Large combustion plants operating in Europe

In the period 2004-2015, large combustion plant (LCP) reporting was covered by Directive 2001/80/EC, while in 2016 LCPs were subject to reporting in accordance with Directive 2010/75/EU. The scope of this latter directive is slightly wider and thus covers plants that were not subject to reporting before 2015. This partly explains the increase observed in the number of LCPs between 2015 and 2017.

LCPs release emissions to air, water and land. The aim of EU policy on LCPs is to reduce such emissions — including waste — to protect the environment. One focus of current EU policy is to reduce the emissions of acidifying pollutants, particulate matter and ozone precursors from LCPs.

Directive 2010/75/EU (Industrial Emission Directive, IED) entered fully into force in 2016 and replaced, with its Chapter III, Directive 2001/80/EC (the LCP Directive). The IED sets minimum requirements for emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and dust (PM₁₀) from plants under its scope (those with greater than 50 MWth of installed capacity). The IED also sets requirements beyond these three pollutants for other aspects of LCP functioning, which must be met in order to obtain an integrated permit.

It is important to note that the change of legal regime, in 2016, hampers the comparability of data from the period 2004-2015 with data from 2016 onwards, as the definition of an LCP is slightly different in the IED from in the LCP Directive, as a result of the so-called aggregation rules of the IED.

LCPs vary significantly in size. Four capacity classes have been established for this indicator:

• small LCPs, with a thermal input between 50 and 100 MWth
• medium-sized LCPs, with a thermal input between 101 and 300 MWth
• large LCPs, with a thermal input between 301 and 500 MWth
• very large LCPs, with a thermal input greater than 500 MWth.

• Number of large combustion plants and capacity class trends

  In 2017, 3 664 LCPs were reported on under the scope of the IED. As shown in Fig. 1, this is a 27 % increase since 2004. Part of this increase can be explained by the slightly wider scope of reporting from 2016 as a result of the implementation of the IED.

  However, this increase occurred mostly between 2004 and 2010 and, between 2012 and 2015, the number of plants decreased. The increase between 2015 and 2016 is likely to be a result of this difference in scope, although a detailed analysis to confirm this had not been done at the time of writing.  

  In 2017, small (50-100 MWth) and medium-sized (100-300 MWth) LCPs dominated in Europe, accounting for 70 % of the total number of LCPs. Large LCPs (300-500 MWth) were relatively less common in the EU while very large LCPs (greater than 500 MWth) represented nearly 21 % of total capacity. This reflects the various uses of LCPs in Europe, where different sizes are more suitable for certain activities. For example, smaller plants are better suited to district heating or the co-generation of heat and power, while large plants offer economies of scale in the power sector.

  Installed thermal capacity

  Very large LCPs clearly dominate in terms of total installed capacity, accounting for 65 % of total European capacity in 2017 (832 GWth). Total capacity peaked in 2012 and has declined since then but remained 4 % higher in 2017 than in 2004. In the context of the EU's 2050 long-term strategy, a systemic transition is required to shift Europe towards a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy [1] . While the trends in installed capacity start to show changes in that direction, a recent study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) (EEA, 2018) highlighted that a more fundamental restructuring of the power sector will, however, be needed to meet the EU's long-term decarbonisation goal [2].

  Reported fuel input use: overall quantity and trends for specific fuels

  Fuel input data offer interesting insights on (1) how much capacity is effectively used and (2) the proportions used of the various fuel types, which give rise to very different environmental concerns.

  In the first case, LCP fuel consumption varied between 2004 and 2017 (Fig. 3). Overall, fuel consumption decreased by 21 % between 2004 and 2017. The majority of this decrease occurred between 2010 and 2017 (during which time there was a decrease of 18 %) and can be attributed to decreases in the consumption of solid fuels (-27 % since 2010) and natural gas (-14 % since 2010) . This trend directly follows the dip in fuel input in 2009, which was most likely a result of the economic downturn. Biomass is the only type of fuel for which consumption steadily increased over the period 2004-2017.

  The proportions used of the various fuel types give rise to very different environmental concerns. Fossil fuels are a concern because of their contribution to climate change. Solid fuels, including coal and lignite, are considered the worst fuel option in terms of the impacts on climate change and air pollution. While natural gas is considered a 'cleaner option' (less SO₂ and dust emitted), there are still concerns from a climate change perspective. The mix of fuels has remained largely stable across the years. However, the overall trend seems to indicate that solid and liquid fuel use is decreasing more rapidly than for other fuel types. Still, in 2017, solid fuels accounted for 44 % of total fuel consumption, with the next largest contribution from natural gas (35 %). The amount of fossil fuels used in the sector decreased by around 25 % between 2004 and 2017, with the downward trend starting in 2009. This reflects the shift in Europe’s energy system from oil, coal and gas to renewable sources (EEA, 2018 [3]). Use of biomass as a fuel more than tripled between 2004 and 2017, but in 2017 still accounted for only 6 % of total fuel consumption. The use of liquid fuels decreased over this period by 70 %. Solid fuel consumption (for which coal represents 57 %) remained the largest contributor to total LCP fuel consumption between 2004 and 2017, despite a decrease of 38 % during the same period.

   

  [1] https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-6543_en.htm

  [2] EEA, 2018, 'Greening the power sector: benefits of an ambitious implementation of Europe’s environment and climate policies', EEA Briefing No 18/2018.

• [3] EEA, 2018, Renewable energy in Europe 2018: recent growth and knock-on effects, EEA Report No 20/2018.

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Trends in installed capacity

LCPs are not distributed evenly across Europe and a few countries dominate in terms of total fuel input and operating capacity. In 2017, four countries — Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland (in order of rank) — accounted for 50 % of total operating capacity (Fig. 4). In these four countries, the installed capacity is heavily dominated by the very large LCPs class. In Germany, for example, 73 % of total installed capacity is accounted for by very large LCPs (greater than 500 MWth). Nonetheless, in 2017 Germany had the highest operating capacity within three of the capacity classes in the EU-28: 14 % of the total for small LCPs (50-100 MWth), 18 % of the total for medium LCPs (101-300 MWth) and 23 % of the total for very large LCPs (greater than 500 MWth). Italy was responsible for 15 % of operating capacity for large LCPs (301-500 MWth). Estonia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus,  Latvia, and Malta (in order of rank) on the other hand each accounted for less than 1 % of total operating capacity.

Trends in fuel input

Germany, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom (in order of rank) accounted for 54 % of total fuel input (Fig. 5). In 2017, Germany accounted for the largest proportion of fuel input for solid fuels (26 % of the EU-28 total, followed by Poland with 23 %) and other gases (26 %). France accounted for the largest proportion of fuel input for liquid fuels input (17 % of the EU-28 total, followed by Germany with 15 %). The United Kingdom and Italy accounted for the largest proportions of natural gas input (20 % and 19 %, respectively, of the EU-28 total). Sweden and the United Kingdom accounted for the largest proportions of biomass input (21 % and 17 %, respectively, of the EU-28 total). In 2017, the reported quantity of biomass input was 1.8 times more than the reported quantity of liquid fuel input. Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia each accounted for less than 1 % of total fuel consumption.