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Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions - power generation installations limits

Last updated: 25 June 2024

The Industrial Emissions Directive aims to achieve a high level of protection of human health and the environment taken as a whole by reducing harmful industrial emissions across the EU. The Directive regulates over 50,000 of the EU's largest industrial installations, including energy industries, production and processing of metals, minerals and chemicals and waste management (Annex I). These installations must operate in accordance with a permit with conditions that are aligned with the principles and provisions of the Directive.

Emission limit values for combustion plants for which permit was granted before January 2013 range from: 

  • Coal, lignite and solid fuels: SO2 to be limited to 200-400 mg/Nm3 // NOx to 200-450 mg/Nm3
  • Biomass: SO2 to be limited to 200 mg/Nm3 //  NOx to 200-300 mg/Nm3
  • Peat: SO2 to be limited to 200-300 mg/Nm3 //  NOx to 200-300 mg/Nm3
  • Liquid fuels: SO2 to be limited to 200-350 mg/Nm3 //  NOx to 150-450 mg/Nm3
  • Gaseaous fuels: SO2 to be limited to 35 mg/Nm3 (with the exception of gas turbines and gas engines) //  NOx to 100-200 mg/Nm3 // CO to 100 mg/Nm3. 

For the remaining plants, emission limit values range from: 

  • Coal, lignite and solid fuels: SO2 to be limited to 150-400 mg/Nm3 // NOx to 200-450 mg/Nm3
  • Biomass: SO2 to be limited to 150-200 mg/Nm3 //  NOx to 150-250 mg/Nm3
  • Peat: SO2 to be limited to 150-300 mg/Nm3 //  NOx to 150-250 mg/Nm3
  • Liquid fuels: SO2 to be limited to 150-350 mg/Nm3 //  NOx to 100-300 mg/Nm3
  • Gaseaous fuels: SO2 to be limited to 35 mg/Nm3 (with the exception of gas turbines and gas engines) //  NOx to 50-100 mg/Nm3 // CO to 100 mg/Nm3. 


The directive was amended in 2022 to provide tighter pollutant emission limit values and extend the scope of industrial facilities. 

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