The British government is in talks with the French energy giant EDF on value-for-money and affordability of the £20 billion Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk. Should the 3.2 GW project get approval, despite falling costs for offshore wind, it could substantially reduce dispatch of gas power units.
Energy certification body DNV GL has been selected by Gore Street Capital to undertake technical due diligence on an 81 MW operational battery storage portfolio in the UK. Gore Street acquired the portfolio from infrastructure developer Anesco in a deal worth £28.2 million ($37.3 million).
Nine shale gas producers in the US Appalachian Basin have spent half a billion dollars more during Q3-2020 on drilling and new projects than they earned. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), eight of these nine fracking companies cut Capex substantially but still incurred losses.
US utility Duke Energy and Siemens Energy will launch the H2-Orange pilot project in March 2021, evaluating the use of hydrogen fuel at Clemson University’s cogeneration plant as well as for energy storage. The research is backed by a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
In California, gas peaking plants are vital to balance fluctuations in electricity demand with daily cycles in solar-powered generation. While output from solar PV tends to peak and then plateau from midday, electricity demand is often the highest in the early evening.
British engine maker Rolls-Royce has introduced a new MTU Series 500 engine with a power range of 250 to 550 kilowatt and peak efficiencies of up to 42.6%. The genset will be initially available for natural gas, and from the end of 2021 also for biogas.
In a trading update today, Rolls-Royce said it will carry out at least £1 billion of cash cost mitigations before year-end and is on track to deliver its targeted £1.3 billion cost savings by 2022. The Power System end market is recovering from a drastic fall in demand, supported by China’s swift recovery.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has selected Emerson to install digital technologies across its power plant fleet. The Magnolia project is part of TVA’s five-year, $110 million investment that will enhance the 980 MW combined-cycle unit to generate up to 50% more electricity from the same fuel, once upgraded in 2022.
Korea Southern Power Co (KOSPO) will use the first GE 7HA.03 gas turbine in South Korea in its Shinsejong combined-cycle power plant in Sejong, developed as a ‘smart city’ by 2030. GE will install the flexible 60 Hertz gas turbine at the CCGT with its consortium partner Daewoo E&C.
French utility ENGIE will work with NTU Singapore and infrastructure developer Surbana Jurong on storing energy in liquid air. Excess electricity from the grid is used to cool air, turning it into a liquid state that is 750 times more compact and has the energy density of a lithium-ion battery.
General Electric has completed a major overhaul of a 9E.03 gas turbine at the Al Qudus power plant in Iraq on behalf of the country’s energy ministry. The revamped plant now generates an additional 125 MW of electricity on top of its existing 1,125 MW capacity.
Falling technology costs for battery storage systems, down half over the last two years, have made batteries the cheapest new-build technology for peaking purposes in gas-importing regions, like China or Japan. Pairing renewables with battery storage is cost competitive with open-cycle gas peaking units, Bloomberg New Energy Finance finds.