John Goldring discusses the challenges in the European power generation sector and their relevance to the US market.
John Goldring interviewed for Energy Today, on KMST Public Radio
Recent Posts
- RJM – Double finalist at the IChemE Global Awards 2025
It was announced today that RJM International is a Finalist in two categories of the forthcoming Institution of Chemical Engineers 2025 Global Awards: Finalist – Oil, Gas and Energy Transition Award for the Abono Coal-to-Gas conversion Project in Spain Finalist – Industry Project Award for the ZETES 2 Unit 3 Coal-Fired Plant Upgrade Project in Turkey Commenting on being short-listed as Finalists for these two awards, John Goldring, Managing Director of RJM International said, “These two projects were very different in terms of scope, but common to both was RJM’s unique approach to tackling a project. We take the time to fully understand how a plant is operating and identify all the issues that will need to be resolved to deliver a custom-built, reliable, and cost-effective solution that will meet all the client’s objectives. “In both cases, we enhanced plant reliability, reduced carbon and harmful emissions significantly, and have helped to secure the long-term future of the plants as their countries and owners work towards an affordable low carbon future. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our own people who delivered these exceptional performance results, working in successful partnership with our customers at the plants; Eren Enerji at ZETES and Wood plc at Aboño. “I would also thank our suppliers who worked hard to manufacture our solutions to the highest quality. “It is also very gratifying that RJM’s skills and experience are being recognised through these IChemE awards, by our peers in the energy sector,” he added. The Awards dinner will be taking place at the Mercure Hotel, Piccadilly, Manchester on Thursday 20th November 2025. ENDS Notes for Editors: Aboño Coal-to-Gas Conversion Project, Spain The purpose of this 556 MWe power station coal-to-gas upgrade project at Aboño II in Gijón, Spain, was to equip the plant with state-of-the-art combustion technology and convert it to firing a much cleaner fuel – natural gas – and to cease firing coal. The new RJM burners and firing system were also designed to provide fuel flexibility with the ability to fire a combination of natural gas, hydrogen and BFG (Blast Furnace Gas). EDP selected Wood to execute project scope, including in-depth feasibility studies, brownfield boiler modifications and commissioning. The background to this project is that the Spanish government has decreed that all coal-firing will cease in the peninsula in August 2025. Therefore, to maintain generation capacity in that region, Aboño II needed to be converted to a cleaner fuel and be generating reliably by the end of August 2025. Following the coal-to-gas conversion, all the key emissions metrics have been significantly reduced: + 1.3m tpa of coal no longer being fired + CO2 emissions of 2.9m tpa reduced by 30% (depending on volume of BFG firing) + SOx emissions of 130mg/Nm3 reduced to zero + Primary NOx emissions of 845mg/Nm3 reduced by 70% + CO emissions of 4ppm reduced to zero. Using BFG as a second fuel delivers an additional environmental benefit, reducing emissions of CO2 by a further one million tonnes pa. In addition, with the coal yard, flue gas desulphurization, conveyors, hoppers, mills and classifiers no long needed, this freed up 5 MWe of parasitic load. ZETES 2 Unit 3 Coal Plant Upgrade Project, Turkey ZETES 2 Unit 3 is a modern, 615 MWe supercritical coal-fired power plant located at Zonguldak in Turkey. The plant is owned and operated by Eren Enerji and is equipped with opposed-firing boilers and NR3 burner technology supplied by Dongfang of China, under licence from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems. The plant came online in 2010 and fires local and imported bituminous coal. The project objectives were 1) To improve combustion performance; 2) Mitigate unplanned outages due to tube leaks; 3) Improve boiler efficiency and 4) Reduce emissions of NOx and CO. These issues had arisen because despite the fact that the plant was fitted with the well-respected NR3 burner, RJM established that unit performance was sub-optimal due to a combination of: poor burner dynamics resulting in long flames and uncontrolled combustion; the burners being thermally damaged due to flames burning within the burner itself; the plant’s OFA system was unable to control unburned material; varying burner to burner settings resulting in different burner dynamics between burners; and with CO levels fluctuating considerably. At ZETES 2 Unit 3, the benefits that RJM’s performance upgrade project include making the plant much more efficient, now operating with one fewer mill in service and increased boiler efficiency from 92% to 94%. This means it now uses less fuel to deliver the same amount of power. In CO2 terms this is the equivalent of a saving 80,000 tonnes per annum of carbon no longer emitted, which is a significant societal benefit. The combustion improvements also mean that NOx emissions have been reduced by nearly half, a reduction of 47%. This is having a lasting and positive impact on air quality in the vicinity of the power plant. ENDS
- RJM attends Enlit Asia 2025
As a provider of innovative combustion solutions for generators worldwide, RJM International is currently attending this year’s Enlit Asia 2025 conference from 9-11 September at BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand. Enlit Asia is where the ASEAN power sector connects. Bringing together over 12,000 industry professionals, the event unites industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to drive the future of energy in ASEAN and beyond. The focus of RJM’s work in Asia Pacific and Australia includes providing emissions reduction and combustion improvement upgrades for coal-fired power plants, supporting coal-to-biomass cofiring and full conversion initiatives and supplying RJM’s proprietary IMPULSE cleaning technology for all boiler types. We look forward to connecting with you at the conference to discuss how RJM can help support you and your plant to achieve its future performance goals. RJM attendees at the conference are (shown left) Mr Subbiah Natchiappan, RJM’s AP Business Development Manager, https://www.linkedin.com/in/subbiah-natchiappan) and (shown right) Mr Andrew Goh, RJM’s AP Process Engineer, https://www.linkedin.com/in/goh-yi-chung).
