The role of repowering in America's power generation future

Technical Report · Tue Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5500302

Today's coal-burning technology will have difficulty responding to the rapidly changing requirements being placed on power plants. To gain consumer approval, new power options must be able to meet stringent siting and environmental demands without sacrificing productivity. To counter potential shortfalls in generating capacity, they must be capable of being constructed rapidly, preferably in modular fashion, with a high degree of performance efficiency over a range of unit sizes. Repowering offers a very attractive alternative to dealing with these market challenges. Repowering consists of modifying aging coal-fired electric power generating units with a new generation of environmentally-clean, highly efficient coal technologies. Repowering existing power plants in this manner could lead to long-term, sustained emission reductions, higher energy efficiencies, and more economical electricity for consumers. If the repowering design includes a combined cycle configuration, the potential exists to satisfy much of the Nation's foreseeable demand for new capacity without undertaking a new and expensive wave of ''grassroots'' power plant construction. This report analyzes the potential benefits of repowering with advanced, innovative clean coal technologies. It approaches the repowering option from the perspective of utility decisionmaking, examining the potential for substantial environmental benefits along with the possible capacity additions that could result. 8 refs., 22 figs.

• Research Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Washington, DC
• OSTI ID: 5500302
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE-0096; ON: DE88004505
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010800 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Waste Management
014000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Combustion
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200102 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Power Cycles
200106 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Economics
200202 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Waste Management-- Noxious Gas & Particulate Emissions
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
294002 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Petroleum
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AGING
AIR POLLUTION
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CLEAN AIR ACT
CLEANING
COAL
COAL PREPARATION
COMBINED CYCLES
COMBUSTORS
COST
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS
FOSSIL FUELS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUELS
LAWS
MATERIALS
MODIFICATIONS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
POLLUTION LAWS
POWER DEMAND
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RETROFITTING
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES