Efficient energy use
Our current energy supply still depends largely on fossil fuel sources. Measures to use these sources as efficiently and cleanly as possible help to reduce the emission of harmful substances such as carbon dioxide (CO2). For this reason, alongside energy saving and renewable energy generation, Nuon also gives a high priority to ' clean fossil'`.
Examples of our 'clean fossil' activities are:
- Biomass co-burning in coal-fired stations.
- Technical improvements in power stations
- Use of residual heat for district heating
- Cold water for cooling buildings
- Coal gasification technology
- CO2 capture and storage
Biomass co-burning in coal-fired stations
At the Willem Alexander power station biomass is being co-burned in a coal-fired station.
Technical improvements in power stations
Technical improvements in power stations to produce the same amount of energy with less fossil fuels. Read more about the latest developments in this field.
Residual heat for district heating
A lot of heat is released from industrial processes and the production of electricity. In some cases unutilised industrial heat can be put to excellent use in heating homes and other buildings. This avoids the use of natural gas.
It is our ambition to connect all large-scale residual heat production to large-scale construction and urban renewal projects. This demands substantial investments that require sufficient scale to make commercial sense. This can only be achieved by entering into long-term partnerships with metropolitan regions.
Cold water for cooling buildings
In 2006 the world's first-ever cooling station became a reality. A first for the city of Amsterdam and for Nuon. Cold water from the city's Nieuwe Meer Lake is used to cool the air in the buildings in the 'Zuidas' business district. An entire area is now supplied with cooling from a single central facility. Compared to the conventional separate production of heating and cooling, the amount of required energy can be reduced by 60%.
It is our ambition to build cooling stations at more locations in the coming years, thus connecting sources of renewable cooling to urban offices and industrial locations.
Coal gasification technology
Coal gasification technology is the technique whereby fuels (coal and biomass) are gasified into a synthetic gas (syngas), after which the gas is cleaned and then converted in a steam and gas turbine (STAG) into electricity. There are several advantages to coal gasification over traditional coal-fired power stations:
- It increases our flexibility (more choice, less dependence) in the markets for coal, gas and biomass;
- It is highly suitable for biomass co-gasification;
- It considerably reduces the emission of mercury, particulate matter and acid substances such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides;
- It offers better opportunities for CO2 capture at relatively low costs.
Large-scale biomass co-gasification takes place at the Willem-Alexander Power Station at Buggenum (Limburg) a world first leading to an annual CO2 reduction of 300,000 tons, equivalent to the emissions from 200,000 passenger cars per year. [link to Buggenum]. We are also aiming to apply this technology in the new power station at Nuon Magnum.
From CO2 capture to storage
The application of CO2 capture and storage is particularly interesting at power stations and major CO2 emitters such as industrial plants. CO2 capture and storage is a process that breaks down into three important steps:
1. Capture of CO2
2. Transportation of CO2
3. Storage of CO2
This is precisely the time to anticipate this technology. It is important to design the new power stations that will provide us with energy in the coming decades in such a way that they can capture CO2 in the near future. During the development and construction of power stations, specific investment and design decisions must be made to enable CO2 capture.