- RJM awarded second power plant upgrade project by Eren Enerji in Turkey
Following on from the successful completion of the major plant performance upgrade project at ZETES 2 Unit 3 in 2024, Eren Enerji has just awarded RJM International the contract to implement the upgrades on the second unit, ZETES 2 Unit 2. The boilers are supercritical coal-fired units, each delivering 615 MWe into the Turkish power grid. They are opposed-firing boilers and the original equipment on Unit 2 consists of NR3 low NOx burner technology supplied by Dongfang of China, under licence from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems. Commenting on this second major contract from Eren Enerji, John Goldring, Managing Director of RJM said, “This second win for us to upgrade Unit 2 confirms Eren Enerji’s faith in RJM to deliver performance improvements that we were able to achieve on Unit 3, which has now been running for more than one year since our solution was installed. “These supercritical power plants are already very advanced in terms of the technology they use, but our approach, starting off with a detailed site survey, combustion audit and associated CFD analysis helped us identify where significant improvements could be made. “We are delighted to have won this second contract and look forward to working once again with the team at Eren and the plant operators on Unit 2 to bring its performance up to the level of Unit 3,” he added. Performance metrics achieved on Unit 3 that will be targeted on Unit 2 Parameter Improvement Mills in service 1 less NOx (mg/Nm3) 47% less Carbon in Ash (%) 50% less Boiler Efficiency (%) 2% more Mill Motors & Fans (A) 14% less Mill Mech. Power (kW) 9% less Reagent (kg/day) 70% less Tonnes of CO2 savings pa 80,000 ENDS For further information, please contact: Christopher Biggs, Head of Global Marketing, RJM International T: + 44 (0) 7796 171091 E: [email protected]
- RJM presented with “Large Business Award” and “Business of the Year Award”
Today, Sarah Davis, Business Improvement District (BID) Manager and Head of the Winchester Business Excellence Awards, came to RJM’s Head Office in Winchester to present the two certificates and the commemorative glass tablets to John Goldring, Managing Director. Commenting on the spectacular wins, John Goldring said, “We are delighted to have been honoured with these awards. “We’re a proud Hampshire-based business but we operate all over the world, helping our power generation customers reduce their carbon footprints and serve their populations with affordable, reliable electricity. “This award process was a real combined effort, so well done to the whole RJM team!” Image (left to right) Christopher Biggs, Head of Global Marketing Matthew Shields, Director of Operations John Goldring, Managing Director
- RJM wins Winchester “Business of the Year” Award
RJM has won the overall “Business of the Year” and “Large Business of the Year” in the annual Winchester Business Excellence Awards 2025. Against stiff competition, RJM has repeated “the double” of winning the same two categories as it did back in 2015. Commenting on the spectacular win, John Goldring, Managing Director of RJM said, “We are absolutely thrilled to have been honoured with these two prestigious awards, which recognise the ground-breaking work we are carrying out in the UK and across the globe. “Winning in 2025 is particularly special for us as in May 2025, RJM celebrated its 25th anniversary as a business. “Our skilled people, based in the UK, the USA and Asia-Pacific are all working extremely hard to help our power generation customers operate more cleanly, reliably and efficiently so that they can reduce their carbon footprint and deliver affordable electricity to their customers. “As power generators begin their descent to net zero, they are increasingly reaching out to RJM to provide them with combustion and emissions innovations to enable them to maintain cost-effective generation. “In addition, our technologies are being applied to the biomass and Energy from Waste sectors, as well as industrial facilities such as steelworks, sugar processing plants and district heating plants. “We are proud to be based in Winchester, a beautiful historic city with excellent rail connectivity, plus international airports nearby. “Our employees very much appreciate our city centre location, as do our overseas customers who are so impressed by our historic city. “Recently, we have welcomed customers from Turkey, Spain and Germany and we will soon be hosting guests from Malaysia. “Finally, I would like to thank the Winchester BID team for organising the Winchester Business Awards and the judging panel for recognising RJM’s success.”