Coal-fired power plants are increasing in the Middle East and its surrounding countries
Coal production in the Middle East and its neighboring countries is often lower than other sources of energy, accounting for less than 1% of primary energy production, especially compared with liquefied natural gas or petroleum-based fuels. Turkey is the largest user of coal-fired power in these countries, with a total installed capacity of about 18.5 GW, followed by Israel (4.9 GW) and Pakistan (2.5 GW). Both Turkey and Pakistan plan to increase more coal production capacity in the next ten years.
In addition, the UAE announced that six coal-fired units with a total installed capacity of 1.2 GW were expected to be put into operation in 2023 at a cost of about $3.4 billion. The project's sponsors include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and other domestic banks. The Tabas power station in Iran will cooperate with MAPNA group and China Shanghai Power Co.
Egypt announced in 2017 that it planned to invest $1.5 billion to build a 6,000 MW coal-fired power plant, which will become Egypt's first coal-fired power plant, and is expected to be completed in 2024.
Coal-fired power generation capacity in the Middle East and neighboring countries will increase by 41 GW over the next 10 years, according to projects already approved and pending approval. Since 2006, about 12 GW of coal-fired power plants have been installed in the region, and about 3 GW of coal-fired power plants are under construction.
Egypt, Oman, Iran, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates do not yet have coal-fired power, but they all plan to build coal-fired power in the near future. New coal-fired power plants are being built in the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Jordan, and Egypt and Oman have announced plans for new coal-fired power plants.
In the United Arab Emirates, the new coal-fired power generation capacity will come from the Hassan project in Dubai, with an installed capacity of 3.6 GW of ultra-supercritical units, of which 2.4 GW is currently under construction and is expected to be operational between 2020 and 2022. In addition, the UAE announced that six coal-fired units with a total installed capacity of 1.2 GW were expected to be put into operation in 2023 at a cost of about $3.4 billion.
The project's sponsors include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and other domestic banks.
According to the UAE's national energy strategy, its 2050 generation and emission reduction targets include about 11.5 GW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants. These coal-fired power plants must be compatible with carbon capture and sequestration technologies and adopt efficient technologies to reduce plant emissions. Ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants use boilers to heat coal to higher temperatures, increase steam pressure to improve efficiency, and reduce coal consumption and carbon emissions compared with other boiler technologies.
The Tabas power station in Iran, in cooperation with MAPNA Group and China's Shanghai Electric Power Company, will be built to provide 650 MW of generating capacity from two units. The $1 billion power plant, which starts construction in 2012, will be powered by locally mined coal. According to representatives of Imidou Mining, Iran's domestic coal production is expected to increase by more than 2 million tons a year, and improved coal mining and processing facilities will be operational by 2020. A Jordanian power plant with a capacity of 30MW built under an agreement between the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Al Manaseer Group will supply domestic cement plants, which will use imported coal from the United States, Russia and Africa, and is expected to start construction in July 2018.
Oman has announced a plan for a 1,200 MW coal-fired power plant and began accepting proposals for developer qualification in April.