Coal decommissioning an expensive proposition
August 12, 2013 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
As older coal power stations are replaced either by new more efficient coal power plants, or by cleaner natural gas, wind and solar facilities, North America and Europe will dominate decommissioning activity where coal plants have been operating for decades and now face increasing environmental regulations, according to research from Visigonian. In the United States, decommissioning will also be driven by the shale gas revolution, which is making coal power plants less economic than cleaner gas powered plants.
Between 2013 and 2020 utilities will retire record numbers of aging coal plants, according to Navigant Research. "Utilities and other plant owners face a series of complex decisions in retiring aging coal plants," said Richard Martin, editorial director with Navigant Research. "Developing a strategic plan, in consultation with a company that has experience in these major plant decommissioning projects, will be a critical element of the process of retiring these facilities and remediating the associated environmental issues." Decommissioning involves many costs from plant investigation and decontamination to the demolition and closeout of plants. Actual plant demolition is unlikely to be the most costly part of the decommissioning process and the value of the scrap metal from the plant on the open market will, in some cases, fully offset the cost of demolition, according to the Navigant report. Environmental remediation will be the most expensive phase of many decommissioning projects. In particular, disposing of coal ash, typically stored in ponds onsite, will present a serious challenge in carrying out decommissioning projects. For more: Related Article: Sign up for our FREE newsletter for more news like this sent to your inbox! © 2013 FierceMarkets. All rights reserved. http://www.fierceenergy.com http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/coal-decommissioning-expensive-proposition/2013-08-12 |