The European Commission has warned Ireland that it must fully transpose the Electricity Directive of the third energy package into law or face referral to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The directive contains provisions for the proper functioning of European Union electricity markets such as rules on the unbundling of networks, rules strengthening the independence and powers of national regulators and rules on the improvement and functioning of retail markets.
The share of gas in the UK's generation mix fell from 39.9 percent in 2011 to 27.5 percent in 2012 – its lowest share in the mix since 1996 – due to high gas prices, according to statistics released on Thursday by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Coal's share in the mix by contrast increased from 29.5 percent in 2011 to 39.3 percent in 2012. Total electricity generated in 2012 fell by 1.3 percent from 367.8TWh in 2011 to 363.2TWh in 2012.
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, has started-up operations of the Cape Canaveral Next Generation Clean Energy Center in Florida. The gas-fired combined-cycle plant with a capacity of over 1,200 MW cost FPL $900 million to build, coming in $140 million under budget.
Two turnkey 744MW gas-fired combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) projects in Oman, Sohar 2 and Barka 3, have been completed and commissioned by Siemens Energy and its consortium partner, the South Korean EPC contractor GS E&C. The plants originally went into simple-cycle operation in 2012 to meet Oman's increasing demand for electricity before being put into commercial operation in combined-cycle mode this month to meet peak electricity demand during the upcoming summer.
The successful deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS) in power generation will be crucial to achieving the UK's climate change goal of an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, says a new report from Carbon Connect. "Electricity supply will likely need to rise significantly by 2050, and decarbonising the power sector beyond 2030 without CCS would be expensive and politically challenging," the report reads.
Introducing capacity payments for power producers in Germany is deemed "inevitable" by 2017, UBS analysts say, as hard coal and gas-fired power plants need additional incentives for operating during peak-demand hours or for balancing intermittent renewable energy supply.
Relative gas and coal prices will have a significant impact on the future energy mix in the US, according to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) 2013 Annual Energy Outlook. Under the EIA's Reference case, natural gas power plants will begin to lose their competitive advantage over time as natural gas prices increase relative to coal, making up 28 percent of the generation mix in 2040. This represents a rise from the 2011 level of 24 percent but falls short of the 42 percent that would be expected under the EIA's High Oil and Gas Resource case.
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) announced on Tuesday that it will seek approval to construct a new natural gas-fired power plant named the Wildcat Point Generation Facility near the town of Rising Sun, Maryland on existing property of its Rock Springs Generation Facility. ODEC says the plant will generate about 1000MW of power – enough to supply 390 000 homes annually – and is expected to become operational in 2017.
Germany's 'green' energy policies are failing to provide their intended emissions reductions , says John Rhys, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), arguing that phasing out nuclear will continue to increase coal use significantly. "Germany does not promote CCS (...) and it is also foregoing gas," he said in an opinion piece published by the Institute, claiming "Germany's simultaneous capitulation to anti-nuclear prejudice and willingness to compromise on cheap high CO2 emissions coal is therefore a disappointment to British supporters of EU ambitions to lead on climate change".
A coalition of 10 US states and 5 cities lead by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has filed a court brief urging the US Supreme Court at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review and reverse a lower court decision that invalidated an EPA rule requiring substantial cuts in the interstate transport of air pollution.
Success in the micro Combined Heat and Power (CHP) market is dependent on having a standardised, efficient and cost effective generation unit, Jean-Pierre Van Wingen, General Manager of E. Van Wingen (EVW) told COGEN Europe's annual conference in Brussels. "It is essential that you have a standard product. It needs to be competitive and have a low price and that is only possible when you have a concept that can be produced in volume," he said, adding that "production in volume also allows you to have standardized service and decrease marketing costs."
Gas-fired distributed power projects in the UK will benefit from specific support schemes, including capacity mechanisms, which are forthcoming as part of a new regulatory package stipulated under the Electricity Market Reform, says Dr. Jim Fitzgerald, Associate Partner at The Advisory House.
"Contracts for Difference (CfD) will differentiate on technology, with different auction prices for each low carbon technology. We expect a specific capacity mechanism to be put in place to enhance support available for distributed gas fired power generation projects," he told Gas to Power Journal in an interview.
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.
