The Current Trends in Conventional Power Plant Technology on Two Continents From the Perspective of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Contractor and Original Equipment Manufacturer

In terms of CO₂ emissions, the year 2030 has been addressed as a very crucial deadline for both European Union (EU) and the U.S. Whereas the U.S. Clean Power Plan proposes the reduction of national CO₂ emissions from the existing power stations by 30% with respect to 2005, the EU aims at cutback by 40% from their levels in 1990. Due to the restricted emission goals dictated by the European and U.S. energy policies, both energy markets witness currently drastic changes. Whereas the U.S. wants to shift away from coal, the EU shifts away from gas due to high natural gas prices in Europe while drastically increasing the feed-ins from renewable energy sources (RES). In some of the European countries constantly growing installation of renewable energy plants is superseding natural gas-fired power plants and thus causing the electrical grid stabilization to be overtaken by coal fired power stations. On the contrary, the U.S. market due to increasing extraction of shale gas and low natural gas prices puts the gas power plants in favor and poses increasing pressure on closing some coal fired plants. A solution that uses the potential of the existing site and reduces overall emissions is converting from coal into gas-fired power plants, so-called fuel switch. Whereas for the U.S. market the later solution is relevant, in the vast majority of EU Member States the focus is on increasing the flexibility of coal fired power plants. The challenges and technical solutions developed and applied according to the demands of the market in both EU and U.S. are addressed in this paper. Both currently applied technologies and technologies under development are shortly presented.