The British High Court increased pressure on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) over coal pit closures by ruling late in December that a DTI decision to close 31 coal pits was illegal.
In the first week of February the DTI expects to complete its coal review, which will decide the future of the threatened pits and whether there is a worthwhile market for U.K. coal.
British gas producers could lose out if electrical power generators are made to take more domestic coal. And the review could reverse prospects for Orimulsion, which fuels a small part of Britain's power industry.
Orimulsion is a bitumen-in-water emulsion made from heavy Venezuelan crude. It is sold by BP Bitor Ltd., a joint venture between British Petroleum plc and Venezuela's Petroleos de Venezuela.
HEAVY FLAK
Bitor has found that being small is no protection from heavy flak. British Coal Corp.'s submission to DTI's coal review called for burning of Orimulsion to be limited to power stations covered by current consents.
Bitor has two contracts in place with power generator Powergen plc totaling 1.3 million metric tons/year of coal equivalent to supply power stations at Ince, Cheshire, and Richborough, Kent.
Britain's power generation sector as a whole uses about 100 million metric tons/year of coal equivalent, so Bitor is not a major market player. Bitor said it does not see its future role as a dominant supplier.
However, British Coal told DTI consumption of Orimulsion is relatively modest but could be significantly higher by 1997-98 if power generators decide to convert other large oil-fired power stations to burn it.
POLLUTION
Burning Orimulsion has undoubted pollution problems associated with emissions of sulfur compounds and heavy metals, British Coal said. Flue gas desulfurization, it said, should be made compulsory for all stations converted to burn Orimulsion in the future, in accordance with the European Commissions' directive on emissions.
Bitor maintains that 6-8 million metric tons/year of coal with higher sulfur emissions than Orimulsion are burned in Britain.
If it is desired to reduce sulfur emissions from fossil fuel burning plants to a level that needs desulfurization equipment, Bitor said, this should apply equally to coal and oil as well as Orimulsion fired plants.
"It is absurd to suggest different environmental standards for different fuels. To do so would constitute unacceptable discrimination," Bitor said.
Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
