The goal of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) signed into law almost a year ago is to reduce NO
x emissions by 60%, relative to 2003 levels, across 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia by 2015. Though SCR systems worth more than $4 billion are expected to be purchased worldwide next year, in the U.S. more than 40 GW of capacity in CAIR-affected states are expected to be equipped with the technology by 2010.
This increased level of SCR installation activity comes on the heels of the 1995 NOx SIP (State Implementation Plan) Call Rule, which motivated the installation of almost 85 GW of SCR installations at central station steam plants over the past decade. Many utilities will have to place orders this year to comply with the NOx Phase I in-service deadline of 2009. Full implementation of CAIR will occur in 2015. One of the challenges facing utilities affected by CAIR and actively analyzing their cap-and-trade options is to understand the capital costs involved in retrofitting an SCR system.
Survey results
The EUCG, an association of 24 electric utilities representing 302 individual coal-fired units, is a forum through which the utilities can enhance their O&M and construction practices to improve their operational and cost performance.
One vehicle used by the EUCG is member surveys. One recently completed survey focused on SCR system installation costs and the project and design attributes that contribute to them. Specifically, it identified the costs of construction labor; equipment; materials; and project management, engineering, and construction management (PMEC). The survey addressed 11 specific scope/design unit attributes such as the type of ammonia system used, the NOx-removal efficiency design basis of the system, and SCR-related plant upgrades (such as economizer, air heater, and fans) on a $/kW basis.
Responses to the survey yielded scope, cost, and design information on 72 individual units totaling 41 GW (representing 39% of installed SCR systems in the U.S. by MW at the time of the study) owned by eight large utilities from SIP Call states located in the East and Midwest. The sample also reflected the distribution of installations in the U.S., so the survey results can be considered a valid top-level view of system costs.
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