Together with the industry partners Alstom and Rolls-Royce, DLR is enlarging its infrastructure in Cologne to develop environmentally-friendlier gas turbines. After a construction time of 18 months and an investment of some 50 million euros, the new high-pressure combustor test facility (HBK5) will start operation at the end of November 2014.
Regional grid operator ISO New England has declared that the northeastern U.S. is well placed to meet consumer demand for electricity this winter. However, it has raised concern that limited gas pipeline capacity may restrict the ability of power producers to procure gas for generating electricity.
National Grid's blackout prevention plan is in doubt after SSE's Peterhead power station, which is paid £250/MWh to provide electricity in an emergency this winter, has failed a test run.
LNG project developers in British Columbia have received the rates they will pay to power their liquefaction plants and facilities to assist them in setting out their final financial investment plans. Integrated Resource Plan, power provider BC Hydro indicated that it will need additional power sources by 2024, assuming an initial LNG load of 3,000 gigawatt hours per year.
State-run energy firm Ghana Gas is to pump an additional 30 million cubic feet of gas to the country’s Volta River Authority (VRA) in a bid to boost power output. Pipeline operator Ghana Gas Company suggested the increased supply will allow the VRA to produce an additional 100 MW of electricity.
The value of the global micro-CHP market will reach €3.2 billion in 2019, up from €0.9 billion this year. In Europe, however, engine-based solutions will continue to dominate, Delta-ee latest research forecasts.
Swiss chemical’s giant Ineos has announced an investment of £640m to develop shale gas production in the UK in a move that is hoped to create cheaper fuel for gas-fired power plants and reduce dependency on gas imports.
The Indian government is considering financial support for around 16,000 MW of stranded gas-fired power plants via the extension of loan tenures and lower interest rates.
Black & Veatch has awarded an order to Siemens for Power Island equipment, including two H-class turbines, that will be utilised at the newly developed 869 MW Oregon Clean Energy Center (OCEC) in northwest Ohio, U.S.
Concern over the availability of fuel supply has stalled the sale of 10 gas-fired power plants in Nigeria, according to the country’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Though Nigeria has vast natural gas reserves, the poor state of pipeline infrastructure coupled with ongoing terrorist attacks has meant that many plants are stranded with out available fuel.
Irish utility Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has warned against a prevalence of smaller power plants bidding into the upcoming capacity auctions. “Almost 4 GW of diesel gen as the low-CAPEX option seems to be preferred by capacity markets. However, these small-scale units of less than 50 MW have significantly higher operating costs, so we are playing a short-time game,” Claire Duffy, ESB's UK general manager told the Gas to Power Journal's UK Forum today.
"The first UK capacity auction is not going to help us," said David Stokes, Director at Timera Energy. The target is 48.6 GW, based on the existing demand curve, but the existing confirmed capacity to bid at auction is 55.8 GW. "This implies that at least 6 GW of older coal/CCGT capacity will be unsuccessful at auction," he told Gas to Power Journal's UK Forum in London today.
Targets for 2030 set out by the EU to tackle climate change need to combine policy with consideration of technology to achieve success, delegates at the Gas to Power UK Forum in London heard.
“Technology is not more important than targets - you need to have attention to both,” said Ann Gardiner, managing consultant at ECOFYS.
New gas power capacity, and to some extent existing coal, will be vitally important to keeping the lights on in Britain for years to come, according to Rupert Steele, Director of Regulation at ScottishPower.
"In a cold winter, where gas supply has been difficult, coal generation acted as a sort of demand-side management for gas power capacity," he told the Gas to Power Journal conference in London.
News in Brief
FlatFish drone inspects Shell fields off Brazil
May 25 – Shell and Petrobras have contracted Saipem to use its FlatFish subsea drone in pilot projects to inspect two ultra-deepwater oil and gas fields offshore Brazil in over 2,000-meter depth. Initial tests will be carried out at Saipem’s base in Trieste, Italy, with a view to deploying the drone to Brazilian waters in the third quarter of 2022.
Gazprom cuts off supplies to Finland
May 24 – Gazprom has completely suspended gas supplies to Gasum after the Finish company refused to pay in roubles, the two companies said in separate statements. Gasum is confident it will be able to supply all its customers with gas imported through the Balticconnector (2.6 Bcm/y) from Estonia.
Heisco wins tender in Kuwait
May 23 – Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Company (Heisco) has won a KD1.8 million ($6.4 million) tender – floated by the energy ministry of Kuwait – to install, examine and test four high voltage transformers at the Doha East Power Generation and Water Distillation Station. Heisco, founded in 1974 and listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, has developed into one of the largest energy engineering groups in the emirate.
JERA issues bond to finance power plant upgrades
May 20 – Japan’s leading LNG importer and power producer JERA has issued its first energy transition bond to help finance the accelerated deployment of decarbonisation technologies like hydrogen and ammonia co-firing, as well as the decommissioning of older thermal power stations. The bond is offered in two tranches: a 12 billion yen ($83 million) for a 5-year bond with a 0.420% per annum coupon, and a 8 billion yen $62 million) for a 10-year bond with a 0.664% rate coupon.
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.
