To provide energy at well site, Siemens and Statoil have jointly developed and qualified a Subsea Hydraulic Power Unit (SHPU) for use in offshore oil and gas fields. The unit can replace hydraulic power transmission lines with local subsea hydraulic power generation and storage.
Separate reverse auctions for imported gas are on the cards in India this month, as the government implements different subsidy mechanisms to differentiate between the haves and the have nots. Over 14,300 MW has been classified as stranded generating capacity, while another 9,800 MW has an average plant load factor (PLF) of just 32% due to gas shortages.
With gas prices seen to remain on low levels, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has increased its earlier forecast for domestic gas demand, driven by a higher utilisation of cleaner-burning fuel in the power generation sector and rising industrial use.
State-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has opened a tender for the provision of consultancy services to the Salalah 2 Independent Power Plant (IPP), drawing bids from an array of international developers. OPWP wants the project to be implemented on a build-own-operate basis.
Wholesale energy prices in the UK have plunged to a fresh low. Electricity prices averaged their lowest in four years during Q1-2015 as continued gas oversupply has turned Britain into a 'market of last resort' for LNG, while coal imports picked up notably prior to the carbon tax increase on April 1.
To fill the gap between its 40+MW aeroderivative LM6000s and 600+MW industrial gas turbines, GE has the LMS100. It takes the low pressure compressor designed for the Frame 6FA GT, runs the air through an intercooler, and then into a supercore which is based on the LM6000. "In combination, this provides 100 MW of power and ten minute start times," said Phil Tinne, GE's LMS100 product manager.
Swiss power plant developer Advanced Power has agreed financing for an $899 million combined-cycle gas generating plant (700 MW) in Ohio. Project financing deals see TIAA-CREF, Chubu Electric, Ullico and Prudential Capital provide $411 million in equity while $488 million in senior secured credit facilities come from ten commercial banks led by BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole.
Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation, the developers of the Hummel Power Station, have filed an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection with the aim to modify an already approved air permit that authorizes the construction of a 3-unit CCGT with a capacity of 1,064 MW in Snyder County.
Colorado-based Western Energy Partners is considering spending close to $1 billion to build a 750-megawatt combined gas and solar photovoltaic power plant in San Juan County, New Mexico. Construction is scheduled to be finished in mid-2019, with natural gas set to provide 680 MW of the plant's overall capacity with the remainder generated by solar panels.
US-based PowerPHASE has developed TurboPHASE, a compressed-air system for boosting gas turbines that can deliver peak power output within a minute or so after pressing the 'start' button. An 80MW TurboPHASE on an 800MW 2x1 power plant can be installed system ready in three working days on a space of around 630 square metres.
Bidell Gas Compression is now a platinum level participant of GE's gas compression power packager program in Canada, gaining enhanced access to Waukesha parts and skilled service technicians.
Houston, the 'energy capital of the world', is home to Siemens' newly opened oil & gas headquarters. Board member Lisa Davis singled out Houston as a "critical location for the company's long-term growth" as it brings the German OEM closer to its upstream, midstream and downstream customers.
Flexible rather than conventional gas generation could save Britain between £380 million to £550 million by 2020 and up to £1.54 billion by 2030 alone through reduced balancing costs incurred by National Grid, research commissioned by Wärtsilä through Redpoint Energy and Imperial College London shows. The modelling is based on replacing 4.8GW of conventional CCGTs with 4.8GW of gas-fired Smart Power Generation.
The Government of India has announced it will cap the price of domestically produced natural gas at $4.66/mmbtu between April 1 and September 30, 2015 – a 7.7% cut from previous prices at $5.61/mmbtu. Affordable gas is meant to help increase the load factor of stranded power plants. Meanwhile, operators are gearing up to bid for subsidized imported gas in a reverse auction.
News in Brief
Rolls-Royce conducts laser field tests in the US
May 18 – Rolls-Royce has successfully conducted laser field tests to demonstrate ‘deep magazine’ power capability for directed applications in connection with Lockheed Martin’s layered laser defense project. Deep magazine power can be provided by a battery-only system, but the Rolls-Royce ColdFire system includes both battery-powered and near-continuous firing modes provided by M250 gas turbine engines.
Gas vs oil ratio increases in the Bakken
May 17 – The ratio of natural gas to crude oil production has risen in North Dakota’s Bakken region since 2008, and continues to accelerate. According to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report, annual gas gross withdrawals in the Bakken increased by 9% to an annual high of 2.97 Bcf/d in 2021, even though the region’s crude oil production fell by 6%.
Middle East shifts to gas power
May 16 – The Middle East, a region vulnerable to climate change, is undergoing a major shift from petroleum-based power plants towards gas-fired generation and renewable power sources. Capacity additions of over 185.46 GW are the pipeline, according to ResearchandMarkets, as the regions electricity demand for industry and residential cooling is set to grow. In fact, cooling already accounts for 70% of residential power demand.
Carbon utilisation in strong demand
May 13 – The market for carbon utilisation is forecast to grow rapidly from the 2030s onwards to surpass $285 billion by 2042, driven by rising climate commitments and a favourable regulatory framework. In its latest report IDTechEx also highlights the role of technology advances such as thermodynamics which help sequester CO2 permanently.
