The project "Retrofit of Almaty CHP-2 with mitigation of negative environmental impact" as part of which it is planned to transfer the main combined heat and power plant of the southern megalopolis from coal fuel to gas, has passed the next stage. Public hearings were held in Almaty today; the subject of hearings was the degree of impact and consequences of options for upgrading the plant on the environment.
The hearings were held as videoconference with the participation of representatives of the developers of the project’s feasibility study (FS) – “KazNIPIEnergoprom” JSC, the customer – “APP” JSC and the Green Economy Department of Almaty city.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a mandatory procedure set out in the requirements of the RK Environmental Code and other regulations.
Full project documentation can be found on the website of "APP" JSC at the link below:
http://www.ales.kz/ru/ustojchivoe-razvitie/153-ustojchivoe-razvitie-2/publichnye-slushaniya/1555-30-10-2020-goda-obshchestvennye-slushaniya-po-obsuzhdeniyu-s-zainteresovannoj-obshchestvennostyu-proekta-predvaritelnaya-otsenka-vozdejstviya-na-okruzhayushchuyu-sredu-k-teo-modernizatsiya-almatinskoj-tets-2-s-minimizatsiej-vozdejstviya-na-okruzhayushchuy
The event began at 11.00 and lasted an hour and a half. Below are some of the key messages from the Hearings.
- CHP-2 is the largest urban heat source, which provides heat supply to 64% of the population and 36% of corporate entities. As at the end of 2019, the installed capacity of CHP-2 is 510 MW, and the heat capacity is 1 Gcal/h. The plant is equipped with eight power boilers. Non-design fuel - Ekibastuz coal - is used as the main one. The annual consumption of coal is about 2,5 mln. tons.
- The difficult environmental situation in the city is associated with annual emissions into the atmosphere - over 123 thous.tons of harmful substances, the main share of which falls on transport: more than 500 thous. city cars and about 200 thous. more from other cities, as well as emissions from CHPP2. The level of existing background pollution of the city is described by an increased content of nitrogen dioxide practically throughout the entire territory of the city, except for Alatau region, as well as a high content of suspended particles in the lower part of the city, in the Zhetysu and Turksib regions.
- The influence of CHP-2 through the volume of gross emissions into the city's atmosphere is, according to various estimates, from 13 to 27%. The zone of influence of the plant’s emissions under unfavorable weather conditions with regard to different substances is circa 15-17 km.
- The retrofit of CHP-2 aims to address the main task of the feasibility study - minimizing the impact on the environment, reducing emissions of harmful substances through the use of natural gas or up-to-date gas cleaning plants when firing coal, which ensure emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere at the level of EU requirements.
- Based on the results of the Pre-EIA and the economic assessment of the options, an option providing for the transfer of existing CHP-2 to gas is recommended for implementation. The maximum environmental effect is achieved at this option - a 5.5-fold reduction in emissions compared to 2019. At the same time, it is assumed that emissions of sulfur dioxide and suspended particulate matters, typical for coal combustion, will be completely eliminated, the spatial scale of the impact and its intensity, and the risk to public health will reduce.
- Tariffs for heat supplied to consumers are expected to grow at the transfer to gas. This is because of substantially high cost of gas fuel, which exceeds the cost of Ekibastuz coal.
- According to the “Concept for the transition of the Republic of Kazakhstan to a “green economy”, 2013, existing coal plants are transferred to gas subject to the presence of available infrastructure, gas volumes and economic feasibility.
The feasibility study is currently nearing completion. At the next stage, it is planned to conduct a State independent expert review, including an environmental and sanitary-epidemiologic examination.