InterGen has secured a competitive Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract with Siemens on the basis of which it seeks tolling partners to underpin project finance for up to 2.1 GW of new gas-fired capacity at two UK sites, Spalding Energy in Lincolnshire and Gateway Energy Centre in Essex.
France's Alstom has struck a deal with RWE Generation to install its high performance MXL2 upgrade packages on all nine gas turbines at the 2,200 MW Pembroke and 1,650 MW Staythorpe facilities – Britain's two biggest combined-cycle power plants.
Construction has started on a manufacturing facility to produce fuel cell power plants in South Korea as part of a renewed partnership agreement between FuelCell Energy (FCE) and POSCO Energy. The facilitiy is expected to start producing in 2015 and will have an initial capacity of 100MW per year.
Fuel savings of 1-2% for combined cycle gas plants (CCGT) may be achieved thanks to research into the uses of hydrophobic surfaces conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). GE Research estimates suggest the development could eventually save industry $2.5 billion a year. "This technology can reduce the size of the condenser, reduce coolant pressure drop, and save money on capital cost and maintenance," Nenad Miljkovic, a researcher in the MIT team said, speaking to Gas to Power Journal.
GE's largest gas engine distributor, Clarke Energy, has introduced Trigeneration as a form cogeneration combined with high-tech cooling for industrial processes in hot countries like Tunisia, Australia and India. The cost benefit analysis of the system kicks in when temperatures blaze, whether it's for refrigeration or for air conditioning, according to Group Marketing and Compliance Manager, Alexander Marshall.
Gina McCarthy, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defended environmental regulations as a bid to move forward with President Obama's Climate Action Plan and to help promote investment in CCS technology for fossil power plants. "Our proposed rule on future power plants really looks at technology that we believe is available today," she told a US newscast.
The 169MW gas-fired Parnaiba-III plant started operation in Brazil this week, according to a statement from operator, Eneva. This is the third natural gas fired plant commissioned in the country by Eneva, a subsidiary of Germany's E.ON.
The Levelised Cost Of Energy (LCOE) for gas-fired CCGT power plants is 69 $/MWh, well ahead of LCOE for offshore wind at 220 $/MWh, a new report by the World Energy Council, in partnership with Bloomberg Energy Finance shows.
Bundesnetzagentur, Germany's energy regulator, has to decide on the 'system relevance' of 28 power plants with a combined capacity of 7GW that operators wish to shut-down due to a lack of profitability.
APR Energy has announced details of a deal to purchase GE's turbine power rental business for $314 million in cash and stock. The move will bolster APR's existing operations that provide turnkey mobile gas turbine power generators for customers on a fast-track basis.
Views of industry observers vary on how the Government's nuclear deal with EDF and Chinese investors may impact investment in new gas-fired capacity. "It is very hard to see the nuclear announcement as particularly good for gas-fired power generation investment as, all things being equal, it means we need less new gas plants than we did before the announcement," Trevor Sikorski, senior analyst at Energy Aspectus told Gas to Power Journal.
Wärtsilä has posted a 42% decrease in order intake for power plants in the third quarter, down to €261 million. The Finnish company said in its interim report today "significant exchange rate fluctuations in multiple emerging market currencies" have caused "delays in customer decision-making" that led to the plunge in order intake for power plants projects.
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.
