The Ministry of the Environment will have the refurbishment of the Prunéřov coal-fired power plant assessed by an independent international team

Press release: 01.02.2010

Today the Minister of the Environment, Jan Dusík, decided on the further procedure of the Ministry of the Environment in assessing the environmental impact of ČEZ’s project “Comprehensive Refurbishment of the Prunéřov II Power Plant 3 x 250 MWe”.

“After having thoroughly studied all the documents pertaining to the project, I resolved to also submit the project for independent international assessment. Indeed, the efficiency of power production that can be achieved at Prunéřov remains disputable and it is not clear whether the proposed technology corresponds to the parameters of the best available techniques (BAT). The international assessment will also evaluate whether the completed EIA process ensured due evaluation of the entire project. Yesterday I suggested this approach to the Prime Minister, who agreed,” notes Minister Dusík in relation to the decision.

“Through the international assessment, I would like to free the EIA process of all political and economic pressures. I believe that assessment by an independent international team will support the objectiveness of the entire process. I was led to this approach by several facts: in particular, the importance of the project in relation to the production of CO2 emissions and ambiguities in interpretation of the compulsory nature of BAT. Prunéřov is currently the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the Czech Republic and it is necessary to find the best possible solution,” continues Minister Dusík.

The Ministry of the Environment will announce the party that will carry out the independent international assessment and the timeframe of this exercise once the study has been commissioned and an agreement signed with the given party. In order to ensure absolute independency, the assessment will be commissioned directly by the Ministry, rather than by the developer.

The Ministry of the Environment has been assessing the project of “Comprehensive Refurbishment of the Prunéřov II Power Plant 3 x 250 MWe” since June 2008, when it received a notification from the developer (ČEZ, a.s.). The power plant would then be operated for a period of 25 years.

The developer proposed that the project be assessed within the EIA process in a single variant and did not present any other variant even on the basis of an additional request for a variant that would comply, in all its parameters, with the best available techniques (BAT). The investor substantiated the lack of other variants by their technical and economic unfeasibility. Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment continued to discuss the project in terms of the single presented variant. Now the process is in a stage pending the final opinion within environmental impact assessment.

In relation to the best available techniques, the proposed project is capable of complying with all the parameters, except for the installation’s efficiency, which has a direct impact on CO2 emissions. In this respect, the project proposes to increase the net efficiency, compared to the existing blocks, from 32.80 % to 39.06 %. According to the BAT methodology (as set out in EU’s reference documents – BREF), the net efficiency of such an installation should vary between 42 and 45 %. Compliance with BAT is assessed, in further stages of the authorization process, within issuing the “integrated permit”. In this respect, the project must be evaluated both in terms of comparison with the current state of affairs (i.e. the emission characteristics of the currently operated blocks of the power plant that are to be replaced) and in terms of conformity of its emission parameters with the emission limit values for the individual components of the environment and with BAT parameters. From the viewpoint of the Integrated Prevention Act, the project constitutes a new installation and, therefore, must be subject to BAT parameters for new installations.

Notes:

Efficiency of the technology of a coal-fired power plant – quantity of electricity produced during burning of coal. Net efficiency is the ratio of electricity produced at the output from the power plant to the energy contained in the fuel. Thus, this value reflects own consumption by the power plant required for the production of electricity. It holds that the higher is the efficiency, the lower are CO2 emissions, based on the same energy production.

BAT – best available techniques

Best available techniques (BAT) are defined as the most effective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operation which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, to reduce emissions and the impact on the environment. Techniques mean both the technology used and the way in which the installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned. Available techniques mean those developed on a scale which allows implementation in the relevant industrial sector, under economically and technically viable conditions, taking into consideration the costs and advantages, whether or not the techniques are used or produced in the Czech Republic. Best means most effective in achieving a high general level of protection of the environment as a whole.

BREF – reference documents on BAT drawn up by the European Commission in cooperation with the Member States and representatives of industry and non-governmental organizations

While BREF is not a directly binding document, it must be taken into consideration in authorizing selected installations. The legislation stipulates that emission limit values for selected installations are specified on the basis of BAT. BAT for the individual industrial sectors are described in BREF; nevertheless, it is also possible to use other sources or take into account the specific situation of the given installation which is being authorized.

BAT evaluation is currently most often used in assessment of industrial activities that are subject to an integrated permit. The assessment is based on information stated by the operator in respect of his, particularly end-of-pipe, technology and technological procedures in the application for an integrated permit and, furthermore, on European reference documents on the best available techniques (BREF). They are created within the activities of the national technical working groups by experts nominated by the individual Member States of the European Union, who meet, through their representatives, in the relevant working group organized by the Commission’s European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (EIPPCB) in Seville.

Integrated permit

The integrated permit process is regulated, at the European level, by Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control and, in the national legislation, by Act No. 76/2002 Coll., on integrated prevention. For selected installations with the most significant impacts on the environment, which are specified in Annex No. 1 to the Integrated Prevention Act – such as large industrial enterprises – the Act requires that they undergo the “integrated permit" process. This procedure integrates and, at the same time, replaces consents and statements issued pursuant to the individual "component laws" (e.g. Waste Act, Act on the Air, Water Act, Forest Act, Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection Act, Act on Protection of the Agricultural Land Fund, Veterinary Care Act, Public Health Protection Act, etc.).

The conditions for the operation of these installations are determined on the basis of BAT and, more specifically, the values (of emissions, efficiencies, etc.) attained by BAT. In the conclusion of the proceedings, the competent authority (permits are granted by the regional authorities) which holds the given proceedings either grants the permit or rejects the application. If it grants the permit, it simultaneously stipulates the binding conditions for the operation of the installation. A new operation must obtain an integrated permit before the construction permit is issued. Thus, the investor may apply for the permit at any time before that.

Order of proceedings to which a project is subject prior to its implementation:

conformity with the land-use plan (or a change in the land-use plan)

environmental impact assessment - EIA

special permits (e.g. exemptions from the Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection Act, water-law permits, etc. – always depending on the nature of the construction in question)

planning permit (planning permit proceedings)

integrated permit - IPPC

construction permit

occupancy permit (occupancy permit proceedings)

All BREF are available in the English original and Czech translation for free downloading at www.ippc.cz.

Further information on the subject of the integrated permit procedure and the specific permit proceedings are available on the website of the MoE at www.mzp.cz/ippc.

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