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Speech by Government Minister Dr Axel Horstmann on the theme ‘Modern power station technology: an important element in the energy policy of North Rhine-Westphalia’, as given to the VGB Power Station Conference 2003, Cologne, 19 March 2003

Forecasting global energy consumption is a bit like reading your tea leaves. The further off the target time, the greater the uncertainty! And the reasons for this are many and varied. They include factors such as

• economic growth,
• technical advances,
• socio-economical development in the third world
• and in the newly industrialising countries, political crises, climate trends and the national and international setting.

The problem becomes even greater when trying to assess the future composition of the energy portfolio:

• what market share will oil,
• gas and coal be taking up?
• And what will be the contribution of renewables like solar and wind power, hydro, biomass and geothermal energy?
• How will the fuel cell develop?
• Will nuclear fusion develop into a controllable and fundable technology?

Controlling the alternatives

Of course we cannot influence the size of the world’s fossil fuel reserves. These are finite and according to experts will run out in the following order: oil, gas and then coal. However, we certainly can control their life span and the way in which we develop alternative fuels. And we are already making technical advances in this area.

Energy efficiency

The development of renewable-energy technology benefits the environment because renewables-based energy is essentially superior to fossil-generated energy when it comes to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Moreover, increased use of renewable energy helps preserve our reserves of fossil fuels, whose life span is extended as a result. The development of technologies to improve the efficiency of fossil-fuel utilisation is also one way in which the world’s natural resources can be managed rationally and environmental emission levels reduced.

“Improving energy efficiency is the most effective, quickest and most profitable way to reduce environmental emissions. When measured against the progress that can be achieved by this means the short and medium-term contribution of renewables appears to be widely exaggerated.”

This quote does not come from me but from Professor Hennicke, who is President of the Wuppertal Institute. His report describes both the current situation and the prospects for the future, and in my view it reflects the true picture. Energy policy is now less and less to do with raw materials, wherein by providing fossil fuels and converting them into electricity, heat and transport fuels we can satisfy our demands for a high standard of living with all the comforts and ease of mobility that it entails. Energy policy is now increasingly to do with innovation and technology that is designed to reduce our dependence on energy imports, to create employment and at the same time to reduce environmental emissions. And for a region like North Rhine-Westphalia that has been particularly affected by structural change the fact that jobs can be created through the development and production of energy-relevant goods for future markets is not without its significance.

The value of coal.

Coal will remain a major source of energy for the foreseeable future. As a fossil fuel it has a life span that will outlast both oil and gas. What is more, it has something that makes it more reliable and more predictable than either oil or gas: for coal – and this naturally includes our own indigenous reserves – comes from geo-strategically secure regions of the world.

And, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is an advantage whose current relevance is brought home to us on a daily basis. The OECD states control more than 45% of the world’s oil deposits. Using coal for power generation therefore provides a measure of crisis protection and creates predictability. When combined with a technology strategy coal has the potential to be a sustainable energy source with increasing significance not only for generating heat and electricity but also – and I say this as NRW Transport Minister – as a future feedstock for manufacturing fuels.

Using our existing coal deposits as efficiently as possible means extracting them and using them with the best available technology. In Germany coal mining and coal processing have been developed to a technical standard that is unsurpassed anywhere in the world. Difficult geological conditions, the need for high levels of productivity and the rigorous safety standards and stringent environmental conditions that have to be met have made coal mining in Germany a cutting-edge technology. And we need to maintain this development in the years ahead.

Coal policy in NRW is often associated with state subsidies and with resisting modernisation by preserving traditional and outmoded structures. Let me be quite clear on this point: this in no way reflects the policy of the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia. This is not our intention at all. NRW coal policy in terms of its social, economic and ecological content is fully geared towards sustainability. It is precisely for this reason that it has a large element of innovation and technology. We see sustainability not merely in the context of coal utilisation, which is the subject of today’s conference. Sustainability, as already mentioned, starts at the point of extraction, is also of course very important in the context of coal utilisation and furthermore encompasses – at the end of the supply chain as it were – the restoration and recultivation measures that are undertaken by both the coal and lignite industries.

Last but not least, it also includes the use of mine gas that is extracted not just from working collieries but also from pits now abandoned. Mine gas, which is primarily composed of the greenhouse-gas methane – whose potential to damage the environment is twenty-three times greater than that of carbon dioxide – is now being used increasingly as an energy source in North Rhine-Westphalia. The technology required has been developed in NRW and is now attracting a great deal of interest, especially from eastern Europe and China.

