Viewpoint: New year critical for coal sector innovation
The new year could prove pivotal for efforts to find new markets for US coal mine and to promote technological advances in electricity generation.
Efforts to expand thermal coal's use beyond typical power generation gained traction in 2018, with mixed success. While Congress failed to pass most legislation aimed at supporting carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and other advanced coal generation incentives, the US Energy Department (DOE) plowed ahead with its own initiatives to fund smaller projects. And for the time since early this decade, a power plant developer indicated interest in building a plant to convert coal into other fuel.
Credit rating agencies expect the industry to continue its secular decline. But President Donald Trump has made helping the coal industry a cornerstone of his energy strategy. So far, his efforts – centered primarily on rolling back regulations promulgated under predecessor Barack Obama - have mostly slowed the pace of power plant retirements.
Emerging markets and advancing technology could offset some of the pressure from the additional 27GW of coal-fired power plant capacity that is expected to go off line in the US over the next five years. But it will not be a complete cure.
The IEA expects coal consumption in North America and Europe to continue to shrink, although demand in Asia could increase modestly. Even in China "the only sector in which we see significant growth is coal conversion, i.e. coal-to-liquids, coal-to-gas and coal-to-chemicals," IEA said in its Coal 2018: Analysis and Forecasts to 2023. Coal-to-liquids plant capacity in China is projected to rise to 23mn t/y in 2023 from 7.1mn t/y in 2017, the report said.
In the US, Riverview Energy has proposed building a coal-to-diesel plant in Indiana. A local commission in November approved its plan to convert 1.6mn short tons/yr (1.45mn metric tonnes/yr) into 4.8mn bl/yr of diesel and 2.5mn bl/yr of naptha.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers this year passed a measure expanding the use of the 45Q tax credit for CCUS projects used in enhanced oil recovery.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) plans in the new Congress to reintroduce the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (Use It) bill, which would authorize $50mn for research and development into CCUS next year. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the bill in May, but the measure did not make it to the Senate floor for a vote.
Other measures, including legislation introduced by senator Todd Young (R-Indiana) in November to expand eligibility for the Energy Department's loan guarantee program to include high-efficiency, low-emission coal-fired units, could also be reintroduced. Young could not be reached for comment on his plans for the bill.
DOE in December issued a request for proposals under its new Coal FIRST (flexible, innovative, resilient, small and transformative) program. The goal of the program is to fund modernized designs for integrating existing technology into "first of a kind" coal-fired generating systems.
DOE also is funding research into extracting rare earth elements from coal as part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory research into alternative uses for coal. The agency is expected to fund both projects in January.
In Virginia, the GO Virginia Region One Council, a bipartisan economic-development program, approved recommendations in October for funding market research into alternative uses for coal, including examining the commercial viability of converting coal to graphene.
And US coal producer Ramaco Resources received approval to begin construction on a research park in Wyoming dedicated to developing cost-effective technologies to create consumer products from coal.
"There is an alternative use for thermal coal that makes more sense than selling it to a utility to burn," Ramaco chief executive Randall Atkins said in an interview in November. "The first thing we are building is the research campus, some of which will be devoted to 3D printing and graphene production." The company expected to complete construction on the building in the first half of 2019.
Industry and the government had made efforts at the start of this decade to develop advanced coal-fired power plants and other alternatives for thermal coal use. But those initiatives largely petered out amid project delays, escalating costs and difficulties attaining private investment and community support.
The revived interest in pursuing projects could face similar hurdles. The upcoming year could set the framework for any advances in US coal use.
