MHPS helps reduce emissions in Taiwan and West Balkans

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has received a full turnkey contract order for a boiler and environmental facilities renovation project from Taiwan Power Company (Taipower). The project will be undertaken in collaboration with Taiwan’s largest engineering construction firm CTCI (CTCI Corporation) on units 1-4 of the Taichung Thermal Power Plant. Construction is planned to be completed in November 2019.

This project at the Taichung Thermal Power Plant units 1-4 is aimed at cutting NOx, SO2 and particulate emissions from the coal-fired boilers in line with Taiwan’s toughening environmental regulations. MHPS will manufacture and supply the equipment needed for the renovation, such as boilers (burners), mills, desulphurisation equipment and electrostatic precipitators, and CTCI will manage the civil works and installation. Mitsubishi Corporation will act as the trading company.

Based on Taiwan’s 2008 “Framework of Sustainable Energy Policy”, the country is aiming to keep CO2 emissions at 2008 levels from 2016 to 2020, then reduce them to 2000 levels (221 million tons) by 2025, and has also toughened restrictions on other environmental pollutants. Based on this, existing coal-fired power plants are strengthening their environmental measures, and this project is part of those efforts.

Taipower is a publicly owned utility and the sole integrated power generation, transmission and distribution company in Taiwan.In2003,MitsubishiHeavyIndustries receivedanorderfromTaipowerfortheDah- Tarn combined cycle power plant. This was followed in 2011 by an order for a construction project at Linkou Thermal Power Plant, units 1, 2 and 3, and then by a 2013 project at the Tunghsiao combined cycle power plant. All orders were received jointly with CTCI. These projects were carried out by MHI and the contracts were taken over by MHPS when it was formed in 2014.

Another recent emissions reduction project reported by MHPS is that at the 300 MWe Ugljevik lignite fuelled plant in the Republic of Srpska – one of the two constituent entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In consortium with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe (MHPSE) and RUDIS, the Slovenian plant constructor, it will retrofit the plant with a state-of-the-art flue gas desulphurisation system, under a contract with plant owner/operator, state energy supplier Elektroprivreda Republic Srpska (ERS).

Under the policy of moving closer to the emission directives of the EU, ERS decided to have the power plant, which started up in 1985, retrofitted with FGD. The MHPS, MHPSE and RUDIS consortium won the tender against stiff international competition.

The Ugljevik project marks the first retrofit of a coal power plant with a FGD in the West Balkans. Installation of the FGD plant, due to be in operation by 2019, will reduce SO2 by 99% and achieve a level lower than 200 mg/Nm3.