Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has deployed a “linear generator” – a mobile genset running on natural gas and biogas to displace diesel generators – at its Angwin microgrid in Napa County, California. Working with the local utilities Mainspring and NextEra Energy, PG&E installed the linear gensets for emergency power supply during winter storms.
Russia’s Gazprom has posted a 60% rise in net gas sales to 272.3 billion cubic metres for the six month ending June. Income from net sales doubled to 1.4 trillion Roubles ($19.8 billion), mainly due to the rise in average gas prices denominated in Rouble and higher volumes sold to Europe and China.
Mitsubishi Power, part of MHI Group, is developing combustion burners that can use ammonia (NH3) as zero-emission fuel in thermal power plants. Tests have been conducted with basic combustion furnaces to compile data on ammonia and coal co-firing and ammonia-exclusive firing, though the by-product nitrogen oxide (NOx) is still of some concern.
Japan’s largest LNG importer JERA has started a demonstration project for hydrogen co-firing at an LNG- fuelled power plant. Hydrogen does not emit CO2 when burnt; hence JERA is looking to co-fire its large-scale LNG thermal power plants in Japan with hydrogen or ammonia to achieve its zero-emission target.
Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, late Sunday, with 150 mph winds, devastating key energy infrastructure. Though the centre of the storm stayed some 45 miles southwest of New Orleans, the city experienced widespread power outages that accumulated to a full blown blackout.
British chemical company INEOS has dismissed the UK hydrogen strategy as “massively lagging behind Europe.” Whitehall said it would reach its 5 GW hydrogen target by 2030 by including hydrogen produced from natural gas through steam reforming, while the EU clearly favours ‘green’ hydrogen.
Researchers have measured the effect of microbes eating away some of the hydrogen stored in subsurface porous rocks. Though the majority of sites – 37 out of the 42 examined – are at risk of microbial effects, the actual hydrogen consumption is likely to be “negligible to small.”
Innowatts’ Core Analytics help power generators turn customer demand date into actionable insight. Analysis of smart meter data reduces forecasting errors by 20-40% which empowers the US retailer Direct Energy and the Colombian utility Celsia to tailor power plant dispatch, reduce the need to buy balancing energy and lower hedging costs.
TAQA Power, the Cairo-based subsidiary of TAQA Arabia, will set up a pilot project to locally produce green hydrogen in cooperation with MAN Energy Solutions. The German manufacturer will provide electrolysis technology for a hydrogen plant, due to run until autumn 2022.
Germany’s energy ministry (BWMi) has put forward rules to select areas for offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic Sea. In contrast to grid-connected wind farms which are chosen according to their guaranteed feed-in-tariff, the new offshore projects will generate green hydrogen directly at sea that is then brought ashore by ship or via pipelines.
The cost of producing hydrogen gas from renewables is forecast to fall sharply over the next decade, providing an affordable fuel to decarbonise the energy and transport sectors. In Germany and Texas, RES hydrogen costs could fall to $1.40 a kilogram by 2030 from the current range of $2.50 to $6.80, according to research published in Nature Energy.
Daroga Power, an investor and developer of distributed generation energy assets, has closed an infrastructure portfolio fund to deploy 32.85 MW of Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cells. Approximately 6 MW of fuel cells in the portfolio are already operational, and the additional ones will be deployed through the end of 2022.
Inventories of natural gas in the US will reach 3,592 billion cubic feet (Bcf) by November 1, the start of the winter heating season – nearly 160 Bcf less than usual. High withdrawals in winter 2020/21 were not replenished this summer as dry gas production stayed flat while US LNG exports keep rising, leaving little for storage.
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.
News in Brief
CCUS market to reach nearly $3bn in 2025
Oct 25 – The global carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) market will grow from $1.30 billion in 2020 to $1.46 billion in 2021, according to ResearchAndMarket estimates. The rebound comes as companies return to normal operations and sales, after a pandemic-related slowdown. Analysts expect the market will keep growing at a rate of nearly 20% annually to reach $2.97 billion by 2025.
SDG&E accelerates drive towards Net Zero by 2045
Oct 20 – San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) has set a new sustainability strategy, outlining new and accelerated goals to help meet its pledge to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2045. SDG&E it now seeks to operate a 100% zero emissions vehicle fleet by 2035 – five years earlier than planned.
