engleski

External Costs of Electricity - Case Study Croatia

External costs of electricity represent the monetary value of the environmental damage caused by electricity generation. Here they are calculated using the impact pathway method, which relates to a sequence of links between the environmental burden and its impact. Focus of this analysis was put on the effects of ambient air pollution on human health, as one of the priority impacts of electricity generation. Costs of health damage through air pollution caused by electricity generation in Croatia were calculated for two representative coal and natural gas power plants, that both comply with current EU emission standards. Both facilities are assumed to be located in the densely populated urban area of Zagreb, the Croatian capital. Since air pollutants are transported over large distances crossing national borders, their impacts are quantified both on the local level, i.e. within 50 km from the source, as well as for Croatia and the whole of Europe. The results are the following: the largest share in the damage costs accounts for mortality effects attributable to particulate matter, on local level directly while on the regional level in the form of subsequently formed sulfates and nitrates. That is why the damages linked to coal power plants are much larger than those linked to gas fired facilities. Health damages highly depend on the number of people affected, so the local damages are much lower than on the regional scale. Cost benefit analysis of NOx emission abatement technologies showed that strict emission standards in Croatia are necessary to mitigate the effects of transboundary pollution, where the large number of people is affected by a certain, though rather low, levels of pollution.

electricity generation; power system; external costs; health damage; environmental impact; pollution abatement cost

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