MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. The Russian Ministry of Energy is currently developing a program to modernize the country’s coal-fired power plants, aiming to render them harmless to the environment and neutral in terms of climate emissions. According to Deputy Minister of Energy Dmitry Islamov, the initiative could be implemented within just 10 years, he said in an interview with TASS.

"We will be modernizing the coal generation sector while maintaining a balance between investment levels and electricity and heat tariffs. At the moment, we are actively working on such a program," he stated.

"In the span of 10 years, this goal is entirely achievable - by modernizing all the plants and making them clean," Islamov noted in response to a question about the timeframe for implementation. He also emphasized that technologies already exist which make it possible to ensure that coal-fired generation is both environmentally clean and climate-safe.

"We assert that coal can be made absolutely clean. Coal plants are being upgraded through adopting technologies that reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, and particulate matter," Islamov explained.

He added that a similar approach can be applied to the capture of climate-related emissions such as CO2, which can subsequently be stored underground. "This too constitutes an entire industry that needs to be developed," the Deputy Minister stressed.