Philippines’ largest utility First Gen has received regulatory approval to build a floating LNG import unit to fuel 3.2 Gigawatt (GW) of power gen capacity near Batangas City. Construction will start in the fourth quarter, with the aim of receiving the first LNG cargo in the autumn of 2022.
Asia’s largest LNG exporters, Indonesia and Malaysia, are stepping up domestic LNG deliveries. A flurry of decentralised gas power plants are under development in Malaysia and across the Indonesian archipelago, looking for steady and attractively-priced LNG supply.
Shares in Siemens Energy have opened lower than anticipated on their first trading day in Frankfurt in what analysts called a “modest market debut.” Shares opened at 22.01 Euros apiece on Monday, giving the Siemens spin-off a market value of 16 billion Euros – less than the previously estimated 22 billion Euros.
Mitsubishi Power is expanding its boiler smart inspection offering, part of TOMONI digital solutions, to petroleum and chemical industries and power providers. With this move, the Japanese OEM seeks to tap new customer categories as it works to become an energy solution provider.
Rolls-Royce has been selected to deliver 15 medium speed gas gensets of its Bergen Engines brand to power the Iron Bridge Magnetite Project in Western Australia, managed by Formosa Steel. The gensets are based on the new Bergen 20-cylinder B36:45 gas engine.
The spin-off Siemens Energy has decided to locate is corporate headquarters in Berlin, where the mother company was founded in 1847. CEO Christian Bruch was quick to point out the choice of Berlin will not distract from the important functions of other locations across Germany – notably Mühlheim and Erlangen.
Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) has won a $15 million contract to design and supply low-NOx combustion technology and a pulveriser system upgrade for Taiwan Power’s 5,824 MW Taichung Power Plant. To further reduce emissions, some coal-fired power units could be converted natural gas.
Falling costs for lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen electrolysers have rendered both technologies ready for mass commercialization. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects the cost of 4-hour battery systems to fall to $220/kWh by 2040, so utility-scale battery deployment could reach nearly 220 GW by 2040.
South Korea’s power plant developer Doosan Heavy Industries has joined forces with five public power companies to build a model combined-cycle power plant, driven by a proprietary gas turbine. Doosan has been striving to develop a turbine since 2013, aimed at Asia’s growing LNG-to-Power market.
Mitsubishi Power and the US utility Entery will work together to limit emissions from electric power generation in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi and Texas. The cooperation will focus on the adoption of hydrogen-capable gas turbine as well as utility-scale battery storage systems.
US oil major ExxonMobil and Global Thermostat have expanded their joint development agreement of Direct Air Capture Technology, designed to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Amine-based adsorbents act like a filter to efficiently capture CO2, which can then be stored underground or used to make chemicals or construction materials.
Investment in U.S. generating capacity is dominated by gas power units due to its cheap capacity costs. Though construction costs for solar PV more than halved to $1,848 and costs for onshore wind fell to $1,382, both lose out on gas-fired units which cost just $837 per capacity added.
News in Brief
Mott McDonald starts construction on ALCP6
Oct 20 – US construction firm Mott McDonald has started building the ALCP6 waste to energy project in Krabi province, southern Thailand. The plant will incinerate 144,000 tonnes per year of municipal solid waste, and the heat obtained will be converted into 6 MW of electricity to be exported to the Thai national grid.
Brace for EU sustainable finance rules
Oct 19 – Sustainable finance practices, drawn up by the European Commission, could create a "bureaucratic monster" that smaller companies and energy investors would find overbearing, the Munich-based Institute for Economic Research (ifo) warned. The regulation should hence prioritise closer scrutiny of large and listed companies.
UK could become net power exporter
Oct 16 – Increased interconnection could provide a route for excess offshore wind power in Britain to be consumed elsewhere in Europe. National Grid Interconnector Register shows up to 16 GW of interconnection could be operational by 2025 and up to 25.4 GW by 2030.
Wärtsilä to deploy GridSolv in US city
Oct 15 – AEP OnSite Partners has contracted Wärtsilä to deploy its GridSolv Quantum energy storage in the city of Martinsville, Virginia. The system includes an UL9540A limiting 2-hour battery firewall and will help lower the city’s energy costs.
