The PGE Group is aware of its environmental impact - especially on air as a result of greenhouse gases and dust emissions. Therefore, it undertakes considerable investments and modernisations to reduce its emissions. Besides, due to changing regulations, among others on SO2 and NOx emissions, some additional activities are taken to adapt to the current and anticipated changes in emission requirements.
Therefore, the PGE Group invests in new power generation capacities and runs a comprehensive modernisation of the existing power units (flue gas desulphurisation installations and biomass co-firing installations are built; low-emission burners are installed; old electro filters are replaced with the new highly-efficient fabric filters, etc.). The PGE power plants are also equipped with automatic emission measuring systems. Their computer systems monitor emissions continuously as well as collect, analyse and archive all the necessary data. The environment protection services analyse the emission ratios and make sure that none of the emission limits are ever exceeded.
Greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2, are an inseparable element of the power generation process. The CO2 emission ratios at particular PGE Group installations may vary since they depend mainly on the fired fuel, the way the fuel is burnt and on the process efficiency. The high methane natural gas installations have the lowest emissions, whereas the highest emissions come from lignite fired power plants. Cogeneration of power and heat in combined heat and power plants reduces total emissions considerably. In such systems the production efficiency is much higher than in installations generating power and heat separately. Thanks to this, CO2 emissions are lower.
Therefore, one of the biggest investment projects performed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the construction of the carbon capture and storage demonstration plant at Bełchatów Power Plant (CCS Plant). PGE Elektrownia Bełchatów S.A. is carrying out preparatory works to build the CCS plant, which is to be integrated with the newly built 858 MW power unit. The plant will capture carbon dioxide coming from lignite burning in the new unit and then the compressed gas will be transported to selected underground storage places of particular geological structures. The basic aim of the CCS project is an analysis of possibilities for the reduction of CO2 emission ratios per unit of generated power in order to reduce CO2 emission and to decrease the costs resulting from buying CO2 allowances.
It is expected that an additional long-term benefit resulting from the project execution will be the creation both in Poland and all over Europe of new "green" jobs related to the production, construction and maintenance of CCS plants. PGE Elektrownia Bełchatów S.A. plans to commission its CCS plant in 2015. This CCS project has qualified with six other European CCS projects for the European Economic Plan for Recovery programme.