Arbejdsrapport fra Miljøstyrelsen, 56/2003 – Emissioner af SO2 og NOx fra kraftværker

Emissions of SO2 and NOx from Power Plants

Summary

The European Parliament and the European Council have issued the directive on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants (LCP directive, 2001/80/EC of 23 October 2001). The objective of the directive is to control and reduce emissions of SO₂ and NO_X to keep depositions and concentrations below the critical loads and levels. The directive was implemented in Denmark in 2002 and replaces Statutory Order no. 689 of 15 October 1990 about reduction of SO₂, NO_X and particulate matter from large combustion plants. The purpose of the project is to evaluate whether the emission limit values laid down by the LCP directive will - to the same extent as the Statutory Order from the Danish Energy Agency on emission quota for power plants - ensure the fulfilment of Denmark's obligations in relation to the EU directive on national emission ceilings and the similar obligations in the UNECE Gothenburg Protocol. The emission ceilings for Denmark in 2010 are 55,000 tons SO₂ and 127,000 tons NO_X.

The project includes the power plants regulated by the quota law, which means all plants larger than 25 MWe. The emissions are calculated for three production scenarios: 1) the national supply scenario where the produced electricity equals the electricity used in Denmark, 2) the low price scenario with little export of electricity in the ELSAM area and little import in the Energi E2 area, and 3) the high price scenario with large export of electricity. The emissions are estimated from emission factors based on the LCP directive and emission factors based on a valuation of the actual concentration of SO₂ and NO_X in the flue gas.

If the emissions from the power plants just comply with the emission limit values given in the directive the total emissions of both SO₂ and NO_X are higher than the quota for all three scenarios. If the emissions are assumed to depend on the actual technological status in 2010 at individual plants, e.g. installed desulphurisation or de-NO_X facilities, the emissions are significantly lower - especially for the SO₂ emissions where the emissions for all three scenarios are below the quota of 20,000 tons. The calculated NO_X emission for the high price scenario is above the quota of 20,000 tons, but does not exceed 35,000 tons.