Features. . Benchmarking: What's that scrubber going to cost?

The latest benchmarking study by the EUCG examines the technology and costs of 49 flue gas desulfurization systems currently under design or construction by 12 of the nation's largest utilities. Although the study's detailed results are proprietary to EUCG members that participated in it, POWER was given access to the top-level findings. To get details at the plant/unit level, you'll have to join the EUCG and participate in the study, which is ongoing.

By George W. Sharp, EUCG Inc., Fossil Productivity Committee

Even if you've never been in the market for a scrubber, you don't have to face management and vendors as a greenhorn. Thanks to the EUCG, you can enter meetings with valuable information about other utilities' costs--and how much your costs could rise between a scrubber's planning and operational phases.

The EUCG is an association of electric utility professionals that provides a forum in which utilities can improve their O'M practices and construction performance. Now in its 24th year, the EUCG holds technical conferences and workshops twice yearly for the purpose of information exchange. The organization (formerly known as the Electric Utility Cost Group) is organized into committees and working groups by interest area, such as fossil, nuclear, and hydroelectric plants; transmission and distribution; financial management; and, the latest--IT.

One of the EUCG's key activities is developing process and market benchmarks, unit reliability strategies, and best-practice applications to foster performance and cost excellence within the utility industry and competitive markets. The EUCG's Fossil Productivity Committee (FPC) has 32 electric utility members reporting operating data on more than 300 individual coal-fired units. That number represents more than 30% of operating coal plants in the U.S., so the data can be considered representative of the entire U.S. fleet.

FGD benchmarks

The need for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) began, as so many industry changes do, with the feds. The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), issued in early 2005, targeted 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia for significant SO₂ and NO_x reductions. When fully implemented, the EPA notes that SO₂ emissions will be reduced by 70% from 2003 levels. In fact, EPA projections show SO₂ will be reduced by 45% by 2010. Early estimates by the EPA (2004) placed the...