Richard Spaargaren, ESI Eurosilo, the Netherlands, outlines how fully enclosed coal storage enables future-proof and more sustainable performance of today’s coal fired power plants.
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ith an abundance of space at power plants built over 40 years ago, the handling and storage of coal was not considered a critical factor. Therefore, when ESI applied fully enclosed storage, originally designed for agri-bulk in the Netherlands, to large scale storage facilities for coal in the early 1980s, it was a revolutionary idea at the time. The early adapters of this system were looking for premium alternatives with high added value, such as the Salmisaari Power Plant in Helsinki, where the complete coal storage moved underground in four connected Eurosilos. Fast forward to 2021, and the world has changed dramatically. Although open stockyards as legacy systems are still common practice, the recent developments show a tipping point towards enclosed storage.
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