Parneix: Low Emission is Possible With Local Coal

GE Steam Power Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) General Manager Dr. Sacha Parneix said that with their innovative technology they have helped Turkey achieve the goal of reducing its energy dependance.

Parneix has provided information on clean steam power solutions during an examination visit to the three-year old Manjung 4 Power Plant in Malaysia. Managed by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), which has a 30 percent partnership in Gama Energy, Manjung 4 Facility is the largest ultra-supercritical power plant in South East Asia with an installed power of 1000 MW.

More energy with the same coal“This means more electricity is generated with the least amount of fuel possible. If you reduce the amount of fuel for a certain amount of megawatts, you can reduce your operating costs and your ecological footprint and thus boost your economy”, said Parneix, who says that the ultra-supercritical technology used in Manjung anf Karabiga is the most efficient solution for coal-fired power plants today.

'Emission below legal limits'According to the information given by Sacha Parneix, Turkey’s first ultra-supercritical coal plant is the Karabiga Thermal Power Plant in Çanakkale established by CENAL, a joint venture between Cengiz Holding and Alarko Holding. Indicating that the Karabiga Plant is 10 percent more efficient among its kind, Parneix emphasized that the plant operates at almost the half of the level of plant flue gas emissions in terms of the necessary regulations in Turkey and the World Bank or the level accepted by the European Union. “In general investors wanted the same level of emissions as in gas plants, which are perceived clean enough by the public, and so we designed it that way”, Parneix said.

'Local lignite emissions can be reduced'As the quality of coal in Turkey is low the Karabiga Power Plant uses imported coal. Having said that this is still economical for the country, Parneix adds “On the other hand, with the implementation of utra-supercrtitical fuel gas cleaning systems it is possible that high-efficiency and low emissions level are reached by using low-quality domestic coal. But for this, the design of the power plant needs to be rearranged according to the coal”.

Karabiga surpassed Manjung
Manjung 4, the first ultra-supercritical plant in South East Asia, has been the epitome of GE technology up to now. Yet Karabiga has taken over the flag as a new generation facility that uses the same technology with 10 percent more efficiency. The Karabiga facility, which has begun to attract interest for new investments, has already welcomed an investor team from Kenya in the past few weeks.