EDF’s major fossil-fired projects around the world

The fossil-fired fleet accounts for 25% of the electricity generated by EDF Group. The Group is investing in upgrading its existing power plants and developing new-generation plants. Bouchain, Fuzhou, Charbon 2035 and Vaires-sur-Marne are four major fossil-fired projects that serve to illustrate EDF’s widely respected expertise in the technology.

Bouchain (France), a world first

At the Bouchain site in northern France, EDF is working in partnership with turbine manufacturer General Electric (GE) on an innovative combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) project. Equipped with GE’s FlexEfficiency50 technology, the combustion turbine offers the flexibility and efficiency required to further reduce CO₂ emissions from the level achieved by a conventional CCGT power plant.

Fuzhou (China), EDF’s first high-efficiency coal-fired power plant

In the south-eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi, the Group is taking part in the construction of a high-efficiency coal-fired power plant with two 1,000 MW units. EDF and the power generator China Datang Corporation (CDT) are the two partners that have formed Datang International Fuzhou Power Generation Company Ltd (FPC), a joint company that will build and operate the power plant.

Fuzhou, which is set to begin operating in 2016, will be the first high-efficiency coal-fired power plant to be operated by EDF. This exemplary project uses state-of-the-art technology that guarantees 43% efficiency (compared with 35% for a conventional coal-fired power plant). The technology achieves substantial reductions in atmospheric emissions:

• 800 g/kWh CO₂ emissions compared with 900 g/kWh CO₂ for a conventional coal-fired power plant
• 100 mg/Nm³ nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions compared with, respectively, 720 mg/Nm³ NOx and 1,300 mg/Nm³ SOx for a conventional coal-fired power plant without flue gas treatment

Charbon 2035 (France): improving the performance of power plants while lengthening their life span

Building on its expertise in managing very large-scale projects, EDF has undertaken a broad renovation and upgrade programme at its three most recent coal-fired units (600 MW in Le Havre and 2x 600 MW in Cordemais). This is the “Charbon 2035” (coal 2035) project, which will extend the life of the facilities until 2035 and improve their technical, economic and environmental performance.

Construction of a central control room for the combustion turbines

In Vaires-sur-Marne, EDF has built a control room from which it can remotely and autonomously control the entire French combustion turbine fleet. Spread across six generation sites (four in the Greater Paris area, two in Brittany), the 13 turbines have a total of 1,850 MW installed power capacity and account for some 100 hours of generation a year.
Until recently the combustion turbines were managed from two sites (Vitry-sur-Seine and Cordemais), but since April 2015 they have been run from a remote control room installed at the CETAC operation centre in Vaires-sur-Marne. This centre, unique in France, compensates for the closure of the Vitry-sur-Seine power plant in April 2015.