E.ON UK has begun commercial operations at its Holford gas storage plant in Cheshire in the north-west of England. Once completed, the projected gas withdrawal rate at the facility will be 16 MMcm/day – sufficient to qualify the Holford gas storage plant as vital backup infrastructure for supplying fuel to gas-fired power plants.
General Electric (GE) will upgrade two 9B gas turbines to GE 9E gas turbines in an E.ON power plant in Trapani, located in the west of the Italian island of Sicily. E.ON selected GE to upgrade Trapani's two gas turbine trains from 85 MW and 89 MW, respectively, to 107.8 MWs per unit.
Indonesia's state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PTLN) is forging ahead with plans to increase LNG imports as a fuel for gas-fired power generation with the aim of denting the country's energy hunger. Nur Pamudji, PTLN's recently appointed president director, said a milestones in 2012 would be that "for the first time, we are going to utilize (LNG) in our electricity system".
BDEW, Germany's energy and water association, today released data on the country's power generation mix. Gas-fired generation was virtually unchanged at 14% in 2011. The share of renewable energies in the country's overall power generation mix surged by 20% in 2011, according to BDEW statistics. In 2011, renewable energies have already overtaken nuclear plants (18%) and coal-fired power generation (19%) in terms of market share.
China Machinery Engineering Corp (CMEC) has won a $1.19 billion contract to build a 1,260-MW gas-fired power station in Iraq. CMEC will construct the plant over a timeframe of 45 month in Salahuddin governorate north of Bagdhad, an Iraqi electricity ministery spokesman told local reporters during the signing ceremony in Baghdad on Thursday.
Societe Generale is anticipating that 2011 will be far worse than 2009 for gas demand. The year 2011 has so far seen a 9.3% yoy drop in gas consumption and a 1.9% decline in electricity demand, Societe Generale said in its latest SG Energy Pulse report.
General Electric's LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine technology was chosen for an expansion of a Russian power plant to meet growing electricity demand of the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, located on Sakhalin Island in eastern Russia.
China Gas has rejected a bid from China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and ENN Energy, saying the offer of $2 billion in cash to buy the entire company would not fully reflect its value. Sinopec and the Chinese gas distributor ENN Energy had made a joint bid of HK$3.50 ($0.45) a share for the Hong Kong-based gas distributor China Gas, they said in a regulatory filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange .
BG Group will sell the entire volume of natural gas produced at Kazakhastan's vast Karachaganak gas condensate field to local utilities for use in CNG vehicles and power generation. "All raw gas produced from the Karachaganak field is sold locally and into Russia or it is re-injected into the reservoir to help maintain reservoir pressure," Mark Todd, spokesman for BG Group, told 'Gas-to-Power Journal' today.
Siemens Energy has received a first order for the supply of its SGT-750 industrial gas turbine. The buyer is Wingas, a joint venture of the BASF subsidiary Wintershall and the Rus-sia's Gazprom. Siemens is responsible for supply, installation and commissioning of the SGT-750 gas turbine together with the generator and auxiliaries, and for the electrical infrastructure for the grid connection.
Alstom, the French engineering company, has secured a contract worth €400 million to build the 728MW gas-fired power plant in Al Mansuriya, north east of Baghdad in Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The first unit of the plant is slated to start operations in early 2013.
Siemens has started to build a new combustion test center for gas turbines near Berlin, the German engineering company announced today. "We are investing 66 million euros to be able to study and validate the combustion processes in gas turbines in our own test center," said Roland Fischer, CEO of the Fossil Power Generation Division within the Siemens Energy Sector.
Stadtwerke Düsseldorf's board has approved the construction of a 400 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant in the city to come online in 2016. The German municipal utility took a final investment decision (FID) on the plant, taking into account projections on fuel costs and the expected balance between electricity supply and demand in Germany.
Germany's E.ON is on track to comply with the new regulation to power generation assets in the UK against the dangers of climate change such as flooding, Richard Busby, E.ON's Environment Manager said. E.ON has identified this risk at two of its power stations and has now introduced new Reverse Osmosis water treatment plants to tackle the problem. The Enfield power station doesn't have access to river water for cooling and has to use air for cooling.
Enterprise planning combined with project execution is deemed to be the way forward for unleashing the value of integrated power generation solution, Oracle – IFS Partner said in a White Paper emailed to 'Gas-to-Power Journal' today.
News in Brief
Blackout after fire at Madison substation
July 22 – Electricity is gradually being restored at Madison, Wisconsin, after 13,000 people experience a blackout following an explosion at a substation near Madison Gas & Electric’s 100 MW gas-fired Blount Generating Station. No injuries were reported.
Fuel switch could abate 1.2bn tons of CO2
July 19 – Some 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 could be abated by switching to gas using existing infrastructure, if prices and regulation are supportive. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this would be enough to bring global CO2 emissions back down to where they were in 2013.
