitrogen oxides (NOx) to atmosphere neutral nitrogen (N2) and water vapour (H2O). This
method generates no waste and ensures highly efficient NOx reduction. It also meets BAT
(Best Available Techniques) requirements, under which the best available technologies need
to be selected.
The budget of the whole project amounted to PLN 180 million, of which nearly 30% (PLN 52
million) covered by the European Union.
Silencing Programme at CHP Siekierki
In 2010, CHP Siekierki intensified efforts to eliminate noise sources. To this end, it was
decided to install noise screens or to upgrade noisy equipment, like fans, compressors or
pumps. To install advanced eco-friendly technologies, as flue gas desulphurisation or
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denitrification systems, new facilities must be built, which are not acoustically neutral to the
environment. So, the silencing programme will be continued. In 2013-2014, some
transformers will be replaced, while the other will be screened. At present, an acoustic
screen is being built along Kobylańska Street.
Coal Combustion waste yard at Myśliborska Street to be closed in 2016
In the next years, one of the milestones will be the final closure of the waste yard at
Myśliborska Street. The waste yard rehabilitation works are nearing the end. Ultimately, 50
hectares of the former waste yard will be reclaimed. First, the furnace waste that was
previously kept there was removed and processed into environment neutral aggregate used
for road construction. The excavation has been filled with quality earth from other large
investment projects being implemented simultaneously in Warsaw, e.g. Czajka Sewage
Treatment Plant, Northern Bridge or underground. As a result, new commercially attractive
areas will emerge.
ISO 14001
Since 2007, PGNiG TERMIKA’s activities have been supported by the Environmental
Management System based on ISO 14001. The efficiency of this management system is
confirmed every year in the course of independent audits and by relevant certificates. The
certification audit, i.e. the efficiency assessment of the implemented management system,
was carried out by Det Norske Veritas, international audit firm. Internal audits, repeated
several times in a year, bring about the continuous improvement of activities of operations
and maintenance units at all the CHP plants. Audits have confirmed that the System is
effective and operates correctly. One of the effects of such approach is the early
identification and immediate elimination of any potential threats to the environment.
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