MTU gensets approved for biofuels
May 12 – Rolls-Royce has gained approval to use synthetic fuels in its MTU Series 4000 and Series 1600 diesel engines for power generation application. Field testing confirmed both engines can use a range of sustainable fuels including biomass-to-liquid, hydrotreated vegetable oil and power-to-liquid fuels such as e-diesel.
E.ON tells Germans how to save gas
May 11 – A large-scale switch to heat pumps, solar power and better demand-side management could help save Germany nearly 100 TWh of natural gas per year, E.ON has said, calling on households to contribute to Europe’s efforts to reduce reliance on Russian gas imports. “If 10% of the homes in Germany are equipped with solar PV installations, 20% of gas boilers are replaced by heat pumps, and the average temperature in all households is reduced by one degree Celsius on average, this would lead to natural gas savings of 103 TWh per year," E.ON Energy CEO Filip Thon said, noting this volume would equate to about 30% of Germany’s current gas imports from Russia.
Exelon Q1 earnings lower following Constellation cave-out
May 10 – Exelon has reported lower first quarter earnings and a higher operating revenue, having completed the separation of Constellation Energy – Excelon’s former power gen business. Focussing now solely on transmission and distribution, Exelon’s net income from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2022 decreased to $0.49 per share from $0.53 a share in pre-year period. In contrast, adjusted operating earnings notched up to $0.64 per share, primarily due to due to higher electric distribution earnings at ComEd from higher rate base and higher allowed electric distribution. Rate increases at Excelon’s group companies PECO, BGE, and PHI were partially offset by higher depreciation expenses at BGE and PHI.
South Africa to add 2.6 GW of new capacity
May 9 – South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, has just announced the REIPPPP BW6 Request for Proposals (RFP). The bid round will add 2,600 MWs of new capacity to the energy mix. The ministry seeks to procure 11,813 MW of electricity from various power sources including renewable energy, storage, gas and coal.
GE Gas Power authorized as CVE Numbering Authority
May 6 – GE Gas Power’s increased focus on cybersecurity has been recognized by the Common Vulnerability and Exposures Programm as a ‘CVE Numbering Authority (CNA). As such, GE Gas Power can now assign CVE identification numbers to newly discovered vulnerabilities potentially related to its products and allow GE Gas Power to directly publish new CVE Records and streamline the reporting process.
Heliogen gets nearly $90m in funding
May 5 – Heliogen has moved from design into testing and implementation of its supercritical CO2 power gen system that will be deployed for Woodside in California. The system consists of a 5 MWe sCO2 power block integrated with high temperature solid media thermal energy storage. The demonstration project is being funded with up to $50 million from Woodside, along with $39 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).
Capstone to install microturbine in the Caribbean
May 4 – E-Finity Distributed Generation, Capstone's distributor for the Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern United States and the Caribbean, has secured an order for two C1000S microturbines for a government water authority in the Caribbean. The 2 MW system will provide emergency standby power to several pumping stations throughout the remote island community and is scheduled to be commissioned towards the end of 2022.
Forecasting solar and energy storage in CAISO
May 3 – Marubeni has chosen Veritone’s AI-based distributed energy resource management solution (iDERMS) to provide price, demand and generation forecasts at their pilot project in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) SP-15 region. In addition to day-ahead and real-time generation figures, Veritone will also forecast production and demand for the overall CAISO region.
Forecasting solar and energy storage in CAISO
May 2 – Marubeni has chosen Veritone’s AI-based distributed energy resource management solution (iDERMS) to provide price, demand and generation forecasts at their pilot project in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) SP-15 region. In addition to day-ahead and real-time generation figures, Veritone will also forecast production and demand for the overall CAISO region.
Steam turbines in high demand
April 29 – The market for steam turbines for power generation will grow around 6.5% through to 2027, driven by the build-out of combined-cycle gas power plants – notably in Asia and the United States, ResearchAndMarkets finds. Coal power projects in China, India and Bangladesh also require significant numbers of steam turbines. “Many of the countries in Asia-Pacific cannot provide 24-hour electricity to its citizens, and the cheapest way to achieve the objective is to build thermal [coal power] plants and use steam turbines,” analysts commented.
LNG-fuelled power for Antigua
April 28 – Antigua Power Company Limited (APCL) has contracted Wärtsilä to supply and install a 46 MW dual-fuel power plant on the Caribbean island. The plant will operate primarily on regasified LNG, imported through a small-scale import terminal developed by U.S.-based Eagle LNG in partnership with APCL.
ION launches risk analyser
April 27 – ION Commodities has built a cloud-based solution – FEA Analyzer – to help energy and commodity firms transition to new renewable energy markets while simultaneously optimizing trading strategies and supply chains. The tool combines pre-trade analytics with risk management and asset optimization, all powered by predictive analytics and stochastic models.
Capstone to service 600kV microturbine
April 26 – Capstone has landed a rental contract for a 600 kilowatt (kW) microturbine-based system with one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. Due for commissioning in mid-May 2022, the plant will supply power to remote mid-stream operations along the customer's gas pipeline in Colorado.
