Reducing Mercury Emissions from Coal Combustion in the Energy Sector
The project (2021-2023) is focused on knowledge sharing and capacity building in Southeast Asia, targeting emissions from the coal combustion sector. Expertise and knowledge will be provided to allow stakeholders in the region to identify regionally appropriate means to reduce mercury emissions. The project has two geographical project areas – India and Indonesia.
Objectives of the project
- Continue to develop and disseminate guidance material on how to minimize mercury releases by optimizing multi-pollutant control techniques, including improved energy efficiency, to reduce mercury emissions;
- Collate and disseminate information to improve the accuracy of future emissions inventories for the sector, including technical information on power plants and control technologies used, analysis of mercury concentrations in coals used by power plants and measurements of mercury in stack flue gases;
- Implement studies to demonstrate the efficiency of multi-pollutant, other pollutant control techniques or mercury-specific control techniques in capturing mercury and build local/national capacity on these issues, also with the aim of transferring information and lessons learnt to facilities and governments in other countries.
Collected results will be used to inform the global negotiations on mercury. The current project work is funded by the US Department of State (USDOS) and the Global Environment Fund (GEF).
Target countries
Current USDOS projects are focused on India and Indonesia. The GEF project has a wider remit, over emerging economies, especially in regions such as Southeast Asia.
Project activity 1
The main project of work funded by the USDOS focuses on knowledge sharing and capacity building in Southeast Asia, targeting emissions from the coal combustion sector. Expertise and knowledge are being provided to allow stakeholders in the region to identify regionally appropriate means to reduce mercury emissions. For more information, please see here.
India: The project is focused on knowledge sharing and capacity building, in 3 pillars of work:
- Pillar 1 - emissions monitoring
- Pillar 2 - emission reduction
- Pillar 3 - flexibility and efficiency of plant operation
Twelve free training workshops are being delivered across India between 2021 and 2023.
Indonesia: The project aims to evaluate mercury emissions from the coal sector, ranking plants to identify those most likely to benefit from mercury reduction strategies and projects, and capacity building to allow stakeholders to determine the most cost-effective means of reducing total mercury emissions from the coal combustion sector. The ultimate goal of the project is to deliver a catalogue of mercury control options specifically suited to be cost-effective across the Indonesian coal fleet.
Project activity 2
Progress (October 2022)
India: The ICSC, under funding from the USDOS, has delivered 4 capacity building workshops relating to emission reduction in India. Events in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, and New Delhi have delivered free training to over 400 stakeholders representing regulators, ministries, utilities, and industry in the region. Some delegates have received hands-on training on how to measure mercury and other emissions accurately from sources such as coal-fired utilities. Other delegates are now qualified to use the Flexibility Toolkit to monitor and optimise coal-fired power plant performance to reduce emissions of all pollutants Four more workshops on these subjects will take place in November 2022. The final four workshops, focussing on emission control strategies for mercury specific to Indian coals, will take place in early 2023.
Indonesia: The ICSC has prepared a unit-by-unit mercury emission inventory for the entire Indonesian coal fleet and based on this, is working with Indonesian ministries and utilities to develop a cost-effective strategy for mercury emission reduction, and Minamata compliance, across the coal utility sector.
Assessment of existing and future emissions reduction from the coal sector toward the implementation of the Minamata and Stockholm Conventions
In April 2021, the GEF CEO approved a medium-scale UNEP project entitled: “Assessment of existing and future emissions reduction from the coal sector toward the implementation of the Minamata and Stockholm Conventions” to be executed by the Partnership area leads, Macquarie University and the ICSC, with expertise and input from the Partnership area. Uniquely this new project addresses the implementation of the Minamata and Stockholm Conventions, and also is aligned with the commitments countries make under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This project commenced in October 2021 and consists of two components:
- A comprehensive coal sectoral analysis, which will review scientific data on mercury/POPs/GHGs from the coal sector and estimate future emissions in the light of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement commitments and targets.
- The synthesis of strategies, including policy guidance, for the coal sector’s emissions reduction contribution to the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions.
The project will engage extensively with international stakeholders, including UNEP, the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership, the International Centre for Sustainable Carbon, Parties and Secretariats to the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, and relevant civil society groups.
Inception workshop (March 2022)
The initiation workshop included background on the GEF project, including information on the global use of coal in the energy mix, listing commitments made by countries under the UN Conventions, and challenges faced by countries to mitigate emissions from their coal sector. The two major project outcomes, namely a (1) Comprehensive coal sectoral analysis, and (2) Strategies for the coal sector’s emissions reduction contribution to Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, were discussed along with the project workplan that described the activities for reaching these outcomes throughout the project.
Following the progress that was made since the discussions during the project inception workshop, an inventory of country-specific reports and peer-reviewed journal publications (post 2017) is ongoing, including preliminary country-specific reports under the current GEF project for China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Detailed discussions with key stakeholder groups from each country setting is progressing to tailor the country-specific reports and to establish the sharing of information. We would appreciate any interested parties to get in contact with the project team to expand on stakeholder engagement during the project timeframe. The project progress results and outcomes were presented at the virtual ICMGP 2022 conference during the 24th and 29th of July 2022.
Project outputs
The following outputs for the project are in development and will be reported on throughout the remainder of the project reporting period:
- Dissemination of scientific data on mercury, persistent organic pollutants, and greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants to relevant stakeholders.
- emissions reduction scenarios from coal-fired power plants based on country-specific socio-economic challenges and energy development plans.
- Synthesise results from completed and/or ongoing coal-fired power plant projects on emissions reduction potential.
- Generate selection criteria for future projects based on the highest impact potential of available best available technologies and best environmental practices (BAT/BEP) in selected countries.
- Provide policy guidance for Parties to the UN Conventions on decision-making processes towards emission controls in the coal sector.
- Produce a detailed report and communication material on the project findings and disseminated through a dedicated platform.
