Germany to re-start coal power plants

 

The German Green Party is now part of the new coalition government in Berlin. Die Grünen, during the Merkel government, made a big effort to shut down the coal plants due to their impact on climate crisis. Now that their party has become anti-Russian (and big supporters of Zelensky) they have insisted on Germany refusing any Russian natural gas or oil. Thus in order to provide power for the nation Die Grünen supports re-start of the German coal power plants. Below is a comment at one site I frequent that addresses the complications of re-starting coal plants after they have been shut down.

 

By Mr P 

They say that EU coal-thermal power stations will be re-started.

This is easier to say than to do.

Some C-TPS will, could, probably re-start in 90 days or so. These things are not Aunt Pearl’s old de-soto car.

And when they were shut-down, I expect, there was pilferage and theft… Some C-TPS will turn out to be un-restartable…for example, steam turbines are prone to sagging…so they’re supposed to be rotated more or less all the time with “turning gear”…an electric motor drive…if not they tend to sag and become dynamically useless scrap….and this can become permanent. Boilers are supposed to be left full to prevent oxidation…were they? Then there will be “frozen” pumps, rust, and maybe frost damage…stuck valves…cracked castings and pipes…and boilers have to be hydro-tested and re-certified….probably essential parts have been stolen, salvaged, and sold. Is the documentation on hand or is it lost?

The skilled people who used to know these plants? These people are gone like the breeze.

I judge that “re-start” may be 50% in 90 days, if they have a blank check and cut regulatory and engineering corners. After re-start? Expect unplanned events.

Steam plants last long time…and by the time a critical element is out of spec, the manufacturer is gone…

The men who cast the vital pump case, and their factory, are gone, dead. Mickey-mouse temporary repairs don’t last so long…and require experts…

The coal TPS is actually a pretty good machine…coal does not create water in combustion, so specific heat of stackgas is less, less corrosion, CO2 has good heat transfer to boiler tubes… I have been in coal plants that were so clean you could spend the day and not have to change clothes or shower before going to a party, or the bar. Others, however…

After the TPS restart project? All the same problems times 10 to restart a nuke, if it was shut down for a long time.

It would be nice if the EU simply said “sorry” and made nice with Ruskieman. Especially because they’ll do this at some point, why wait?