Coal-fired thermal plants in the South weigh on carbon emissions – 10/19/2023 – Environment

Coal-fired thermal plants were the highlights in terms of greenhouse gas emissions last year, followed by natural gas-powered projects. The annual balance of the sector’s effects on pollution is contained in the 3rd Inventory of Atmospheric Emissions in Thermoelectric Power Plants, released this Thursday (19), by Iema (Institute of Energy and Environment).

The survey evaluated the 72 fossil thermoelectric plants connected to the SIN (National Interconnected System). The research, however, does not yet include the equivalent of 13% of thermal generation with fossil sources, which is in isolated systems, in a state in the North of the country, but Iema is working to include this share in future assessments.

With abundant water in the hydroelectric reservoirs, and the expansion of solar and wind generation projects, a large part of the thermoelectric plants were shut down, which led to a reduction in the generation of electrical energy based on plants using fossil fuels. The set of inventoried plants totaled 31.1 TWh (Terawatt-hour) in 2022, compared to 95.7 TWh, that is, a drop of 67%.

The total Brazilian fossil thermoelectric generation once again represented the same 10% of generation in the electrical matrix as 20 years ago.

“However, it was an atypical moment, as the production of electrical energy depends on climatic conditions, which vary greatly”, explains Felipe Barcellos e Silva, who coordinated the survey. “The signal in the Brazilian system is for an increase in thermal generation from fossil sources for electrical energy.”

The survey, for example, identifies the increase in the use of thermal plants using fossil fuels over the years, mainly from the 2010s onwards. This generation category went from 30.6 TWh in 2000 to 91.8 TWh in 2020, a expansion of 200%), which led to a 113% increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the Brazilian electricity sector.

Almost all of the CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emitted last year, 98% of the total, came from half of the fossil plants. However, the survey identified that a group of ten plants weighed more, being responsible for 63% of greenhouse gases — half of them use mineral coal and the other five, natural gas.

The four largest broadcasters are in the South region. The leader was Candiota 3, in the Rio Grande do Sul municipality of Candiota, which alone was responsible for 12.1% of broadcasts.

Next came the Santa Catarina thermal plants, Jorge Lacerda 4, with 8.9% of emissions and Jorge Lacerda 3, with 7.1%, both in the municipality of Capivari de Baixo. Next, Pampa Sul, also in Candiota, in Rio Grande do Sul, with 6.7% of the release of greenhouse gases.

Another coal plant came in tenth place in this ranking. This is Jorge Lacerda 1 and 2, located in Capivari de Baixo, which was responsible for 3.9% of releases.

There are coal projects in the Northeast, but they only underwent testing in 2022, and this concentration of coal plants in operation in municipalities in the South region meant that this subsystem was the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2022, with 40% of the total, despite producing only 24% of the electricity.

This source was responsible for generating 6.9 TWh, 22% of the fossil base and 5 percentage points more than in 2021.

The use of coal had another negative effect on emissions. Increased the average rate of greenhouse gas release. The proportional increase in the use of coal-fired thermoelectric plants contributed to the 9% increase in the average emission rate inventoried by the study, which went from 582 tCO2e per GWh (gigawatt-hour) in 2021 to 637 tCO2e per GWh last year

The expansion of the use of mineral coal in Brazil in electricity production goes against the grain of the world, which has banned this alternative, but occurs with the support of the National Congress, the researchers highlight. Law 14,299/2022, for example, extended the deadline for granting subsidies to coal and the useful life of plants that use this mineral until 2040.

Gas plants have another geography. Although the projects are spread across the country, there is a concentration in the North region.

In the ranking of the top ten, Termorio, a steam cogeneration project located in Duque de Caxias, in Rio de Janeiro, occupies fifth place with 6.5% of emissions. Next, Mauá 3, which emitted 5.1% of the total, is in Manaus, Amazonas. The Maranhão 3 plant, in turn, is located in Santo Antônio dos Lopes, in Maranhão, and emitted 4.3% of the total.

Another plant that has cogeneration with gas and steam, Termobahia, in São Francisco do Conde, in Bahia, emitted 4% of the total, the same volume as the Parnaíba 1 and Parnaíba 5 complex, in Santo Antônio dos Lopes, in Maranhão. They are, respectively, in eighth and ninth place.

Researcher Raíssa Gomes, from the team that produced the survey, highlights that, despite the abundant supply of renewable energy, new gas plants entered the system last year. This is part of the PSC (Simplified Contracting Procedure) projects, an auction created on an emergency basis as an attempt to respond to the 2021 water crisis.

The weight of gas in the electricity matrix rose from 72% to 75% from 2021 to 2022.

New projects can still be added, if the Eletrobras Privatization Law is strictly complied with, which provides for the mandatory construction of 8 GW (gigawatts) of gas thermal plants in different parts of Brazil.

“The industry, especially in sectors such as chemicals and fertilizers, saw the generation of electrical energy as a way of leveraging the use of gas, and this is being a government policy”, says André Luis Ferreira, executive director of Iema .

“But increasing the use of gas in the electricity sector is a setback, not only for environmental reasons, but also in terms of costs for the consumer.”

This year’s Iema inventory also includes the ranking of issuance by companies.

Of the total, 75% of emissions last year were the responsibility of four companies: the state-owned Petrobras (22%), the recently privatized Eletrobras (21%), Fram Capital Energy (20%), an investment fund, and the Eneva (11%), which has relevant operations in the generation, exploration and production of oil and natural gas.

In the ranking of the top ten, there are also Engie (7%), which has businesses in the generation, sale and transmission of electrical energy from different sources, but also operates in the transport of gas, Ceiba Energy (3%), the French EDP, Électricité de France (3%), J&F Investimentos (2%), best known for being the controlling company of JBS, the largest meat company in the world, the bank BTG (2%) and Termo Norte Energia (2%), which has ventures with different fossil fuels.

This group of companies were responsible for 94% of 2022 emissions, which is equivalent to more than 18 million tons of greenhouse gases emitted.

“The reduction of these fossil thermal plants in the generation of electrical energy involves a set of initiatives, such as re-discussing the model for using renewable sources, the role of batteries and hydrogen in electricity generation, but mainly by not contracting in thermal thermal projects with fossil fuels”, says Ferreira.