So far the Kyoto Protocol Conference of Parties (COP13/MOP3), the thirteenth in the series, has evoked much emotion and primarily many interpretations, so it would be a good idea to look back and summarize the facts. Most importantly an agreement was reached stating that in the future – in 2009 at the COP15 in Copenhagen – we will come to an agreement, and that is no small thing.

The Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic spurns the demagogic approach to resolving the problem of climatic changes. It lobbied for Czech interests at the public hearing in the Senate of the Czech Republic on 21st November 2007. Jaroslav Míl, the President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (SP ČR), spoke in front of the senators with a contribution on the subject of “What should the Czech Republic and European Union’s future policies be in the sphere of global climate changes?” A record of the entire discussion and the contributions of other participants of the 13th public hearing from the day of 21st November 2007 can be found on the Senate’s Internet web page at www.senat.cz (under the section Senate Activities – Public Hearings, Petitions – Stenographic reports).

Last year at the beginning of June a complex renovation of the Tušimice Power Plant (ETU II) was fully commenced. The project will last until 2010 and will cost approximately CZK 25 billion. The complex renovation will be carried out in the present premises of the power plant. It is not the construction of a new power plant in a green field, but the modernization of the current technology. Within the whole Czech Republic it will be a very important project which has no comparison here.

ALSTOM Power, s.r.o., ALSTOM Group signed a contract for work on “Modernisation of the Heating Plant in Žilina – Works to Improve the Environment” with Žilinská teplárenská in the 4th quarter 2007. The work on the project started at the end of the last year. The project is part of the modernisation of Žilinská teplárenská and its main goal is flue gas desulphurisation on the K1, K2 and K5 a) and b) boilers and meeting the respective EC directives on air quality. The design, production, supply, assembly and commissioning of the NID desulphurisation technology are concerned.

The complex renovation of the Tušimice II Power Plant also includes the lifting and assembly of the intermediate superheater and economizer coil units on K23, unit C, and K24, unit D, boilers. With regard to the height of approximately 42 m above the surrounding terrain to which the top part of the back draught coils had to be elevated, the procedure of lifting by steps, the maximum load weight of approximately 100 t and restricted access, the combination of hydraulic strand units performing lifting from an assembly platform at the height of +10.8 m and a crane truck were used. The crane truck ensured transportation to the platform. Assembly work was carried out by Hutní montáže, a. s., and the lifting by the hydraulic system was ensured by VSL Systémy (CZ), s. r. o.

This contribution contains a summary of the technical possibilities and economic aspects of equipment utilizing the capture of CO₂ technology in power plants based on fossil fuels and an overview of the possibilities of the further handling of CO₂. Particular attention is paid to methods and technology of CO₂ capture from the flue gas of powder steam generators.

said Petr Brandejs from the State Offi ce for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) in an interview for the All For Power magazine.

What modernization projects were implemented at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in recent years?
Many modernization measures and modifi cations have been implemented at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant since the beginning of its operation, the objectives of which are to increase nuclear safety and reliability of operation, and this together with organizational changes, decreases environmental impacts. These modernization projects are based on international experience, recommendations, requirements on nuclear safety supervision, and the operator’s experience. These modernization projects included the reinforcement of the high-energy piping carrying steam and feed water to and from the machine room. This modernization, besides increasing seismic resistance, was important for decreasing the risk of damage to the high-energy piping via the dynamic effects of various articles if any of the piping ruptures, thus increasing the resistance of the system that conducts heat from the nuclear equipment.

said in an interview Václav Matys, Director of the Building and Reconditioning of Units Department at domestic ČEZ.
Can you tell us about the technology that was installed in order to increase the effi ciency of the combustion process and that led to a decrease in energy intensiveness?
In 1992–1998 ČEZ implemented an extensive environmental programme, within the scope of which we implemented a total of 28 desulphurization units and 7 fl uidized-bed steam generators. This programme included the reconstruction of the electrostatic separators of fl y ash, modernization of the power plant’s control systems, the utilization of frequency converters for motors with high inputs, and the utilization of new generation burners.
The implementation of this programme enabled us to lower emissions of SO₂ by 92 %, NO_x by 50 % (the installation of new generation of burners), CO by 77 %, and decrease energy intensiveness (e.g. the utilization of frequency converters for motors with high inputs).

Projects in line with EU Commission’s goal to reduce carbon footprint
The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company and energy development company ContourGlobal, are launching a major industrial emissions reduction initiative in Europe with plans to install a total of 15 CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants at bottling facilities in twelve countries. The first phase of the project will utilize 19 GE Energy Jenbacher gase engines with a total output of 58 MW. This supports the European Commission’s goal to adopt more stringent environmental targets for member countries to help Europe achieve a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020. Each bottling plant utilizing the Jenbacher engines will be able to eliminate more than 40% of their annual carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

Coal is gradually returning as a reliable and cheap source of energy. The remaining world sources of coal are becoming more attractive not only for private companies, but also for the USA and the governments of European and Asian countries. The reason is the overall demand for energy, which has reached unprecedented high rates so far. While the technologies of pure coal burning improve, the fact remains that the coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels. It is expected that completely clean-burning fuel (owing to the technology of capturing and storing CO₂, for example) will not be economically feasible sooner than in 20-years time. Environmentalist also state that, thanks to negative feeling of the society resulting from global warming, coal shall not be the answer to actual energy challenges.

Prague, Czech Republic – January 22, 2008 – Capping a year of record growth in 2007 for GE Energy’s wind business, the company’s agreement with Invenergy LLC of more than $1 billion marks one of the largest commitments for wind turbines to be delivered in a single year in the history of the global wind industry.

Cogeneration Plant to Provide Power and Heat to Bioethanol Factory. GE Energy will supply two containerized cogeneration power plants including its ecomagination - certified Jenbacher biogas engines that will be operating at an existing bioethanol plant in the city of Liszkowo, 250 kilometers northwest of Poland’s capital of Warsaw (Warszawa). The biogas cogeneration plant’s owner, Agrogaz , is eligible for Poland’s green certificates program, under which the country awards fixed feed-in tariffs for each MW-hour generated from a renewable energy source.

Nuclear power engineering holds an important place in the production and distribution of electricity in the Czech Republic. The technological diagram (pic. 1) of the power plant matches the latest and most modern world parameters. In this article we will focus on the description of technological sections and the welding of individual components.

said Jan Demjanovic, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Director of Severoceske doly (Chomutov) in an interview for the All for Power magazine.

The North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin is the most important brown coal deposit in the Czech Republic. In the past, for more than 150 years, it produced almost 80 % of this domestic energy-producing raw material and became the foundation for the fast development of electricity power engineering in Czech lands after World War II. It is capable of sustaining further development of brown coal mining for the next almost 50 years and eventually up to 120 years. However, mainly surface mining has stigmatized the territory of the Mostecká (a.k.a. the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin), which is located between the Ore Mountains and the Czech Central Mountains. The liquidation of villages and the relocation of railway tracks, watercourses, waterworks, and roads completely ruined the character of the basin in the districts of Chomutov, Most, Teplice, and Ústí nad Labem, particularly in the 20th century. However, for almost 60 years, an integral part of the mining process has been the systematic and methodical recultivation and revitalization, with the subsequent “resocialization”, of the land impacted by mining activities. The newly created landscape gradually creates conditions for the development of a new, and up to now untraditional, economic branch in this region of north western Bohemia, tourism.

Electricity, for the life of an overwhelming majority of mankind, is indispensable. On the basis of it, or at least with its assistance, all of our activities take place, and today we already consider it a matter of course.