Thermal Power Plants as Batteries – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade Working on Innovative Energy Solution

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is developing solutions for the reconstruction of the existing coal-powered thermal power plants to the end of accumulating energy, combined with solar power plants and wind generators. With the implementation of these solutions and an investment of EUR 70 million, on a daily level, around 600 MWh of electrical energy could be accumulated on a daily level, the eKapija portal learns.

This is just one of the 20 projects supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia within the Green Program of Cooperation of Science and Economy. The total budget of the approved projects, whose mission is to reduce environmental pollution, amounts to EUR 3.5 million. In the next two years, 215 researchers from 37 scientific research organizations will develop solutions which will contribute to a reduction of air, water and land pollution.

TPP-RSU: Reconstruction of coal-powered thermal power plants

Within the project “Improvement of the Flexibility of the Operations of Decarbonized Thermal Power Plants with the Accumulation of Heat to the End of Increasing the Share of Renewable Energy Sources” (TPP-RSU), possibilities are researched and solutions are developed for the reconstruction of the existing coal-powered thermal power plants to the end of increasing their flexibility and the accumulation of energy in combination with solar power plants and wind generators, whose production power depends on the weather conditions and therefore varies greatly.

As the head of the project, Dr. Vladimir D. Stevanovic, reveals for the eKapija portal, it is estimated that, with the implementation of the solution which is being developed within the TPP-RSU project, around 600 MWh of electrical energy with an investment of around EUR 70 million can be accumulated on a daily level in Serbia.

The technical-technological solutions which are developed within the project, whose realization is a responsibility of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade, are based on an innovative application of steam accumulators within the steam blocks in the thermal power plants. They enable a considerable accumulation of energy in the periods when the amount of renewable sources, combined with other production capacities, exceeds the needs of the consumers, that is, the use of accumulated energy for an increase of the power of thermal power plants in the periods when the amount of renewable energy sources is lower, reveals the head of the project.

– That way, considerable quantities of electrical energy can be accumulated on a daily level directly, whereby the costs of the accumulation are comparable to the costs of the accumulation of what are nowadays standard solutions with reversible hydro power plants, and are considerably lower than the costs of accumulation with the help of electrical-chemical batteries or through the production of hydrogen – says Dr. Vladimir D. Stevanovic.

He estimates that, within one thermal power plant with a nominal power of 600 MW, up to 100 MWh of electrical energy can be accumulated, which would be available over a 24-hour period. Investments are estimated at EUR 100 per kWh, which, as our interviewee notes, is at the same level or even lower than the investment costs of reversible power plants (whose costs depend considerably on the location), and far lower than the investment costs of electrical-chemical batteries, whose investment costs exceed several hundred or even EUR 1,000 per MWh (depending on the type, the available capacity and other characteristics of the batteries).

– At the level of the power system of Serbia, it is estimated that, with the implementation of the solution which is developed within the TPP-RSU project, around 600 MWh of electrical energy can be accumulated on a daily level, with an investment of around EUR 70 million – our interviewee says.

In addition to the abovesaid, within the TPP-RSU project, the possibilities of the decarbonization of thermal power plants through the co-combustion of coal with “green” fuels, such as biomass, biogas, hydrogen or ammonia, as well as the implementation of technologies for the extraction of carbon-dioxide from the smoke gases and its storage, will be looked into.

– The degree of the development of said technologies in the world, the investment costs and the effects of their implementation compared to the shutting down of the existing coal-powered thermal power plants and the implementation of new advanced technologies such as new power plants running on “green” fuels, the implementation of the hydrogen cycle, the considerable increase in renewable energy sources with accumulation facilities, the introduction of nuclear energy etc. will be looked into. During the realization of the project, the necessary investment costs for the decarbonization of coal-powered thermal power plants, whether partial, through the co-combustion of coal with “green” fuels, or full, through the implementation of the technologies for the extraction and storage of carbon-dioxide, will be estimated – says Dr. Vladimir D. Stevanovic.

Shutting down thermal power plants overnight is not possible

Although the Green Agenda is pushing for the shutting down of coal-powered thermal power plants, our interviewee says that shutting them down overnight and shifting entirely to renewable energy sources, in combination with or without nuclear energy, is not possible, either in Serbia or in other more developed countries in the world which use coal to a considerable extent for the production of electrical energy.

– Such a scenario would entail relying on a considerable import of electrical energy, if it would even be available for import, and that would in turn entail a lack of energy security. In the transition period, which will last for several decades, through reconstruction, revitalization and modernizations of the existing thermal power plants running on coal, their efficiency and flexibility should be increased and energy accumulation systems should be installed in them, which, together with the available flexibility and accumulation of reversible and accumulation hydro power plants, would enable a considerable increase in the share of solar power plants and wind generators in the production of electric energy, with a potential development of the hydrogen cycle and the implementation of nuclear energy – our interviewee points out.

According to him, a significant decarbonization of thermal power plants can be achieved through a partial replacement of coal with other “green” fuels and the installation of a system for the extraction of carbon-dioxide from the smoke gas and its storage.

– The optimal solution for the decarbonization of the electrical energy system of Serbia should be sought in one such energy mix. Some elements of such strategic considerations will also be provided by the results of the TPP-RSU project – concludes Dr. Vladimir D. Stevanovic.

M. Dedic

Mašinski fakultet Beograd

Fond za nauku Republike Srbije

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Belgrade

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade

Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia

Vladimir Stevanovic

Green Program of Cooperation of Science and Economy

TPP RSU

reconstruction of thermal power plants

decarbonization

power system of Serbia

green fuels

nuclear energy

green energy