B&W develops biomass-to-hydrogen plant in Australia
Oct 19 – B&W's Renewable segment and Port Anthony Renewables Ltd have started to develop a biomass-to-hydrogen energy project in Victoria, Australia, based on B&W’s BrightLoop technology. When completed, the plant is expected to be part of the largest green hydrogen hub in south-eastern Australia.
LNG prices rise faster than oil
Oct 18 – Liquefied natural gas and pipeline supplies have experienced an even sharper increase in prices in 2021 than oil, driven by a combination of circumstances that included a strong recovery in demand in North Asia, southeast Asia and Europe, unseasonal weather and planned and unplanned capacity outages.
Wärtsilä shaft gensets to power two LNG carriers
Oct 14 – The Finish technology group Wärtsilä has been awarded a contract to supply four shaft generators to provide electricity take-off from the main engines of two LNG carriers. The ships are being built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) shipyard in Korea on behalf of the Capital Gas Ship Management of Greece.
VoltH2 gets green light for large hydrogen plant
Oct 13 – Vision Hydrogen Corp has announced that its affiliate VoltHe has received building and environmental permits to realise its first large-scale hydrogen plant at the Dutch North Sea Port of Vlissingen. The 5 MW hydrogen plant is located near existing high voltage power and gas infrastructure as well as large wind power assets. Once operational, it will produce around 3,500 tons of green hydrogen per year and will be scalable to 100 MW or 14,000 tons.
Tesla overtakes German e-cars
Oct 12 – Sales of Tesla in Germany has overtaken that of leading German carmakers. In September, more electric Tesla Model 3s were registered in the country than leading domestic models, such as the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class combined.
EnerMech spends £500k on crane training tech
Oct 11 – EnerMech has invested £500,000 in new crane simulator training systems at its Luanda (Angola), Doha (Qatar) and Great Yarmouth (UK) facilities. The British company recently formed a joint venture with 3t Energy Group to bring the KraneSIM-6000 equipment to both Qatar and Angola and offer in-country training across client organisations globally.
Germany finances green hydrogen projects abroad
Oct 8 – The German government has agreed to support green hydrogen projects in other countries with up to €350 million by 2024, the economy ministry said when publishing a directive with relevant guidelines. Moreover, financial support is given to projects that produce and process green hydrogen for storage, transport and use in countries outside the EU through investment grants worth up to €15 million each.
UK e-car sales surge 186%
Oct 6 – Sales electric cars in the UK have surged 186% to a total of 108,000 in 2020 during the pandemic, up from just 38,000 in the previous year. Latest statistics show there were nearly 300,000 pure-electric cars on UK roads at the end of August 2021, and more than 600,000 plug-in models if including plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
FogHorn deploys AI software at Chugoku Electric Power in Japan
Oct 4 – FogHorn, developer of Edge AI software, has deployed its Internet of Things (IoT) software at the Chugoku Electric Power hydroelectric power plant. The AI solutions will make the power gen process more efficient and enhances workplace safety. Chugoku Electric Power employs nearly 9,200 workers across 114 power units in the western part of Honshū, the largest island of Japan.
Rolls-Royce supplies MTU engines for ferry propulsion
Oct 1 – Rolls-Royce's new MT engines, automation system, and MTU Go! tool for remote service have future-proofed the high-speed catamaran Avemar Dos, run by the Spanish operator Balearia. Four MTU 20V1163 M84 units replaced the previous 1163 units, taking the vessel to a "new level of ecological soundness," the manufacturer says.
GES appoints former Puma Energy Chairman as NED
Sept 30 – Global Energy Storage (GES) has appointed the former Puma Energy Chairman, Graham Sharp, as an NED. Graham will support GES on its ‘new energies’ strategy for the energy transition, focusing on hydrogen fuels and hydrogen carriers space.
Aggreko reaches 2 GW of live power gen capacity
Sept 29 – Aggreko has today announced it has reached 2GW of live global gas power capacity and growth in flare gas to power and stranded gas projects. This new record follows a milestone of exceeding 1GW of delivered flare gas power projects in 2020.
Wärtislä renews O&M agreement with Lafarge Africa
Sept 28 – The Finish technology group Wärtsilä has renewed a long-term Operation & Maintenance (O&M) agreement with Lafarge Africa, a large producer of building materials in Nigeria. The agreement covers the 100 MW Lafarge Ewekoro power plant, which provides a dedicated supply of electricity to the company’s concrete and cement manufacturing processes.
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.
