Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 166 July 17, 2014

WELCOME

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· Coal-fired Power Generators to Spend $400 Billion On New Plants and Upgrades Next Year

· Asia Will Account For 43 Percent of the Air and Water Monitoring Market Next Year

Coal-fired Power Generators to Spend $400 Billion On New Plants and Upgrades Next Year

Hundreds of new units and thousands of upgrades to coal-fired boilers in 2015 will generate a market of over $400 billion. This is the conclusion reached by the McIlvaine Company by aggregating the projects in the Utility Upgrade Tracking System and World Power Generation Projects. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

East Asia will be the biggest investor in new coal-fired power plants. There are nearly 160 boilers averaging 600 MW which will be scheduled to start operation 2015.

The new boiler additions in China are going to be fewer over the next five years than were reached at the peak, but will average 19,000 MW/yr.

There are hundreds of upgrade projects in the U.S. Most are to meet more stringent environmental rules. The European Union is undertaking a significant number of upgrade projects as well. Even though the average Chinese coal-fired boiler is much newer than those in the U.S., there are a surprisingly large number of upgrades in progress. The retrofitting of 400,000 MW with SCR is such a large expenditure that it exceeds the entire U.S. upgrade program.

Asia Will Account For 43 Percent of the Air and Water Monitoring Market Next Year

Sales of instrumentation and controls to monitor air and water will exceed $23 billion in 2015. Asia will account for 43 percent of the total. This is the conclusion reached in Air and Water Monitoring: World Market published by the McIlvaine Company. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

China will account for 25 percent of the total expenditures. This may be one reason that the world air pollution control research center for Thermo Fisher is located in this country. The biggest growth segment within the Chinese market is associated with coal. The amount of air and water monitoring equipment purchased in association with coal-to-chemicals and coal-to-syngas plants in China will exceed the total monitoring expenditures for conventional petrochemical plants in any other country of the world.

The projects converting coal-to-syngas will consume large quantities of water. This requires intake and process monitoring. Monitoring of wastewater quality, pH and other parameters are also necessary. These projects generate pollutants which must be monitored. They also require sophisticated process controls in the gas stream.

In the large coal-to-chemicals program, both air and water monitors are required. China is also the largest producer of cement where both air pollution and gas process controls are needed. As a leading semiconductor producer, China buys expensive monitors to precisely measure minute quantities of contaminants in the ultrapure water needed to wash the chips.

The Chinese government is increasing its enforcement activities and requiring more extensive use of continuous monitors both for air and water. The highly polluted air and water throughout the country will continue to be a big driver of the market.

Electrostatic precipitator owners will spend $15 billion on new systems and repairs of existing systems in 2015. This will represent no increase over 2014. This is the latest prediction in the McIlvaine publication, Electrostatic Precipitator World Market. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Despite the very sizable $5 billion expenditure for new systems in East Asia, it is this sector which will be smaller than 2014.

China utilizes electrostatic precipitators on most new coal-fired power plants. In the past, there have been years when China constructed electrostatic precipitators to handle 70,000 MW of generation capacity. In 2015, the total will be only 55,000 MW and will fall to 20,000 MW/yr over the next few years.

This is assuming the Chinese do not switch to fabric filters for particulate control. New particulate regulations will make it difficult to meet the limits with precipitators. Major forecast changes will be necessary if any massive switch is undertaken.

There is a $7 billion market for repairs and service which is going to increase at 5 percent per year over the short term. In addition to standard repairs, there are significant upgrade expenditures to meet tighter emission limits. In the U.S., there are installations of dry sorbent injection (DSI) where the SO₂ reacts with lime or sodium compounds in the ductwork. The resulting sulfates are captured in the precipitator. The sodium tends to lower resistivity and, therefore, to increase precipitator efficiency. The lime injection can increase resistivity and lower precipitator efficiency. With high SO₂ levels, the quantity of sulfate equals that of the flyash. So, even if precipitator efficiency remains constant, the total particulate will double. Precipitators are being upgraded to prevent an increase in emissions.

