British electrical power generator National Power plc, London, has applied to the U.K. Department of Trade & Industry to convert its oil fired Pembroke power station to burn emulsified hydrocarbon fuels.
Orimulsion boiler fuel and residue oils from a nearby refinery are seen as a low cost fuel supply that could give a new lease of life to a much underused plant.
The 2 million kw maximum capacity plant is said to have been running at only a small fraction of potential output because of relatively high fuel oil prices.
One source said the plant has not been running at full capacity since the coal miners' strike of 1984, and only one of four 500,000 kw generators is likely to be in operation starting in April.
National Power asked DTI for permission to run the plant on Orimulsion, Venezuela's bitumen/water emulsion fuel, and is considering use of emulsified residue oils from the Pembroke refinery operated by Texaco Ltd.
A National Power official said the power plant could burn 5-6 million metric tons/year of emulsified hydrocarbon fuels if it returned to full capacity operation.
An estimated "several hundreds of millions of pounds" would be required for installation of flue gas desulfurization equipment to run the proposed fuels in line with pollution regulations.
However, the fact that Orimulsion is priced in comparison with internationally traded coal, the most stable fuel in prices terms, is thought to make the project viable.
The National Power official said the plan is for Orimulsion to make up most of the plant's fuel.
National Power hopes to secure DTI approval for the project in midyear, which would enable placement of construction contracts early in 1996. The company expects conversion to take 4 years to complete.
Biter Europe Ltd., ultimately owned by Petroleos de Venezuela SA, said it is negotiating to supply National Power 4 million metric tons/year of Orimulsion to supply the Pembroke power plant.
The application by National Power is seen as another step toward European acceptance of Orimulsion for power generation.
A Biter spokesman said trials of the fuel at Kalundborg, Denmark, are about to begin, in what is termed a key European contract (OGJ, Nov. 21, 1994, p. 37).
The National Power official said two more oil fired stations, of similar generating capacity to Pembroke and both running well below full output, may be studied for conversion to emulsified hydrocarbon fuels.
They are the Littlebrook plant on the Thames estuary and the Fawley plant alongside Southampton water. Any plans to burn Orimulsion and residual fuels at those sites were said to depend on success of the Pembroke project.
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