Israel Electric Corp mulls using Adaro?s coal: Report

The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) tested electricity production using Adaro coal, which is considered environmentally friendly, this week, Globes online news reported Wednesday.

IEC?s Rutenberg plant in Ashkelon and Orot Rabin plant in Hadera will burn 162,000 tons of coal this week. Adaro coal, imported from Indonesia, has very low sulfur and ash content.

Adaro coal has 0.1% sulfur content, compared with an annual average of 0.62% in the coal used at the Rutenberg plant and 0.43% at the Orot Rabin plant. Its ash content is 1-2%, compared with annual averages of 8-10% in the coal used at the two plants.

IEC stresses that its testis aimed at examining the viability of using more environmentally friendly coal, in order to reduce its dependence on the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system to reduce sulfuric acid emissions. It is currently impossible to operate production units in the IEC?s power plants without the FGD system.

IEC says that using Adaro coal has a number of other advantages, including minimal use of soot blowers, a lighter load on coal dust dispersal systems, and easier transportation and grinding. (*)