Now Germany is threatened with the garbage dilemma

Germany's waste incineration plants (MVA) are threatened with a standstill due to the current energy crisis. There is enough rubbish and oil and gas for heating and firing the ovens is not the most urgent issue due to the status of the systems as critical infrastructure. However, a shortage of ammonia, which is needed for the filters for flue gas cleaning in the garbage works, is currently developing into a problem.

Ammonia is a chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen and is typically one of the most produced chemicals in the world. In Germany and Europe, however, energy-intensive production has recently been significantly reduced - because of the high gas price.

According to the Norwegian industry giant Yara, Europe-wide capacity utilization was just 35 percent at the end of August. Especially since SKW Piesteritz in Saxony-Anhalt recently shut down several systems.

The direct consequence is now delivery failures at the waste incineration plants. “Many plant operators are currently only receiving short-term commitments. In the past, you could plan orders for ammonia-based reducing agents such as ammonia water or urea solution up to a year in advance, but manufacturers and suppliers now often only guarantee them from week to week,” says Carsten Spohn, Managing Director of the Interest Group for Thermal Waste Treatment Plants in Germany ( ITAD), versus WELT.

“But if the reducing agents are no longer available, then we have a problem in Germany. Because we urgently need these substances for denitrification of the exhaust gases in order to be able to comply with the legal limit values ​​for flue gas treatment."

The systems would continue to run without denitrification, in which nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are converted into the harmless substances nitrogen and water.

This also distinguishes this case from the substance AdBlue, which is produced in a similar way and is also difficult to obtain, the exhaust gas cleaner for diesel engines in cars and trucks, for example. Because newer vehicles can no longer be started without AdBlue.

But despite the theoretical possibility, no plant operator will make use of it. "Then the emissions at the chimney can quickly exceed the permissible nitrogen oxide limit by a factor of two," says Spohn.

A violation of the strict requirements of the so-called 17th regulation for the implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchV) is punishable by law.

"So the site managers of the incineration plants will shut down the boilers immediately if the limit value is exceeded," announced a spokesman for EEW Energy from Waste, the company with the most waste incineration plants in Germany.

Special permits from the authorities are therefore necessary. But unlike coal-fired power plants, for example, they have not existed so far - although time is pressing, as the example of EEW shows.

"On average across the 15 plants of the EEW Group in Germany, the maximum amount of ammonia that can be stored is between eight and 15 days," says the spokesman. So if deliveries fail, this buffer would be used up quickly. And the responsible authorities are also aware of this, according to ITAD.

"We have been warning politicians and authorities for a long time that an emergency could arise," says Spohn. “So the problem has been addressed and is known. The weighing processes are now under way at the federal government and in the individual federal states, which would ultimately have to order the continued operation of the systems if the limit values ​​cannot be met.”

Spohn is "cautiously optimistic" that politicians will still react in an emergency and continue to allow the plants to be operated with a special permit in order to ensure safe disposal. Because then it's about nothing else.

"Politicians are faced with weighing up whether the garbage will remain in Germany or whether they will temporarily allow more emissions," summarizes Peter Kurth, President of the Federal Association of German Waste Management, Water and Recycling Management (BDE). He demands an advance resolution from the approval authorities and is stunned by their hesitant attitude.

“Politics are currently ducking away. This is neither fair nor appropriate to the situation. We have to avoid a disposal emergency and create legal certainty for the plant operators.”

Especially since waste exports are not an issue. "Anyone who thinks that we can shift this problem abroad is wrong," says Kurth, which means that completely different problems arise when waste incineration plants in this country are idle.

In fact, in many regions, part of the energy supply depends on the 66 plants nationwide, which can incinerate almost 21 million tons of waste every year. District heating and electricity for millions of households are also produced.

In Munich, for example, ten percent of the district heating used comes from the local waste incineration plant, in Nuremberg it is even around 20 percent of the district heating and ten percent of the electricity that is generated from waste incineration.

"We expect general conditions from politicians under which we are always supplied with the necessary resources for the continued operation of our system-relevant systems," demands Bernhard Kemper, CEO of EEW.

This means above all the energy prices to ensure the production of ammonia. However, there is also a risk of shortages for other agents that are manufactured by the chemical industry.

"We also have a problem with the availability of other chemicals, such as hydrochloric acid or caustic soda," says Spohn. Both are needed to treat the feed water in the plants, which is used in the water-steam cycle to extract energy from electricity and district heating.

"Without this treatment, a boiler system cannot be operated due to the damage to be expected, because in the event of damage, a system will then be shut down for several months," says Spohn. And then there is even more of a huge problem with waste incineration and thus with the security of disposal.

But the industry is not exclusive to this problem. "The lack of chemicals in the treatment of feed water exists in all power plants with a water-steam cycle, including coal-fired power plants, for example."

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