Power station technology in the spotlight

The use of coal as a fuel is now central to our sustainability strategy: this essentially means coal-fired generation technology. This is set to have enormous industrial and environmental importance as we prepare to invest in German and European power plant during the second decade of this century. Here we are proceeding on the basis that a large proportion of the new capacity requirement will be met by coal-fired installations. Yet lignite too has been a significant source of energy supply, not just in NRW but in Germany as a whole and in the rest of Europe too. Two thirds of German lignite is extracted from the Rhine basin area. State-of-the-art methods are also used when generating electricity from lignite and this technology is still being developed and refined.

Technical progress in power station engineering

The world’s most modern lignite-fuelled power station is at Niederaussem in Bergheim. This plant was officially opened in September of last year in the presence of the Chancellor and the Minister -resident of North Rhine-Westphalia. This 950-megawatt plant – the so-called BoA lignite power station – features optimised engineering, which makes for efficiency rates of 43%. This is currently the world record. Conventional technology has never achieved more than 35.5%. Commissioning the new power plant system meant shutting down six outdated generating units. This means that 30% less lignite will henceforth be required to generate the same amount of electrical power. This represents a CO₂ saving of some 27%, or three million tonnes of CO₂ a year. At the same time emissions of dust, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide are cut by 30%.

And the next technological leap is already being planned: plant operator RWE-Rheinbraun intends to commission the next generating unit with ‘BoA plus’ in about four years time. The new system will pre-dry the lignite so as to boost efficiency to 50% with a further reduction in CO₂ emissions. Such is the technical progress under way in lignite-based generation. But power-plant builders in North Rhine-Westphalia are also skilled at planning and constructing coal-fired power stations with performance levels unrivalled anywhere in the world.

Efficiency rates at coal-fired installations also need to be further improved. The region’s manufacturers have now got together with NRW plant operators to launch an ambitious project: to design and build a reference coal-fired power station equipped with state-of-the-art technology that can achieve efficiency rates well in excess of 45%. The design concept for this new plant will be presented later in some detail.

The Government of North Rhine-Westphalia both welcomes and supports this venture. The intention is to make this ultramodern reference power station available to the power generating sector from 2008/2009. This would provide an opportunity to market this new power plant concept against a background of growing demand from Germany and Europe. Furthermore, it is predicted that there will be a wave of new coal-fired plant building in the USA, in the newly industrialising countries and, most of all, in China. A modern and reliable power station with tried and tested technology would have a great chance of becoming a best seller and this would not only create jobs but would also have extremely positive environmental benefits. With plant efficiency rates currently averaging 30% a power station capable of more than 45% efficiency would have the capacity to cut CO₂ emissions by at least 50%.

The next step

This is the first important step towards the coal-fired power station of the future with efficiency rates in excess of 50%. Reaching the 50% mark certainly means a huge technical leap, especially when it comes to developing new materials. However, under the coordination of VGB PowerTech a number of European manufacturers and plant operators have already taken up the challenge. This too will be reported-on later today. The ultimate objective is of course the zero-CO₂ coal fired power station. An international group of entrepreneurs is already working on this, including RAG Coal International. The international research framework required is being set up by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour under the COORETEC project (the route to the emission-free power station based on fossil fuels). And the NRW Government welcomes this development.

Given the expertise that NRW has in the design, construction and operation of power generating installations, and with an eye on the massive surge in global investment that is expected in this area in the next decade or so, it is both correct and indeed vital – for we are at present stranded in an investment gap that has to be bridged – to take this first step towards the development of the coal-fired reference power station I referred-to earlier.

The next stage of the process has already commenced at European level. Now it is important for the project to feature in the 6th and 7th Framework Research Programmes that Brussels has planned and will soon be implementing. And the Government of Europe’s most important energy region is fully behind this.

We have reached an agreement on plant modernisation with RWE/Rheinbraun that will promote lignite-fired power generation. This agreement is now being put into effect. I have already mentioned developments at Niederaussem.

I would very much like to see a similar agreement signed for coal-fired generation. Such a plant renewal programme would safeguard and strengthen the future of coal-fired generation in North Rhine-Westphalia, with its expertise in coal technology, coal research, power plant technology and plant operation. This expertise base also includes many areas with an extensive network of local and district heating systems that greatly enhance the overall efficiency of the power generating plant and in this way further underline coal’s potential as a sustainable and clean energy resource.

Increasing efficiency

I hope that I have succeeded in showing how energy policy is now perceived in NRW, that we attach great significance to coal, including at international level, and that by “increasing efficiency through technical progress” coal can have – and in my view will have – a tremendous future that will also embody rational resource management and environmental compatibility. I hope that this year’s conference is a great success, that delegates find the papers interesting and informative and that the side-talks are enjoyable for all. Good luck and best wishes!