Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 127 October 4, 2013

WELCOME

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· New Greenhouse Gas Standards for Coal-fired Power Should Make Exception for Beneficial Waste Steam Use

There are many new options for reducing mercury from stack gases thanks to the big R&D effort being made in the utility industry. On the other hand, this effort was built on work done for resource recovery plants. The innovations will not only be a boon to power plants but to cement kiln and industrial boiler operators as well.

Just within the last six months there have been demonstrations which show that halogen additives can be strategically utilized for far greater mercury removal than had been previously achieved. Carbon and non-carbon based sorbents for dry injection are being continually improved to achieve higher efficiency and minimize negative impacts on salability of the flyash.

There are several new ways to add modules after the scrubber to improve mercury removal. This could lead to a radical change in the regulations. Present regulations were set on the basis that you can achieve up to 90 percent mercury removal at a cost of no more than a few thousand dollars per pound. However, the cost might double to achieve 95 percent removal, double again to achieve 97.5 percent and then double again to achieve 99 percent. If the new approaches allow you to achieve very high removal at no more than a few thousand dollars per pound, then there will be a change to the whole regulatory strategy.

The implications for other countries are significant. China has new mercury regulations for power plants which are much less strict than those in the U.S. However, with the new developments these regulations are likely to be toughened.

McIlvaine has created a Global Decisions Orchard™ in which one sector is devoted to mercury removal. Operators of power, cement, industrial boiler and resource recovery plants will be able to access this Mercury Reduction Global Decisions Positioning System free of charge. Suppliers have the opportunity to provide input and interface with customers while obtaining the latest market forecasts.

New Greenhouse Gas Standards for Coal-fired Power Should Make Exception for Beneficial Waste Steam Use

EPA is soliciting comments for proposed new limits on CO₂ emissions from coal-fired power plants. Many rules are ultimately written with exceptions which further the goal but by a different route. McIlvaine has analyzed these routes in Utility CO₂ Mitigation Markets and has concluded that an exception should be made for beneficial waste steam reuse. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Plant Type	CO₂Emissions (relative)
Old Coal-fired Power Plant	2.0
Peaking Gas Turbine	1.6
New Coal-fired Power Plant - Ultra Supercritical - No Carbon Capture	1.5
Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plant	1
Old Coal-fired Power Plant With Beneficial Waste Steam Use	1
New Coal-fired Power Plant With Beneficial Waste Steam Use	0.7
Wind and Solar	0.2
Coal And Biomass Oxycombustor With CO₂ Sequestration	-0.1

Ironically, some of the oldest district heating coal-fired power plants in the U.S. are the ones which are producing the least net quantity of greenhouse gases. The reason is that there is a beneficial use of waste steam. The large white plume emitted by power plants typically represents lost electrical energy equal to the actual output. In the case of district heating plants there is no steam plume. Instead the steam is used to heat buildings or is provided for use in various industrial processes.

Great Rivers Energy has demonstrated several ways to beneficially use the waste steam. The co-located ethanol plant requires no gas-fired boiler but simply uses the steam from the coal-fired power plant. At a second location, the company is drying lignite and greatly improving efficiency. Co-location of sewage treatment plants is a very promising option.

An old coal-fired power plant with beneficial waste steam use will emit no more net CO₂ than a new combined cycle gas turbine power plant. Many old power plants are centrally located with many opportunities for beneficial waste steam use.

There is a big potential to build a fleet of new coal-fired power plants with beneficial waste steam use. They would emit less greenhouse gases on a net basis than would combined cycle gas turbine power plants without the co-location.

Wind and solar do cause some additional greenhouse gas emissions. These are the result of the manufacturing and operating processes e.g. truck travel to remote sites to service generators.

The ultimate in greenhouse gas reduction is to burn biomass along with the coal and then sequester all the CO₂. Biomass represents CO₂ which has been removed from the atmosphere. If it is burned and the gas sequestered, there is a net reduction in the CO₂ in the earth’s atmosphere.

NREL Calculates Emissions and Costs of Power Plant Cycling Necessary for Increased Wind and Solar in the West

New research from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) quantifies the potential impacts of increasing wind and solar power generation on the operators of fossil-fueled power plants in the West. To accommodate higher amounts of wind and solar power on the electric grid, utilities must ramp down and ramp up or stop and start conventional generators more frequently to provide reliable power for their customers.