IEA launches methane tracker
July 18 – A new ‘methane tracker’, launched by the International Energy Agency (IEA), provides up-to-date estimates of current oil and gas methane emissions by drawing on the best available data. Analysts stressed methane emissions could be reduced by nearly half at no net cost.
Canada’s CO2 tax also affects gas power
July 17 – Change in Canada’s carbon tax regulation for new power plants has changed to also affect cleaner-burning, gas combined-cycle power stations starting from 2021. The move could cause SaskPower to reconsider its planned upcoming Moose Jaw gas power station.
MAN, Daewoo, HSD partner on engine digitalization
July 16 – MAN Energy Solutions, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and HSD Engine (HSD) have signed a strategic agreement to cooperate in the field of marine engine systems digitization. The three companies also work together on auxiliary systems and data analysis, aiming to apply part of their know-how to power generation and related sectors.
Canada launches first utility-scale smart microgid
July 15 – The Ontario-based municipal utility North Bay Hydro Services is cooperating with the smart grid solutions firm S&C Electric to launch Canada’s first utility-scale microgrid system. Among some solar power, the 789KW microgrid system will be powered by two 265kW natural gas generators.
Macquarie funds Mexican power plant
July 12 – Macquarie Capital has chosen Credit Agricole, Natixis and SMBC to co-finance a $380 million combined-cycle gas power plant. The 560 MW plant is designated to be built in San Louis Potosi, a city in central Mexico.
B&V launches distributed energy group
July 11 – Black & Veatch has launched a dedicated distributed energy group to place its conventional power business in the context of the global energy transition. The distribute energy group will look into new fuel sources such as hydrogen and aspires to “re-power the more-than-century-old power industry.”
Funding secured for Kazah CHP project
July 10 – Kazinform Erg has committed to spend $500 million on a gas cogeneration station that will provide heat and electricity to the south of Kazakhstan. Over 87% of Kazakhstan’s electricity is generated from fossil fuels, and in 2018 the country produced 107,060 billion kWh of electricity, a 3.8% increase over the previous year and enough to cover total power use of 103,228 kWh.
Bitcoin mining uses much energy
July 9 – Estimates of bitcoin’s electricity consumption are wide-ranging, on the order of 20‑80 TWh annually. According to George Kamiya, digital energy analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA), bitcoin mining consumed around 45 TWh in 2018 although this has risen significantly this year. Through the first six months of 2019, bitcoin mining has already consumed an estimated 29 TWh.
Coal exit doesn’t impact Germany's supply security
July 8 – Electricity supply security in Germany is set to stay “very high” even as the country begins to phase out coal-fired power generation, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) said in a monitoring report. “Energy supply is adequately ensured”, the ministry said, in all scenarios examined up to 2030. Thereafter, things are less clear but the German Coal Commission is adamant that its proposal to exit coal power by 2038 is feasible and won’t seriously impact reserve margins.
Hydrogen demo plant starts in Adelaide
July 5 – The Australian Gas Networks (AGN), part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), has received A$4.9 million in government funding for an A$11.4m hydrogen electrolyser demonstration project at the Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide. At the test site, AGN plans to blend 5% renewable hydrogen with natural gas for supply to customers using its existing gas distribution networks. The project is based on a Siemens proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser, running based on wind and solar power.
Wärtsilä forms biogas solution
July 4 – Wärtsilä Puregas Solutions, specialists in biogas upgrading technology, has merged with Wärtsilä’s biogas liquefaction team to create a one-stop-shop service for biofuel production. Having installed the world’s largest bioLNG facility in Skogn, Norway, Wärtsilä will deliver two more bio-LNG plants to customers in Scandinavia. The company’s Puregas CA process recovers more than 99.9% of the biomethane present in raw biogas.
PNM to close San Juan Generating Station
July 3 — New Mexico's largest energy holding, PNM Resources, has filed an application to the Public Regulation Commission to close the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station. For replacement power, PNM said the preferred option was a mix of gas power plants, solar and wind farms and new battery storage facilities. The utility strives to be ‘emissions-free’ by 2040.
ADB opens office in Singapore
July 2 — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to open an office in Singapore. The lean office with twelve staff will focus on the expansion of its private sector operations, e.g. through Public-Private Partnerships. “We estimate that developing Asia will need $1.7 trillion per year in infrastructure investments until 2030 to maintain the region’s growth momentum,” commented Singapore’s finance minister Heng Swee Keat.
Testing starts at Haliade-X
July 1 – Technology testing has started at GE’s Haliade-X, the world’s biggest offshore wind turbine. The 12 MW nacelle and 107-metre long blade was shipped to the UK as part of an advanced technology testing program, focused on enhancing the platform before it enters into serial production in 2021.
Tata to build UK’s first CCUS plant
June 28 – Tata Chemicals has announced plans to build the UK’s first industrial-scale Carbon Capture, Usage and Demonstration plant at its Northwich industrial site. The CCUD unit will be built at an estimated cost of£16.7 million and is planned to start operation in 2021. It will make use of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power plants and turn it into sodium bicarbonate, which can then be sold to pharmaceutical industries.
