NEWS RELEASE JANUARY 2013
$18 Billion Will be Spent by U.S. Companies to Meet the New MATS Limits
Three hundred boilers representing 25 percent of the installed U.S. coal-fired generators will spend an average of $60 million per boiler to meet the new MATS limits. Each of these projects is identified in Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System published by the McIlvaine Company.
The new Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) has been promulgated for U.S. coal-fired power plants. Older plants have up to four years to meet compliance requirements for mercury, hydrogen chloride and particulate metals. The challenge is that these rules are just a portion of what the utilities call the “FrankenMACT.” They are referring to a combination of source and ambient rules which are also requiring compliance during the next four years.
Some utilities can escape significant capital expenditures due to the fact that efficient particulate control and SO2 removal devices are in place. They can add bromine to the coal and rely on the scrubber to remove the mercury and the HCl, so the breakdown is:
|
Category |
No. of Boiler Units |
|
Boilers which can presently meet MACT without major capital expense |
500 |
|
Boilers which cannot meet MACT without major capital expense |
450 |
|
Sub total |
950 |
|
Boilers which can meet Franken MACT without major capital expense |
100 |
|
Boilers which cannot meet Franken MACT without major capital expense |
850 |
|
Sub total |
950 |
|
Units which will retire |
50 |
|
Units which will used expedient MACT |
300 |
|
Units which will select long-term approach |
500 |
|
Units with no major expenditures |
100 |
|
Total |
950 |
Four hundred fifty units will have to make substantial capital investments to meet the MACT. However, owners of 150 units will decide to take the long-term approach and make even greater investments so that they can meet both MACT and FrankenMACT. The total investment in air pollution control in the next four years will be substantially higher than just the $18 billion spent by those power plants taking the expedient approach.
The broader market will be increased by the expedient approach. The reason is that those who take this approach will ultimately spend more than those who take the long-term approach. The biggest beneficiaries will be the lime companies.
The most popular expedient approach will be dry sorbent injection using lime. This will lead to $100 million per year purchases of lime more than would be purchased with a long-term approach.
For more information on: Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/component/content/article?id=72