Power Air Quality Insights No

				Power Air Quality Insights No. 42 February 9, 2012

WELCOME

The following insights can be sent to you every week. This alert contains the details on the upcoming hot topic hour, breaking news, and the headlines for the Utility E Alert for the previous week. This is one of a number of free services. You can sign up for any of these newsletters and of course request to be removed from the mailing list at any time. See registration following the newsletter.

· “Hot Topic Hour” on February 16, 2012 is “Power Plant Cooling Towers and Cooling Water Issues”

“Hot Topic Hour” on February 16, 2012 is “Power Plant Cooling Towers and Cooling Water Issues”

Power plants utilize significant quantities of water mostly for cooling purposes while generating electrical energy. The most common method for cooling is flowing water withdrawn from a well, river, lake or ocean once through a heat exchanger and then discharging the water back into the source. Cooling towers that recirculate the water multiple times before discharging it are generally used only where water is scarce. This situation however is about to change and the use of open or closed recirculating cooling water systems may become necessary throughout the power industry.

Proposed rules on power plant water intake and discharge as well as an increasing scarcity of fresh water will drive this change. Although intake screens may be a solution to the proposed Section 316(b) Phase II Rule on water intake structures, many plant operators may select a much more expensive cooling tower as the best alternative considering the discharge rules. The EPA estimates that about 670 power plants will be affected by this rule. McIlvaine Company has estimated that 343 fossil plants and 42 nuclear plants would have to install cooling towers and recirculate 150,000 MGD after the final discharge rules are issued. The tighter air pollution rules recently finalized may also drive utilities to adopt cooling towers since the towers can help reduce emissions of SO₃ and particulates.

The adaption of a cooling tower is not done without other problems however. Maintaining water quality to prevent scale and fouling is one. Permitting issues other than those related to 316(b) that are unique to cooling towers is another.

The following speakers will address the latest cooling tower technology, maximizing exchange efficiency to improve efficiency and reduce evaporation loses, water maintenance issues, affect on other pollutants and other cooling water issues such as economic factors promoting or discouraging water conservation, alternative sources of water to reduce freshwater withdrawal and energy consumption for example municipal wastewater or gray water and reuse of plant wastewater, current and future regulatory compliance issues affecting power plant water intake, use and discharge and current and developing technologies to enhance water quality and reuse during all phases of the power generation process:

Mark Gerath, Technical Director, Water Resources, AECOM Environment, will discuss planning for the pending section 316(b) rule. His presentation will briefly summarize USEPA’s proposed 316(b) Rule published in 2011, including potential issues and challenges for compliance. Perceptions on likely changes in the final Rule expected this summer and strategies to facilitate compliance will also be discussed.

Larry Schimmoller, P.E., Global Technology Leader - Water Reuse at CH₂MHill, will review two case studies of using municipal reclaimed water for cooling water applications at power plants. Population growth, climate change, drought and dwindling water supplies have increased the beneficial use of municipal wastewater, including its application for cooling water at power plants. This presentation will discuss water quality considerations specific to reclaimed water use at power plants and will review two case studies of power plants using reclaimed municipal wastewater.

Ivan A. Cooper, P.E., B.C.E.E., Practice Leader at Golder Associates NC, Inc, will discuss water management issues at power plants. The use of open or closed recirculating cooling water systems may become necessary throughout the power industry. Proposed and new rules on power plant water intake and discharge as well as an increasing scarcity of fresh water will drive this change. However, the adaption of a cooling tower is not done without other problems. This presentation will describe some of the options available and the problems associated with them.

Trent Gathright, Product Manager, Power & Intakes at Energy Group-Americas, Ovivo USA, LLC, will discuss Intake Screens, Fish Handling, and general plant cooling water systems.

Matthew L. Haikalis, Technical Resource Engineer at Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies of Crown Solutions, will discuss water treatment for recirculating cooling water. Cooling water treatment demands can change when switching from a once-through system to a cooling tower system. These demands require significant thought when determining technologies that allow for optimal system control while managing economics, environmental impact and operational and maintenance requirements. Perhaps the most significant demand for cooling tower water treatment programs is the ability to control biofilm and microbiological activity, but also the cycling effect of a cooling tower effects scale control and corrosivity. Retention time of a tower compared to once-through cooling is also a significant factor.

To register for the Hot Topic Hour on February 16, 2012 at 10 a.m. (central time), click on:

Between India and China there will be more coal-fired power plants built in the next seven years than exist in the U.S. India will add over 100,000 MW and China over 300,000 MW. In the meantime, the U.S. fleet will hover around 300,000 MW with a slight net reduction from the 320,000 MW peak. But, with the MATS and other regulations, the U.S. will be buying lots of power plant air pollution control equipment.

The reality, however, is that air pollution purchases by U.S and Western European, coal-fired power plants in the next seven years will be relatively small compared to ROW. Asia will be the big market. Japan has to offset the nuclear reductions. Vietnam has a big coal-fired program. All these power plants will have efficient particulate control equipment. Most of the Asian plants will be equipped with scrubbers and a fair number will also purchase SCR systems. Do the Asians share our environmental values and should they?

