Prunerov Power Station

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{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-CzechRepubliccoal}} The Prunéřov power station is the largest coal-fired power station in the Czech Republic.

Location

The undated satellite photo below shows the power station in Kadaň.

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Background

The Prunéřov Power Stations are the largest fossil power station complex in the Czech Republic, with installed capacity of 1,490 megawatts (MW). They are situated on the western edge of the North-Bohemian brown coal basin near the town of Chomutov. They consist of two power stations.[1]

Prunéřov I Power Station

The Prunéřov I Power Station, the older of the two, began operations between 1967 and 1968. It consisted of six 110 MW units. Between 1987 and 1992, four of these units underwent extensive reconstruction, and the other two units were decommissioned during the capacity phasing-out program in the early 1990s.[1]

The four units of Prunéřov I are planned for retirement in 2020.[2]

Prunéřov II Power Station

The Prunéřov II Power Station is ČEZ’s newest fossil power station. It consists of five 210 MW units commissioned in 1982, known as units B21-B25.[1] Three of the units (B23-B25) are being expanded to 250 MW (detailed info below).

Retrofit and expansion of Prunerov II

In 2010 CEZ announced plan to retrofit and expand Prunerov II. The plan was challenged by Micronesia on the grounds that the expansion of the power station would have a strong impact on the climate and the environment of Micronesia. Micronesia requested a Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment.[3] According to the Czech environment ministry, the modernization plan did not include best available technology.[4]

On January 26, 2010, Czech minister of the Environment Jan Dusík said he was calling on international experts to carry out an environmental impact assessment of the plans to modernize the power station.[5] In March 2010 he publicly released the report from Det Norske Veritas, which found lack of best available technology in the CEZ plan EIA.[6]

Shortly after Minister Dusík resigned, while claiming he was under pressure from prime minister Jan Fischer to approve the CEZ's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the power station.[7] Former CEZ employee Rút Bízková was appointed as Minister of the Environment and after two weeks in office approved the CEZ's EIA in April 2010.[7]

The approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report paved the way for CEZ to replace three existing blocks at Prunéřov II, extending the operational life of the power station by 25 years.[7]

As of 2014, three coal units of 250 MW are under construction, increasing their unit capacity from 210 MW to 250 MW.[8] Construction is expected to end in September 2014,[9] but was reported as delayed in May 2014.[10]

In March 2016 CEZ reported that "In the Prunéřov Power Plant renovation project, installation work was completed and commissioning is underway (complex testing is underway at B23 and B24 units, first synchronization of B25 unit was performed on Dec 19, 2015)." Full commercial operation of the renovated units is planned for 2016.[11]

The three units (B23-B25) began operating in 2016. Units B21-B22 were retired in 2016.[12]

Coal source

The power station is fueled by brown coal from the Nástup Mines of Tušimice and Severočeské doly, a.s. (North-Bohemian Mines).[1]

Climate impacts

According to the study Dirty Thirty, issued in May 2007 by the World Wide Fund for Nature, Prunéřov Power Station is the twelfth-worst power station in Europe in terms of the relation of energy efficiency to carbon dioxide emissions.[13] The power station is the largest single source of CO2 in Czech Republic. In 2008 it emitted 9,210 millions of metric tons of CO2.[14]

Project Details of expansion

  • Sponsor: CEZ Group
  • Parent company:
  • Developer:
  • Location: Kadaň, Czech Republic
  • Coordinates: 50.418,13.259 (exact)
  • Status: Operating
  • Capacity: 750 MW (B23-B25: 250 MW)
  • Type: Subcritical
  • Start date: 2016
  • Coal Type: Lignite
  • Coal Source:
  • Source of financing:

Resources and articles

References

Related SourceWatch articles

External resources

External articles

Wikipedia also has an article on Prunerov Power Station. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.