Amyntaio power station
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Amyntaio power station is a 600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Western Macedonia, Greece.
Contents
Location
The map below shows the location of the plant in Amýntaio, Flórina.
Background on Plant
Amyntaio power station is a two-unit coal-fired power plant with a total capacity of 600 MW. The plant was completed in 1987. It is fuelled by lignite from the adjacent Amyntaio coal mine. Both the power plant and the adjacent mine are owned by the Public Power Corporation (PPC).[1][2]
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.[3] Following large scale protests and limited corporate interest in entering the Greek lignite market, the new Syriza-led government however announced it would call off the privatization.[4]
Under EU emission rules, Amyntaio is allowed to operate for no more than 17,500 hours starting from 1 January 2016 and ending no later than 31 December 2023. By end-2017 the plant had already operated thousands of hours, requiring it to shut down in 2019. In February 2018, Greek industrial group Mytilineos reportedly offered to pay for a revamp of the coal plant owned to keep it operational after 2019.[5]
According to the environmental law NGO Client Earth, Greece repeatedly asked the European Commission (EC) if it could extend the hours for Amyntaio power station to nearly double what had been approved, and the EC "consistently objected, as the plant was not eligible for the extension under EU environmental law. However, the Greek government ignored the European Commission’s decision, illegally granting the much-coveted extension to Amyntaio" at the end of 2018. The group is challenging the permit extension.[6]
In September 2019 PPC said it would begin to close the Amyntaio and Megalopoli power station in consultation with local communities, with consultations to begin in 2020.[7]
Plant Details
- Sponsor: Public Power Corporation
- Parent company: Public Power Corporation
- Location: Amýntaio, Flórina, Western Macedonia, Greece
- Coordinates: 40.61933, 21.682777 (exact)
- Status: Operating
- Gross capacity: 600 MW (Units 1&2: 300 MW)
- Type: Subcritical
- In service: 1987
- Coal type: Lignite
- Coal source: Domestic
- Source of financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Ministry of Development (Greece) (February 2009). Energy Outlook of Greece.
- ↑ Annual Report 2013. Public Power Corporation (2014).
- ↑ Annual Report 2013. Public Power Corporation (2014).
- ↑ Syriza MP reiterates party plan to end ‘Little PPC’ as first move (27 January 2015). Retrieved on 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Greece's Mytilineos offers to upgrade Public Power coal plant – source," Mining Weekly, Feb 12, 2018
- ↑ "Life extension of super-polluting Greek coal plant faces legal challenge," ClientEarth, 23 July 2019
- ↑ "Plan to make PPC more attractive to investors," Ekathimerini, Sep 1, 2019