While you are receiving this e-mail, McIlvaine will be conducting a webinar on MATS. One of the questions to be probed is the $9 million value set on human life by EPA in justifying the MATS cost. There has been push back from industry who point out that the value was previously closer to $7 million.

This is an important issue because it forms the basis for all the justification of our environmental laws. McIlvaine believes a completely new approach is desirable. This approach has to take into account life quality (not just quantity), the discounted present value of future benefits and the tribal discount.

One argument is that global warming reduction investment appeals to rich people a lot more than poor people. The reason is that it is a present sacrifice for a future benefit. Poor people as well as rich people are willing to sacrifice for their children and maybe even their grandchildren. But the sacrifice is greater and the benefits less certain for poor people. If the children starve to death in the next few years, then the global warming impacts 20 or 40 years from now are going to be irrelevant.

There are still hundreds of millions of people in India and China whose life expectancy and quality of life are low. So it is very hard to argue that they should not take the least expensive course for generating the power to improve that condition. The radically different approach to measuring the benefits and harm of any endeavor, have been posted in the McIlvaine Global Knowledge Orchard under: Sustainability Universal Rating System.

Pictured below is Dan Kietzer, Environmental Market Manager, SICK Maihak, Inc.

Dan was involved in several speeches plus activity at the SICK stand. So he had a busy week. SICK’s has technologies for in-situ and extractive gas analysis and measurement instrumentation for dust, opacity and flow. They have over 60 years of technical experience serving the industries of power, cement, refining, petrochemical, natural gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, waste incineration, water treatment, pulp and paper, steel, food and beverage, glass and other areas.

Pictured below, left to right, from Novinda are Jay Crilley, VP Sales, Megan Koeberle, Office/HR Manager and Scott Terhune, VP Business Development.

Formed in 2009 as a spin out of CH₂M HILL to commercialize environmental technologies for the power utility industry, Novinda is a technology company that has pioneered a commercially available, non-carbon mercury control product that is one hundred percent compatible with fly ash use in concrete products. The product, Amended Silicates, is a reagent that removes mercury via chemical reactions, rather than through absorption technologies.

Pictured below, left to right, from Schick Environmental Systems are Eric Jegen, Engineering Manager, Environmental Systems Group and Dennis Marx, Environmental Systems Manager, Environmental Systems Group.

Schick USA has been active in the activated carbon injection (ACI) process for mercury removal in flue gas streams since 1997. They have engineered manufactured and installed convey systems for various FGD applications, including PAC, Trona, sodium bicarbonate, limestone and hydrated lime. Their systems include self-contained, factory assembled and tested, skid mounted designs within bulk storage silos. They also offer bulk bag unloading systems configured to either discharge sorbent as a bulk solid or slurry for small volume systems. Services include CFD modeling, custom PLC programming and DCS interface, and injection manifold/lances.

The market for FGD hardware and components will exceed $7.8 billion in 2012. When you add another $4 billion for reagents and chemicals the total outlay will be close to $12 billion this year. This is the latest forecast in the ever changing FGD World Markets published by the McIlvaine Company (www.mcilvainecompany.com).

The big driver will be new coal-fired power plant construction in Asia. Over the next ten years, the Asian countries will average over 50,000 MW of new coal-fired power plant construction. Some will not have FGD, but they will be offset by Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese retrofits and replacements. The result will be a $5 billion/yr Asian FGD market over the rest of the decade even with the price discounts in China.

In the U.S. there is a growth spurt brought about by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). This will result in investment in dry sorbent injection (DSI) for those power plants with low sulfur emissions, efficient precipitators and/or precipitators which need replacement. Contrary to popular belief, utilities are unlikely to spend the money for DSI and new fabric filters if the above parameters are missing. The reason is that the combination is as expensive as a wet system which does not require any ESP replacement. Further, the reagent and operating costs will be more with the DSI/fabric combination.

Another parameter is anticipated coal plant life. This, in turn, is a function of the price of natural gas. Here a distinction needs to be made. It is not the actual future price of natural gas, but the perception of that price by the utility decision maker. There could easily be a repetition of the 2000 experience which resulted in the closure of a number of gas-fired power plants.

Uncertainty relative to future regulations is another driver. The DSI injection can be an inexpensive initiative to meet the regulations over the next few years. There are already instances where utilities have elected to choose DSI, but are also planning for longer term wet FGD systems.

Another factor is the perceived ability of the sorbent supplier industry to deliver its product at a reasonable price over the next decade. There was a chicken and egg problem a few years ago. Lime producers were willing to build new plants but needed assurance that there would be a market for their products. This lack of assured supply led some utilities to select wet limestone. This time around, sorbent suppliers will need some guarantees before making the large investments in manufacturing facilities.

Most renewable power needs to be transmitted to the grid. Fortunately new transmission lines are being installed in many parts of the country. McIlvaine’s Renewable Energy Update reports on these developments each month.

