Rolls-Royce has invested over $600 million to revitalize manufacturing capabilities at its Indianapolis Operations Center. The upgraded facilities include digital engineering and robotics with a view to improving the company’s competitiveness in an increasingly contested marketplace for propulsion and power solutions.
GE has commissioned the Chia Hui combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Minxiong Township near Chiayi City in southwest Taiwan. Powered by a HA-turbine, the CHP adds approximately 535 MW of electricity to the grid – enough for 600,000 homes – as well as steam for district heating.
Wärtsilä will supply energy storage for the Beimen project in Kaohsiung city to help regulate grid frequency. The 5.2 MW / 5.2 MWh unit, ordered in early August, is due operational in the first quarter of 2022 and will help North Star earn revenue in Taiwan Power’s ancillary service market.
Heads of German industry are urging Berlin to allow the use of ‘blue’ hydrogen, made from natural gas while capturing carbon, for a transition period. 55% of the 2,500 surveyed decision makers, notably the steelmaker Thyssenkrupp and energy company RWE, want to use blue hydrogen which is cheaper to make than ‘green’ hydrogen.
Gas-burn for power generation will stay almost flat in India, as most of the country’s stranded gas-fired fleet is uncompetitive without subsidies or an outright collapse of international gas prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds. Solar photovoltaic (PV), in contrast, is poised for “explosive growth” in India, matching coal’s share within two decades.
Finish technology group Wärtsilä will supply a 250 MW / 250 MWh battery energy storage system to AGL Energy for installation at the 1,280 MW Torrens Island Power Station in South Australia by early 2023. AGL plans up to 1 GW of grid-scale energy storage across Australia, mostly to back up renewables.
Near curve gas prices at the Dutch TTF trading hub must stay above the 15% coal-to-gas fuel switch trigger to displace enough gas from power generation to bolster Europe’s pre-winter storage inventories. Energy Aspects sees upside on TTF prices to €46/MWh amid risks over Russian flows this winter due to a possible delay of Nord Stream 2.
Chicago-based Exelon Utilities is gearing up to half its operations-driven emissions by 2030 and ultimately get to net-zero by 2050. To that end, it will convert a third of its vehicle fleet to electric, invest in energy efficiency and modernise the gas grid to minimize methane leaks.
People in Britain will face a substantial rise in energy bills after the industry regulator Ofgem increases the cap on prices that power generators can charge. Ofgem today announced energy suppliers can charge customers roughly £139 more from October, and customers on prepayment contracts will have to shoulder a £153 raise.
Speed, scale and scope of converting natural gas pipelines to carry low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen will support “deeper decarbonisation,” alongside a renewables build-out, IHS Markit finds. Many industries can switch to gas to reduce their carbon intensity, and conversion costs are economically viable at $40-$60 per ton of carbon.
Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Power, part of MHI Group, has created a global network of TOMONI hubs to pre-warn operators of impending issues or needed corrective action to avoid unit trips or load reductions. The 840 MW Intermountain Power Project will use the hub to enhance the plant’s resilience and operational uptime.
Though green hydrogen, produced from variable wind and solar generation, can act as long-term energy storage – it is not economically viable yet. To get from 80,000 tonnes produced today to a required 35 million by 2035, governments will need to "heavily incentivise green hydrogen – and soon," analysts say, similar to past subsidies for renewables.
News in Brief
Rolls-Royce supplies MTU engines to Sanlorenzo
Sept 27 – Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems will become one of the leading engine suppliers for Sanlorenzo, delivering MTU 10V, 12V and 16V 2000 yacht engines with a compact IMO 3 solution. A framework contract from 2022 through 2024 has been signed at the Monaco Yacht Show.
Shell exits Permian Basin
Sept 24 – Royal Dutch Shell has sold all its upstream interested in US Permian Basin to ConocoPhillips for $9.5 billion in cash. Shell’s assets in the Permian include around 225,000 net acres with a current production of around 175,000 barrels per day equivalent.
Global biogas market tops $88bn in 2030
Sept 22 – The global biogas market is set to expand at a rate of 8.4% annually and reach $88.47 billion in 2025. According to ResearchAndMarkets, the main growth drivers are small-scale power generators that use biogas derived from municipal or agricultural waste through anerobic digestion. Europe was the largest region in the biogas market in 2020, though Asia Pacific recorded the fastest growth.
Fatih Birol on Time 100 list
Sept 20 – The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol has been named as one of the 100 most influential people by Time Magazine in its annual list. ““In a world where facts are assaulted, Fatih Birol combines the best of high-tech data, optimistic know-how and old-school rhetorical finesse,” US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry commented, suggesting the IEA head would use his authority to “slash carbon emissions and save our planet.”
