Improved execution of oil & gas upstream projects is now being achieved thanks to greater corporate discipline, more pre-FID planning and reduced project scope. This allows project delivery to finally hit the mark after a period of dismal performance on project returns, a new Wood Mackenzie report shows.
Cold energy, set free when LNG gets regasified through heat exchangers, can be utilized and monetised in different sectors, including the production of special gases through cryogenic air separation, desalination and also in the power sector. Hereby, the cold energy gets reused for inlet cooling of gas turbines.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has completed construction of the Unit-2 combined-cycle gas turbine system at the Tanjung Priok power plant ahead of schedule. With an output of nearly 300 MW, Unit-2 is part of a wider project of Indonesia's state owned electricity provider PT. PLN (Persero) to build a 880 MW power plant on Java Island.
Siemens has successfully 3D-printed and engine-tested a dry low emission (DLE) pre-mixer for its SGT-A05 aeroderivative gas turbine. From concept to engine test, the development took only seven months, which is impressive considering this component requires very tight tolerances and works in high load and temperature.
Environmental lawyers have launched legal action after Bulgarian authorities permitted a coal-fired power plant to burn petrochemicals, biomass and waste alongside lignite – a dirty, highly inefficient lignite coal. The first hearing in the Brikel case is scheduled for early October.
MAN Energy Solutions has been selected to provide equipment for two power plants in Bangladesh a total capacity of 287 MW, based on of 15 MAN engines. The first project in Chittagong is due to start-up in 2019, while the project in Mirsarai is set to commence operations shortly afterwards.
For the world to start meeting decarbonisation goals and mitigate climate change, deployment of renewable energy would need to be scaled up at least six times faster than today, the 2018 report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows. Accelerating the shift to green energy is expected to create over 11 million extra jobs.
With 14.4 GW of capacity just added to Egypt’s power grid, Siemens is contemplating what’s next after the €6 billion Egypt order, the largest in the company’s history. “My key take-away is that if there is a political will [in a country], you can do almost everything,” Peter Ullrich, overall project director CCPP Megaproject Egypt told Gas to Power Journal.
The government of Germany‘s federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has expressed interest in hosting Tesla’s electric vehicle and battery production facility on its planned ‘Green Battery Campus’ in Euskirchen, Handelsblatt reports. Tesla is also considering the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland as potential locations for its planned Gigafactory, which would produce electric cars and batteries.
The proposed combination of Dominion Energy and SCANA Corp. has been approved by SCANA’s two-thirds shareholders earlier this week. Once completed, the combined company will deliver energy to approximately 6.5 million regulated customer accounts and have an electric generating portfolio of about 31,400 MW.
Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, has announced sweeping changes to its company structure today while posting a 14% drop in net income to €1.2 billion in the third quarter amid a “sharp decrease in profit” at its turbine division. Shrinking the number of operating divisions from five to three – ‘Gas & Power’, ‘Smart Infrastructure’ and ‘Digital Industries’ – Siemens pledges it will increase the return-on-sales at its industrial business by 2% in the near-term future.
The Government of South Korea is planning to cut natural gas taxes by 74% and raise taxes on the use of thermal coal for power generation by 27% next year. The move is aimed at reducing the country's heavy reliance on coal for power generation and shift towards cleaner-burning gas, government officials.
Turkey’s state pipeline operator Botas has increased the price for natural gas used for power generation by 50% to 1,312 Lira ($267) per thousand cubic metres, effective August 1. The price hike comes as a weaker Turkish Lira has been pushing up prices for oil and natural gas imports, which are now handed through to end-users.
Energy expenditures as a portion of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) have fallen to 5.6% in 2016, the lowest ratio since at least 1970, according to IEA figures. Compared with a GDP at $18.6 trillion, energy expenditures declined for the fifth consecutive year down to $1.0 trillion in 2016, a 9% year-on-year decrease in real terms.
STEAG GuD Herne has signed a contract with Siemens for the turnkey construction of combined cycle power plant with district heat extraction in Herne, a town in Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region. The Herne-6 unit will have an electrical capacity of more than 600 MW, plus 400 MW of thermal energy for district heating. Siemens disclosed "the investment volume for Herne 6 is in the mid-triple-digit Euro range."
News in Brief
Sparrow gets permit to work in Saudi Arabia
Aug 13 – Sparrows Group, a specialist equipment maker and integrated engineering services providers, has been granted commercial registration to operate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The commercial registration allows Sparrows Saudi Arabia LLC, a newly established entity in Dammam, to deliver services related to the extraction of oil and natural gas
Puerto Rico electricity sales almost back to normal
Aug 9 – Electricity sales on the island of Puerto Rico, part of U.S. territory, has returned to pre-hurricane levels as of April and May 2018 after the longest blackout in American history. However, residential electricity sales appear to continue to lag historical levels, reflecting some continued outages, EIA data shows. As of April 2018, around 95% of Puerto Rico’s electricity customers had restored power, while about 62,000 customers remained without power.