Rolls-Royce spends $13.9m in Mankato
Oct 14 – Britain’s engine maker Rolls-Royce has decided to invest nearly $14 million in its Power System business to build a new R&D centre at its MTU manufacturing plant in Mankato, Minnesota, US. The expansion will see 28,000 square foot added to the facility’s existing hall, making room for the production of high-power MTU gas gensets, enhanced product testing and the creation of 20 new manufacturing positions.
Clarke commissions Vitalait power unit in Tunisia
Oct 13 – Clarke Energy and INNIO Jenbacher have completed the commissioning of an onsite power plant of a milk producer in Tunisia. The installation of another Jenbacher gas engine has increased the plant’s output to 4 MW of electricity as well as 1,100 kW of hot water and 800 kW of steam.
Secondary battery market to top $55bn
Oct 12 – Technavio expects the secondary battery market to grow by $55.62 billion through 2024, rising at an 11% rate over the forecast period. Falling costs for lithium-ion batteries as well as growing demand in Asia Pacific allowed the market to grow 2.01% this year, despite adverse effects of the pandemic. Top battery suppliers are Tesla, Clarious, Exide, LG Chem, GS Yuasa and Samsung.
Shift to sustainable tech
Oct 9 – Three quarters of utilities, surveyed by EIT InnoEnergy, are considering adopting sustainable technology over the next 12-18 months. However, over one third of the respondents found it hard to recruit the skills they need.
Generator rentals slow
Oct 8 – The rental market for power generators has slowed down due to the pandemic, with genset rentals from the oil and gas industry forecast to grow by just $153.87 million this year. However, Technavio expects the market will return to a 3% annual growth rate by 2024.
GE upgrades Italian CHP
Oct 7 – GE has completed an axial fuel staging upgrade on its 9E gas turbine at an onsite combined heat and power (CHP) plant at the Milazzo refinery in Sicily. The entire electricity needs of the refinery, over 780 GWh in 2019, will soon be supplied by the upgraded and more flexible gas turbine.
Operating assets ‘from anywhere’
Oct 6 – GE Digital’s latest software gives electric utilities remote and mobile control over their power stations for remote start-up, external monitoring and operational fine-tuning. The goal is to safe cost through autonomous operation from any location.
Chart wins order from New Fortress Energy
Oct 5 – Chart Industries has secured a second leasing order, worth $7.7 million, for ISO containers for LNG applications from New Fortress Energy for a project in the Caribbean. The US equipment maker sees double digit near-term growth in its repair, service and leasing business, notably from growing demand for LNG equipment for infrastructure.
Siemens energises Togo
Oct 2 – Siemens Energy has delivered a SGT-800 gas turbine and other components for the Kékéli Efficient Power plant project. Located in the Togolese capital Lomé, the 65 MW plant will cover almost 40% of country’s expected electricity demand.
Batteries get cheaper
Oct 1 – Cost for battery production is falling rapidly as manufacturers bring large Gigafactories on-line. By 2030, Bloomberg New Energy Finance anticipates battery pack prices to drop to $73 per kilowatt-hour, down from a current volume-weighted average of below $270/kWh.
Barclays may help fund Rolls-Royce
Sept 30 – UK’s prime engine maker Rolls-Royce is understood to be close to getting fresh financing from Barclays Bank. The Derby-based company, however, insists no final decision has been taken on the precise amount that may be raised or any allotment of shares to any investor.
Petronas to truck LNG to off-grid users
Sept 29 – Petronas Dagangan Group is gearing up to build a LNG truck delivery service for off-grid customers in Peninsular Malaysia. Trucks fitted with cryogenic tanks will bring the super-chilled fuel to remote industries and small-scale power generators with no access to the natural gas grid. Malaysia’s Peninsular Gas Utilisation (PGU) pipeline is only 2,500 kilometers in length and was initially built to export gas to Singapore.
Siemens to reduce emissions at NLNG
Sept 28 – Nigeria LNG has contracted Siemens Energy to provide a cryogenic boil-off gas (BOG) compression train for its liquefaction plant on Bonny Island. The new BOG train will be driven by an high-efficiency electric motor and includes two compressors. Manufactured in Duisburg, Germany, the equipment will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021.
