Driving the change towards a cleaner, sustainable world

Juha Suomi, Area Director, Asia, Fortum eNext, discusses the solutions and technologies that the company is offering to combat nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions produced by thermal power plants, which are low-cost and easy to implement.

India’s thermal power plants are one of the major reasons of increasing air pollution. What is your take on that?
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are one of the components polluting the atmosphere by reacting to form smog and acid rain causing adverse health effects. NOx emissions are formed as a result of natural phenomena as well as of human activity. However, the emissions caused by human activity are clearly more harmful due to high local concentration. Many consider NOx almost 10 times more harmful than carbon monoxide (CO) and a few times more harmful than sulphur dioxide (SO2).

Over the last 30 years, the European Union has periodically tightened the air emission regulations, particularly the NOx emissions for coal-fired power plants. Fortum, being a leading clean-energy company, is offering, among other energy efficiency programmes, its own NOx reduction technology since the 1990s. The Indian government is bringing stringent laws to restrict NOx emission levels for thermal power plants to similar levels as in Europe, and there is a tremendous potential here for our offering. We have already carried out low-NOx pilot projects with NTPC at their Ramagundam plant and another one with a private power producer. Our forte is not to sell only the equipment, but to provide solutions for our customers.

Energy consumption per capita is increasing in India, and it is envisaged that thermal will remain the mainstay in the country’s energy mix for the next 30 years. Moreover, the existing coal-fired plants will need to go through technological upgradation to meet the stringent emission norms. Even the 15-year-old to 20-year-old power plants have the potential to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their air emissions significantly, like in case of NOx emissions, by adopting the best available technologies. Through our global experience and product portfolio, we are in a good position to offer such solutions in India.

How is your organisation contributing in cutting down the NOx emissions in the environment?
Fortum eNext’s advanced NOx reduction technology reduces emissions effectively by staging and optimising the combustion process, thus eliminating the NOx formation at its source. Compared to alternative and expensive solutions, there is a minimum need for new equipment, with no auxiliary power consumption, no water consumption, and no ammonia or urea consumption, thus no by-products for disposal. We are also committed to make the necessary physical modifications within the scheduled shutdown of the power plant.

What kind of investments is required?
The CAPEX that Fortum is offering for NOx abatement is 50 percent less than what was anticipated in Indian markets a few years ago, so it was welcome news for the industry. Our solution provides one-off CAPEX investment for the customers without additional OPEX required and therefore is cost-effective. We have estimated that for a 500 MWe coal-fired power plant, the life cycle cost for the first five years of our low-NOx implementation would be around 3 MEUR, as compared to a selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) being approximately 25 MEUR. Then comes other options like the catalyst, which is extremely expensive costing around 40-45 MEUR.

Fortum’s mission is to engage customers and the society to drive the change towards a cleaner world and make the ongoing energy transformation sustainable. At Fortum eNext, we will continue to support Indian energy producers to adapt to changing operational and environmental requirements. We are fully committed to build smart and sustainable solutions optimal for Indian markets and regions.

At Fortum eNext, we will continue to support Indian energy producers to adapt to changing operational and environmental requirements.
Juha Suomi, Area Director, Asia, Fortum eNext