India’s solar PV market slumps
Aug 8 – India’s market for solar photovoltaic is forecast to experience negative growth this year after the Ministry of Finance imposed a safeguard duty on solar cells and modules for a period of two years, starting on 30th July 2018. The move exacerbates the effect of a slowdown in the China market, Wood Mackenzie commented.
Shell expects electricity to become “biggest game in town”
Aug 3 – By 2050, power consumption is expected to outstrip demand for Shell’s core business of oil and gas. The company’s most recent Future Energy scenarios foresees oil and gas demand to peak in the next 50 years, while reliance on electricity is expected grow from around 20% of energy consumption to closer to 50% by midcentury.
ADB funds power lines in Bangladesh
Aug 2 – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an assistance package of more than $357 million for a project to develop two power lines in Bangladesh. The grid extension supports Bangladesh’s national target of reaching electricity for all citizens by 2021.
Tadmax to develop CCGT in Selangor
Aug 1 – Malaysia-based Tadmax Resources has signed an accord with Worldwide Holdings to develop a combined-cycle gas power plant with up to 1,200 MW in Pulau Indah, Selagor. The deal comes as Worldwide seeks to acquire a 30% stake in Tadmax. Technical partner for the CCGT project is Korean Electric Power Corp.
Renewables hit new record
July 31 – Germany's electricity supply from renewables reached a record high in the first half of 2018, catering for an unprecedented 41.5 % of the country's electricity supply. A total of 113 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated by all renewable technologies, mainly consisting of biomass, wind and solar energy.
Dominion aims to add 3GW renewables by 2020
July 30 – Striving to add 3 GW of solar and wind capacity in the next two years, Dominion Energy has has filed its first set of the plans under Grid Transformation & Security Act (GTSA) to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) for the approval. Dominion VP Ed Baine said the GTSA legislation, effective from 1 July, would provide a roadmap for Virginia’s energy future.
GE to develop critical infrastructure in Lagos
July 27 – GE and the Lagos State Government have agreed to pool their resources for the development of critical infrastructure in the state in the areas of Power, Healthcare and Skills Development. This was announced during the signing of a Support and Cooperation Agreement by both parties during the France-Nigeria Business Forum held in Lagos.
Orbital Insight teams up with Energy Aspects
July 26 –Orbital Insight and Energy Aspects have teamed up, striving to transform how energy data is used for investing. The two research firms will integrate geospatial analytics, based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, with energy analysis with a view to giving customers unprecedented global oil storage level data.
Cost for US wind generation down 33%
July 25 – Capacity-weighted cost of wind installations in the United States have declined by one-third thanks to improving technology and manufacturing capability and a concentration of new-builds in the best-suited regions. Installation costs fell from $2,361 per kilowatt (kW) in 2010 to currently less than $1,587/kW, based on analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy(DOE/EERE).
Iran’s NISOC prepares tender
July 24 – National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) has announced plans to hold an international tender to purchase parts for G.E.C gas turbine. NISOC seeks to buy parts of the turbine type Centaur.
Chart reports full-year sales at $1.2bn
July 23 – U.S. equipment manufacturer Chart Industries has reported a 34% rise second-quarter sales, with the order volumes amounting to $360.3 million. “Strength in Asian orders was driven by packaged gas applications as well as respiratory and cryobiological product lines,” Charts said when posting the results.
ABB spends $30m on transformer factory in Sweden
July 20 – ABB is investing more than $30 million in a new manufacturing unit, under construction in Ludvika, Sweden. The new unit will increase production, expanding the capacity and the range of its high-voltage dry bushings offering.
Wärtsilä’s order intake up 14%
July 19 – The Finish equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä has seen its order increase 15% to €1,553 million in the second quarter, while net sales fell 4% to €1,246 million. Looking at the full year 2018, Wärtsilä said its Services and Solutions business will “improve somewhat from the previous year.” Good demand prospects are on the cards for Energy Solutions, as the global shift towards renewables and rising electricity demand in the emerging markets support the need for distributed power capacity.
NRG abandons Dunkirk coal-to-gas conversion project
July 18 – Shying away from having to pay $114 million in re-interconnection costs, NRG Energy has shelved plans to repower and convert its mothballed Dunkirk power plant in western New York from coal to natural gas. The company said in a statement that it has withdrawn its request to have New York ISO interconnect the Chautauqua County generating facility with the power grid.
Akwa Ibom, BlackRhino sign $1.6bn power deal
July 17 – BlackRhino, operator of the Qua Iboe Power Plant (QIPP), has agreed with the Akwa Ibom State Government to build a power plant and electricity transmission lines in the state. QIPP’s management committed an investment of $1.1 billion for the facility, with an additional $500 million for gas.
