COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CLIMATE CHANGE-CURRENT STATE AND FUTURE

Coal-fired power plants emit large amounts of CO2, which constitutes one of the largest causes of global warming. Reducing CO2 emissions in the energy sector has become a top priority for national governments. On the other hand, fossil energy production is also affected by air and water temperatures. Local weather conditions affect the capacity of cooling towers and natural water bodies to transfer waste heat from steam condensers to the atmosphere. Without technology-based improvements in cooling system efficiency, the steam-cycle energy efficiency would decrease. This again leads to increased consumption of fossil fuels and thus increasing emissions of CO2. Increasing in global energy demand aggravates this issue. In this paper, the overview of currently actual methods for CO2 reduction is given. The main objective, however, is to find a cost-effective solution for increasing the energy efficiency of existing plants in Serbia. The overview of cooling water temperature increase impact on the energy efficiency in Serbian power plants is given, based on meteorological data and numerical simulation. This study is done for both, power plants with once-through and with closed cycle cooling system. Obtained results could be used as useful guidelines in design of the new power plants and also in improving existing power plants performances