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Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA
Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA
Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — The phasedown of Asian coal-powered plants requires stricter emissions disclosures, which will in turn reduce investment, said speakers at an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) conference this week. One of the biggest short-term challenges for coal-fired abatement is that the coal price has halved from about $240/t to about $130/t right now, said energy finance analyst at IEEFA, Ghee Peh, on 3 September at the IEEFA Energy Finance 2024conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The greater shift towards renewable energy means that demand for coal-fired power is falling, but coal plants are still profitable and coal prices will eventually rebound as new supply is limited. "So what we can do as a larger group is to continue to pressure the financing side," said Peh. This can be done by encouraging greater emissions disclosure, which will then influence investors' decisions, he added. "The good news is that in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong are moving towards disclosures by next year on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, so investors will know how much a company emits, and that will contribute to a very decisive investor response," said Peh, adding that local regulators should put the onus on companies to disclose their emissions as soon as possible. Coal-mine methane emissions Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) and coal mining is one of the biggest sources of methane emissions. Just over 40mn t of coal-mine methane (CMM) was released into the atmosphere in 2022, according to IEA data, representing more than 10pc of total methane emissions from human activity. The EU approved a regulation on 27 May that requires the measuring, reporting and verifying of methane emissions from coal, oil and fossil gas exploration and production, distribution and underground storage, including LNG. It also establishes equivalence of methane monitoring, reporting and verification measures from 1 January 2027, and EU importers by mid-2030 have to demonstrate that the methane intensity of the production of crude, natural gas and coal imported to the EU is below maximum methane intensity values. It is therefore important to address CMM as this affects countries in Asia, said independent global energy think tank Ember's CMM programme director Eleanor Whittle. At the moment, none of the 10 biggest exporting countries to the EU meet its standards. But CMM emissions are rarely ever reported or even properly measured, she added, and measuring CMM could even double companies' reported emissions. "We did research that found that in Australia, a shift to company-led emissions reporting — but without verification — meant that overnight, hundreds of thousands [of tonnes] of carbon dioxide equivalent in the form of methane were erased, but without any mitigation or change in coal mining," said Whittle. This shows that even without improvements in the framework methane measurement and verification frameworks, policy shifts like these can still have a profound impact on short-term warming, she said. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Dartbrook mine to restart in ‘coming weeks’
Australia's Dartbrook mine to restart in ‘coming weeks’
Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — Australian mining firm Australian Pacific Coal (AQC) is planning to restart its Dartbrook thermal coal mine soon after multiple attempts to do so over the past five years. The underground mine produced and transported coal to the surface on 4 September, the first time since it was placed into care and maintenance in 2006, AQC said on 5 September. The Dartbrook mine is located in the Hunter valley coal mining region in New South Wales. It could potentially produce 5mn t/yr of thermal coal . AQC had installed and tested a 4km conveyor system designed to transport coal produced from the Kayuga seam to the surface via the Hunter Tunnel. The coal will then be processed at a handling and preparation plant. "Commissioning is under way and the team on the ground is working hard to bring the mine safely into commercial production in the coming weeks," said AQC managing director and chief executive Ayten Saridas. Dartbrook will initially only produce unwashed thermal coal for sale to domestic or export customers when it resumes operations, the company said. Once the coal handling and preparation plant is refurbished early next year, the mine will produce washed and graded coal with high-calorific values (CV) for export. It may also produce semi-soft or pulverised coal injection coal. Dartbrook was placed into care and maintenance by its previous owner, UK-South African mining firm Anglo American, in 2006 when high-CV NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal was as low as $50/t fob Newcastle. AQC had hoped to restart the mine in 2019 but was delayed by opposition from local communities and a fraught approvals process. Australian high-CV coal prices have rallied recently on concerns regarding natural gas supplies arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Argus last assessed the price of NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal at $143.92/t fob Newcastle on 30 August. By Jinhe Tan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US Coast guard restricts lower Mississippi drafts
US Coast guard restricts lower Mississippi drafts
Houston, 3 September (Argus) — The US Coast Guard (USGC) set new towing and draft restrictions for the lower Mississippi River on 31 August, as water levels continue to decline. For southbound traffic from Tiptonville, Tennessee, to near Greenville, Mississippi, barge drafts must remain under 10.5ft and no more than six barges wide, according to the USGC. From Greenville to Tunica, Mississippi, southbound barge drafts must be under 10ft. Boats can tow six barges wide, but no more than four of those barges can be loaded. Northbound movement from Tunica to Tiptonville must keep drafts below 10ft and cannot be more than six barges wide and no more than four barges loaded. These new restrictions arrived five days after the previous draft restriction issued by the USGC. Memphis, Tennessee, water levels fell below the low water threshold of -5ft over the holiday weekend, at nearly -6ft as of 3 September according to the National Weather Service (NWS). As many as six other points on the lower Mississippi River are at their low water thresholds with others expected to reach their thresholds this week. Low water has already spurred an increase in southbound tariff values, which will likely be exacerbated as US crop harvests progress. The next 48hrs in the Memphis area is forecast to receive no rain, while the southern half of Mississippi and most of Louisiana may see 0.5-2 inches of rainfall, according to NWS. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan's Taketoyo biomass co-fired plant delayed further
Japan's Taketoyo biomass co-fired plant delayed further
Tokyo, 3 September (Argus) — The 1.1GW coal and biomass co-fired Taketoyo No.5 generation unit, managed by Japan's largest power producer Jera, faces further delays in coming back on line after a fire in January. Jera today announced safety measures to prevent the same kind of incident that led to the fire but failed to comment on when the unit is expected to restart operations. It has been off line following the fire, linked to exploding dust from wood pellets, according to the company's investigation. The company aims to resume coal and wood pellets co-firing "as soon as possible", although it has yet to start repairs. Jera also plans to resume burning wood pellets imported from the US and Vietnam. The company new safety measures include slowing down the speed of wood pellet conveyors to reduce friction, partially installing air pressure conveying facilities dedicated to wood pellets and equipping explosion suppressor systems for injecting fire extinguishing agents. Slowing down the wood pellet conveyors can affect the co-firing rate with coal and biomass, although the electricity output will not change, the company said. The unit started commercial operations in August 2022 and burned 17pc of wood pellets with coal. The impact of the closure of the unit because of the incident is estimated to cost more than ¥10bn ($68.5mn) for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 31 March, with around half of it being replacement fuel costs that are mainly LNG purchases. By Takeshi Maeda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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