Chevron lacks Net Zero target
Sept 17 – US oil major Chevron is plans to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions along its oil and gas value chain, but lacks a clear Net Zero target. CEO Mike Wirth told investors and shareholders “an ultimate pathway to net zero will require technology advancements, more ambitious government policy, and development of large offset markets.” Concrete steps will be revealed in next month’s update to Chevron’s climate change resilience report.
Paul Browning to lead MHI’s energy transition team
Sept 15 – Mitsubishi has appointed Paul Browning as deputy head of Energy Transition & Power Headquarters, Energy Systems at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Browning is currently CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas and will move to the new position on October 1, 2021.
Linde to help build liquefaction plant in Russia
Sept 14 – Gazprom has handed an EPC contract to Linde, Renaissance Heavy Industries and RusKhimAlyans, to build a gas liquefaction plant within the Gas Processing Complex (GPC) at the port of Ust-Luga, west of St Petersburg. The GPC will process ethane-containing gas into various fuels, and the two-Train liquefaction plant will have a design capacity for 13 million tons of LNG per year.
Santos completes Oil Search takeover
Sept 13 – Australian LNG exporter Santos has completed the takeover of Oil Search in a deal worth A$8.40 billion (US$6.25 billion). The all-share transaction brings together upstream oil and gas and LNG export assets in the Timor Sea, the Australian state of Queensland and in Papua New Guinea. Under the deal, Santos holds a 61.5% share of the merged company and Oil Search the remaining 38.5%.
Rolls-Royce goes green at DSEI trade show
Sept 10 – Rolls-Royce Energy Solutions is showcasing a range of sustainable power solutions at the DSEI trade show in London this week. The company’s is currently exploring how its Defence business can contribute to wider corporate objectives such as sustainability, electrification, and the development of digital technologies
Wärtsilä develops mobile battery for inland vessels
Sept 8 – Wärtsilä has developed and delivered a mobile battery container to enable inland waterway vessels to operate with zero emissions to ZES, a Dutch company founded in 2020 by ING Bank, the French utility Engie and the Port of Rotterdam. The two containers were delivered in June and the batteries are in continues operation since then.
EU-funds project for energy efficiency
Sept 7 – Today, the European Union (EU) funded HEATLEAP project has been launched to demonstrate the benefits of waste heat recovery systems such as large heat pumps for industries and gas expanders for electric utilities. Turboden will coordinate the project whereby heat pumps and gas expanders are tested at real scale.
EnerMech signs new deals in Americas
Sept 6 – Integrated solutions specialist EnerMech has secured several multi-sector contracts in the Americas. The multiple sector awards span the oil and gas, petrochemicals, maritime, and power generation industries. The largest contract is for nitrogen and leak testing of installations for an E&P operator in offshore Gulf of Mexico. As a result of these new awards EnerMech doubled its electrical team, and increased the number of mechanical pipefitters.
ACWA Power to hold IPO
Sept 3 – ACWA Power International has launched an initial public offering (IPO) to list its shares on the Saudi stock exchange, the Tadawul. The ACWA Power share sale will be the biggest in the Kingdom since the 2019 floatation of Saudi Aramco, which sold 1.5% of its shares and the trading debut valued the oil and gas business at $1.88 trillion.
Iran braces for winter gas shortage
Sept 2 – Iran’s Thermal Power Plant Holding (TPPH) has urged the energy ministry to take precaution to avoid fuel shortages in the coming winter. “We have faced serious problems last year due to the lack of gas and liquid fuel required by the power plants, and there is a concern that we will not be able to fully meet the country’s electricity needs this winter either,” said TPPH’s managing director Mohsen Tarztalab. Since households customers are prioritised and significantly increase their gas consumption in the coal season, power generators often have to resort to burning liquid fuels instead.
LYTT technology monitors carbon capture
Sept 1 – LYTT, a provider of real-time insights to oil and gas operators through a fiber optic sensor, LYTT is testing novel technology to monitor CO2 transport and migration in storage reservoirs together with SINTEF, an institute for applied research. Tracking dynamic multiphase flow is essential when monitoring the long-term effectiveness of carbon capture storage (CCS).
Gazprom invests in Russian gas grid
Sept 1 – Gazprom’s board of directors has approved 2.9 times more financing for new gas supply and infrastructure in 2021-2025 than in the previous five-year period. Over two-thirds of the investments will be made in rural areas, Gazprom explained, and by 2026, the gas grid expansion is planned to be “completed to the fullest extent possible in 35 regions of Russia.”
Woodside pioneers MAN’s Factory LNG solution
Aug 30 – Australian LNG pioneer Woodside is working with MAN to commercialise a solution for small-to-mid scale LNG production. Known as Factory LNG, concept involves a nominal 0.05 mtpa unit, the size of 40-foot ISO shipping container that can be transported via standard heavy-lift ships and trucks. The compact design shortens construction timeframes compared to traditional stick-built or modular LNG trains.
