Abstract
Converting combined heat and power plants (CHPs) to natural gas combustion is an effective way to reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality in the plant's footprint. Conversion to natural gas virtually eliminates air pollution from coal ash, sulfur dioxide, and fuel oil ash. It also reduces nitrogen and carbon oxide pollution, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Converting CHPs to natural gas combustion will reduce annual pollutant emissions by approximately 80%. The main objective of the study is to identify a modernization option for the Almaty CHP that minimizes environmental impact without compromising the reliability and efficiency of energy supply, while increasing installed capacity utilization, reliability, and operational safety. The study examines two CHP development scenarios: coal-fired and gas-fired. The recommended option for modernizing the combined heat and power plant is the construction of a new source - a gas turbine combined heat and power plant - with a variant study based on modern gas turbine units (GTU) of various types in order to determine the optimal option that will meet the requirements for covering electrical and thermal loads.