EDF Renewable Energy has placed a firm order with Vestas for 450 megawatt (MW) of wind turbine generators, for projects in New Mexico and Kansas. The order is part of the Master Supply Agreement (MSA) announced in September 2013.

“EDF Renewable Energy is pleased to be working with Vestas to bring an additional 450 MW of U.S. wind projects online by the end of 2015,” said Ryan Pfaff, Executive Vice President of EDF Renewable Energy. “The projects have long-term power purchase agreements in place with creditworthy counterparties, and will create new construction and long-term operations jobs in the local communities.”

Juhl Renewable Energy Systems Appointed Lead Contractor for Rooftop Solar Installations in City of Chicago

Juhl Renewable Energy Systems, Inc. a subsidiary of Juhl Energy, Inc. and an experienced provider of solar, wind and battery storage systems for homeowners, small business, municipal governments, schools and farming operations, is pleased to announce that it’s been named as lead contractor for all rooftop installations through Solar Chicago, a new program serving Chicago, IL and several neighboring villages.

Juhl Renewable Energy Systems partnered with Microgrid Solar and local Chicago-based installation contractors Ailey Solar and Kapital Electric to jointly submit a coordinated proposal in response to a competitive Request for Proposal solicitation issued by the Solar Chicago Program Administrator, Vote Solar, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organizations. A community evaluation committee selected the Juhl Renewable Energy Systems Team as the Solar Chicago contractor. In addition to helping participants determine if solar is a good fit for their home, the team will also offer financing through Admirals Bank.

Solar Chicago is offering rooftop solar panel installations to residential property owners through September 30th at 25 percent below market rates through a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Vote Solar. The idea, announced on July 9, 2014, is to jumpstart solar installations in the city, according to Chicago's Chief Sustainability Officer Karen Weigert. Similar programs have kicked off hundreds of installations in other regions.

Maevelle Energy announced it has been awarded a contract in joint venture with 4i's CNMI, LLC and Alexander Drilling of CNMI to begin work assessing geothermal resource potential for Saipan, the largest island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The contract was issued by the Commonwealth Utilities Commission (CUC) of CNMI.

Although the potential for geothermal energy was highlighted in reports issued by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2010, advancing exploration on CNMI has, until now, been delayed. With this announcement the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) is advancing the islands renewable energy plan with this bold commitment to geothermal exploration and resource development. Heavily reliant on diesel fuel for electric power generation, CNMI is challenged to provide electricity at reasonable rates due to rising fuel costs. Developing alternative energy sources such as geothermal power is key to plans which the CUC has been meticulously developing to ensure long-term, stable, and affordable energy sources for the people of CNMI. Once verified and with strategic planning, geothermal could be integrated into the islands' grid, providing energy diversity and stable base loads while lowering consumer rates and eliminating a portion of the islands' import costs by reducing the need for oil supply.

Optimus Technologies First to Receive EPA Approval on Advanced Biofuel Conversion Solution for Commercial Trucks

Optimus Technologies announced two significant milestones. First, it is the first to receive U.S. EPA Approval for an advanced biofuel conversion solution for existing medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Second, while approved for a wide range of fuel types, it is also the first to achieve compliance for use with pure biofuel derived from recycled cooking oil. Since the solution reduces fleet fuel costs up to 25 percent and reduces lifecycle emissions up to 80 percent without the prohibitive start-up costs of compressed natural gas (CNG), it creates new business opportunities for advanced biofuel providers, from biodiesel refiners to ethanol refiners and cooking oil recyclers.

The solution is based on a combination of Optimus’ Vector bi-fuel (diesel or biofuel) conversion system ― hardware and software that bolts-on to existing diesel engines ― and certified, pure biofuel. Fuels tested were derived from a variety of bio-sources including non-food grade corn oil, recycled cooking oil, and pure biodiesel (B100). While Optimus may be first to the U.S. market, such solutions have been available in Europe for more than a decade.

Three Washington state utilities have been awarded $14.3 million in matching grants from the state's new Clean Energy Fund to lead energy storage projects with ties to federally funded research at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The winning utilities' projects and their ties to PNNL and DOE are described below:

· Avista Utilities of Spokane, WA, was awarded $3.2 million. Its project includes installing a UET flow battery in Pullman, WA, to support WSU's smart campus operations. PNNL will collaborate with WSU to develop a control strategy for this project. Avista is participating in the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project and previously received a DOE Smart Grid Investment Grant.

