CFB Refurbishment Opportunities in Russia

The paper aims to present the current status of the coal-fired power sector in Russia, the prospects for renovation activities based on the fluidised bed technology and the existing experience on CFB refurbishment projects. The renovation needs of the power sector, among the retrofitting, repowering and reconstruction options, were estimated through a multi-criteria analysis. The most attractive system to renovate a power plant between the Supercritical Combustion (SC) and the Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) technology was evaluated. Furthermore, the boiler replacement with a CFB unit in the Shatura power plant was studied and its replication potential in the Russian coal-fired power plant park was examined. Nowadays, the installed capacity of coal-fired power plants in the Russian Federation is 29.3 GW_e, while they account for about 19% of the total electricity generation in the area. The low efficiency and especially the advanced age are the determinant factors for renovation applications at the Russian units. Even in the more conservative modernisation scenario, over 30% of the thermoelectric units have to be repowered or reconstructed. CFB is the most promising technology for such modernisation projects, when the renovation potential is high. The main characteristics including high volatile yield, low ash content and a large share of light fractions in the as-fired milled peat were taken into account during the CFB boiler calculations in the Shatura power plant. Upgrading the existing coal-fired power plant equipment with CFB technology, which is known to be environmental friendly and efficient, will open new perspectives to the operating power plants in Russia.