ABB has won an order worth around $160 million from Svenska Kraftnät, the national grid operator, to provide a new high-voltage underground cable system for the South-West Link power transmission project in southern Sweden. When completed in 2014, this will be the longest and most powerful underground cable link in the world. The order was booked in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The main objective of the new transmission system is to enhance capacity and strengthen the reliability of the national power grid. It will help boost transmission capacity in the south of the country and between Sweden and Norway. The link will also facilitate the future integration of large-scale wind power into the Swedish power network.

ABB’s underground HVDC cable system will have the capacity to transport 2 x 660 megawatts (MW) of electric power at a voltage level of 300 kilovolts (kV) across a distance of about 200 kilometers between Barkaryd and Hurva in southern Sweden. ABB is responsible for the design, engineering, manufacture, supply and installation of the entire cable system, including terminations, joints and other accessories.

ABB recently announced investments of $90 million and $400 million in the U.S. and Sweden to increase production capacity of land and subsea cables respectively.

Nearly $8.7 billion in transmission improvements are planned in the next five years, according to the annual transmission report from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, (ERCOT), the state grid operator and manager of the wholesale electric market.

The planned projects are expected to improve or add nearly 7,000 circuit miles of transmission lines and more than 17,000 megavolt amperes (MVA) of autotransformer capacity to the grid, including the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission additions that are scheduled to be in service by 2013.

The 2011 Electric System Constraints and Needs Report, filed with the Public Utility Commission, identifies existing and potential constraints in the transmission systems that pose reliability concerns or may increase costs to the electric power market and Texas consumers.

Since 2010, ERCOT transmission providers have completed construction and improvements to approximately 966 miles of transmission and more than 5,000 MVA of autotransformer capacity, at an estimated capital cost of $870 million. The largest project completed last year was a 173-circuit-mile 345 kilovolt (kV) line in South Central Texas, the Zorn/Clear Springs – Gilleland Creek – Hutto Switch.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved a transmission line, access road and substation on public lands that will connect a 150-megawatt solar energy project to the power grid in California. The proposed project, Rice Solar Energy Project, will be built on private land in Riverside County and, when constructed, the facility is expected to power 68,000 homes, create up to 450 jobs, and generate more than $48 million in state and local tax revenue over the first 10 years of operation.

Proposed by Rice Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of SolarReserve LLC, the thermal “power tower” facility will be located on 1,410 acres of previously disturbed private land near Blythe. The above-ground 230 kilovolt transmission line that crosses eight miles of land administered by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will connect with the Western Area Power Administration's Parker-Blythe #2 transmission line. The project’s innovative molten salt storage system can capture solar energy and deliver power to the grid even after the sun goes down.

The project has undergone extensive environmental review and reflects strong efforts to mitigate potential environmental impacts. SolarReserve will be required to fund the acquisition and enhancement of 1,522 acres to compensate for impacts to desert tortoise habitat on private and public land.

Tres Amigas LLC, the U.S.-based national grid interconnection project known as the Tres Amigas SuperStation, announced that Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a global trading, IT and industrial infrastructure services company, has agreed to invest $12 million. In exchange, Mitsui will obtain an equity position and actively participate. By partnering with Tres Amigas, Mitsui plans to further internationalize their “Smart Green Information Technology” business model, which includes Smart Grid IT, renewable energy development and management, and CO₂ emissions mitigation strategies.

The SuperStation project represents, in essence, the world’s first high capacity “Renewable Energy Hub,” although trading of conventional sources of electricity will be accommodated, too. This first-of-its-kind power transmission hub is designed to interconnect America’s three primary electricity grids, the Eastern (Southwest Power Pool), Western (Western Electricity Coordinating Council) and Texas (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) networks by utilizing information technology. Coordinated via market-based dispatch through the Tres Amigas SuperStation, the goal is to create firm and reliable renewable power from intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind. Most significantly, the new strategy will allow customers to purchase a reliable portfolio of power with the largest possible component of solar and wind power. The clean generating capacities and the needs of varying regions, including the state’s renewable portfolio standard requirements, will have more opportunities to be accommodated.

The buildout of the $1.5 billion SuperStation is expected to occur in stages. Engineering design for Phase I is well underway, with construction scheduled to commence in 2012, and Phase I commercial operations scheduled for 2015. The initial power transfer capacity will be 750 MW between the Western and Eastern grids. Once energized, energy producers and marketers will be able to transfer sizable blocks of power from region to region. Energy purchasers will also have access to regions heretofore inaccessible for their needs. In addition to improving the reliability, efficiency and economics of the nation’s separate grids, the SuperStation will provide value-added services and larger market opportunities to intermittent power sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and storage.

NorthWestern Energy and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) have agreed to explore collaboration on the Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) project. The line would allow the transfer of renewable and other energy sources from Montana, Idaho and other regional markets, and could allow BPA to serve customers in Idaho, western Wyoming and Montana and provide other operational benefits.

BPA has current and future requirements to serve customers in Idaho, western Wyoming, and southern Montana. BPA currently serves these customers through agreements with PacifiCorp using the South Idaho Exchange Agreement and PacifiCorp General Transfer Agreement. Because the South Idaho Exchange Agreement will terminate in 2016, BPA is evaluating various alternatives to serve its customers affected by the termination.