· Puget Sound Energy of Bellevue, WA, was awarded $3.8 million. Its project includes installing a lithium-ion battery. As part of a previous project that was jointly funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, Primus Power, Puget Sound Energy and DOE, PNNL analyzed the costs and benefits associated with installing energy storage at various sites within PSE's service territory.

· Snohomish County Public Utility District No. 1 of Everett, WA, was awarded $7.3 million. Its project includes installing a UET flow battery and a lithium-ion battery. This project builds on experience gained and equipment and technologies installed with a DOE Smart Grid Investment Grant.

· Navasota to build three 543 MW Gas-fired Peaking Power Plants in Texas

· EPA finalizes Greenhouse Gas Permit for Golden Spread Electric in Hale County, TX

· PMFG, Inc. awarded New SCR System Orders for Taiwan valued at More Than $10 Million

· Uzbekistan intends to construct Two Combined Cycle Power Plants at Syrdarya TPP

· Firms to build 5,715-MW Natural Gas-fired Power Plants in the Philippines

· Drax wins €300 million EU Grant to trap and store CO₂

· Avista closes Deal to buy Juneau Utility

· Chesapeake Energy selling Marcellus Shale assets for $336 Million

· POWER Engineers, Inc. announces acquisition of Burns and Roe Enterprises

· Chinese Coal-to-Liquids and Gas Program Could Completely Change the World Energy Markets

§ “Gas Turbine Emission Control” Webinar on July 17^th will focus on NO_x, CO and Toxics

There is a big initial investment in wet FGD. Operation and maintenance costs are also significant. Regulators in the U.S. and China are putting pressure on operators to increase removal efficiency. There are new challenges as regulations on mercury capture, wastewater and solid waste can dictate changes in wet FGD operation and design.

A new website, Wet Calcium FGD-Continuing Analysis, is being created for power plants which are making decisions about new or replacement systems as well as improved operation of existing FGD systems. This site will be freely accessed. It is part of a whole new wikinomics concept - Continuous Analyses. Periodic webinars will be free to utilities. The goal is to make this site the default starting point for utility decision makers.

This first webinar will be introductory, but will be enhanced with insights from the following panelists.

Scott D. Miller, PE, Director of Engineering Technology, Advatech - A URS & MHPSA Company

Scott Fraley, Sr., Technical Specialist, FGT Markets, Carmeuse Lime & Stone Technology Center

Pete Klipfel, Gardner Denver (In DB as IDEX Fluid & Metering/ Versa-Matic Pump Company)

Specific Issues which will be continually analyzed include, but are not limited to:

For the complete Hot Topic schedule and registration information see below. The webinar on July 24 is free to power plant operators and McIlvaine subscribers. There is a charge for others.

On Thursday at 10 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting on important energy and pollution control subjects. Power webinars are free for subscribers to either Power Plant Air Quality Decisions or Utility Tracking System. The cost is $300.00 for non-subscribers.

See below for information on upcoming Hot Topic Hours. We welcome your input relative to suggested additions.

DATE		SUBJECT
	July
	24		Wet Calcium FGD
	31		Mercury Sorbent Options
	August
	7		MATS Timing and Technology Options
	14		Industrial Boiler and Cement MACT Timing and Compliance Options
	21		MEGA Symposium
	28		Demineralization and Degasification
	September
	4		Hot Gas Filtration
	11		Power Plant Pumps
	18		Power Water Monitoring
	25		Power Plant Water Treatment Chemicals

· Navasota to build three 543 MW Gas-fired Peaking Power Plants in Texas

· PMFG, Inc. awarded New SCR System Orders for Taiwan valued at More Than $10 Million

· Firms to build 5,715-MW Natural Gas-fired Power Plants in the Philippines

· Drax wins €300 million EU Grant to trap and store CO₂

· Avista closes Deal to buy Juneau Utility