Section C Ι Asset Optimisation & Environmental Protection

Thursday, 22 September 2016, 13:30-14:00h/C01

Implications of the new LCP-BREF/ BAT conclusions

Dr. Klaus-Dieter Tigges, Chairman of the Technical Committee, EPPSA a.i.s.b.l., Belgium

In order to safeguard human health and the environment, the European Union (EU) has adopted the Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (IED) to limit emissions of polluting substances from industrial installations, including power plants. Each EU Member State’s authorities must ensure that only power plants able to fulfil EU’s strictest emissions requirements are granted permits to operate. This is guaranteed by requiring existing and new power plants to apply emission levels defined in the Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions referred to in the Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs), at the latest four years after their publication.

Power plants above 50 MW thermal are covered in the dedicated ‘Large Combustion Plants’ (LCP) BREF, which defines emission levels to reach (referred to as the BAT Associated Emission Levels (BATAELs). In order to adapt to the binding nature of the BAT conclusions, ensure the highest level of environmental protection throughout Europe and reflect the latest technological progresses, the LCP BREF has gone through a comprehensive revision process that is now coming to an end with the upcoming adoption of its revised BAT conclusions.

These new limits pose challenges for the power sector and technological solutions are needed to fulfill the new BREF requirements.

This presentation will give an overview about the LCP BREF, BAT and BATAELs and sketch how BATAELs fit into the EU and national regulatory framework. It continues with the status on the LCP BREF revision and the preliminary outcome of this process. All EU member states and all power plants will have to comply with these new BATAELs and the implications for the power sector are significant: the tightening of some existing emission limits as well as BATAELs for new pollutants to be reached in the future require design modifications in many plants. The time frame for compliance and possible exemptions will be outlined before the presentation finishes with some technological solutions power plant manufacturers provide to meet the LCP BREF requirements.