The study finds that the carbon emissions induced by more frequent cycling are negligible (<0.2 percent) compared with the carbon reductions achieved through the wind and solar power generation evaluated in the study. Sulfur dioxide emissions reductions from wind and solar are 5 percent less than expected because of cycling of fossil-fueled generators. Emissions of nitrogen oxides are reduced 2 percent more than expected. The study also finds that high levels of wind and solar power would reduce fossil fuel costs by approximately $7 billion per year across the West, while incurring cycling costs of $35 million to $157 million per year. For the average fossil-fueled plant, this results in an increase in operations and maintenance costs of $0.47 to $1.28 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of generation.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has successfully commissioned the subsea transmission link connecting one of the largest offshore wind farms in Europe to the Belgian grid. The Thornton Bank project, executed for the Belgian company C-Power NV was completed on schedule.

The transmission link was constructed as part of an expansion of the Thornton Bank wind farm. In the first phase of its development, six wind turbines with a total capacity of 30 megawatts (MW) were built and temporarily connected to the mainland by ABB. The second and third phases of the project involved adding 48 wind turbines to the wind farm and connecting the complete wind farm, taking its overall capacity to 325 MW. The transformer station platform collecting and transmitting the power to the coast of Belgium is placed 30 kilometers (km) offshore in the North Sea.

As part of the turnkey project, ABB was responsible for the system engineering, design, supply and commissioning of the alternating current (AC) subsea cables, the land-based cable systems as well as the offshore substation and platform that houses it. The wind turbines are connected via underwater medium-voltage cables to the offshore transformer station where the voltage is boosted to 150 kilovolts (kV) and connected to the mainland grid. The electricity is then fed into the grid at the Slijkens high-voltage substation located at Bredene, about 3 km inland.

Abengoa has begun operation of Solaben 1 and Solaben 6, two 50 megawatt (MW) parabolic trough plants located in Extremadura, Spain. The two plants belong to the Extremadura Solar Complex, the largest solar complex in Europe with 200 MW capacity and produce enough clean energy necessary to fulfill the needs of 104,000 households.

The plants at the Extremadura Solar Complex employ parabolic trough technology. Parabolic-shaped mirrors are set on structures that track the movement of the sun, and solar radiation is concentrated on a receiver tube. Inside the tube flows a heat-absorbing fluid which reaches approximately 750 degrees Fahrenheit. This fluid transfers the thermal energy to then transform water into steam, which drives a turbine to generate electricity.

NRG Energy and Digicel Partner to Bring Renewable, Affordable and Reliable Electricity to the Caribbean

NRG Energy, Inc. and Digicel jointly announced at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York a partnership to acquire, construct and operate renewable energy projects under development in the Caribbean region. NRG and Digicel stand ready to bring financial and environmental benefits to the governments, utilities and peoples of the Caribbean in a venture that could see the two companies making a sizeable investment in the region.

“NRG’s work in Haiti has demonstrated the transformative impact that renewable energy can have on communities that otherwise lack access to affordable, reliable electricity,” said David Crane, Chief Executive Officer of NRG. “We stand ready with Digicel to support the widespread adoption of renewables across the Caribbean, thereby helping to drive down electricity costs for the region and reducing the deleterious impacts of fossil fuel generation on the Caribbean ecosystem.”

“In the Caribbean today, distributed and utility-scale renewable energy projects can deliver a much lower cost of energy than fossil fuels, without subsidies,” said Colm Delves, Group CEO of Digicel. “Our intent is to identify projects from across the region – and to support these in completing development, financing, and construction. This will translate into substantive and lasting energy savings for the governments and people of the Caribbean.”

Duke Energy and Clemson University Make Commitment at Clinton Global Initiative to Partner in Energy Research

Duke Energy and Clemson University committed at the Clinton Global Initiative to work together to develop new models for generating and distributing electricity.

At the core of the partnership are workforce development initiatives and academic programs that will help develop technology to better manage global electric grid systems.

Together, Duke Energy and Clemson will focus on education and research to develop innovative ways to efficiently and sustainably distribute energy. The partnership will create unique learning opportunities for students and industry researchers, and promote economic growth in South Carolina that revolves around energy systems innovation.

Duke Energy is contributing $5 million to help fund laboratory infrastructure and educational program development and fund a Smart Grid Technology Endowed Chair. Duke Energy employees also will provide the center with ongoing technical expertise and resources.

Clemson University will own and operate the center at the Restoration Institute in North Charleston, S.C. where engineers are constructing the world's most advanced wind turbine drivetrain testing facility.

§ Cost for ReACT at Weston 3 may Exceed Estimated Cost by More than Five Percent

§ What happens to Coal-fired Power Projects in Pipeline with New CO₂ Regs?

§ Huntly in New Zealand to Mothball One 250 MW Unit, Decommission Another

§ Bangladesh says 1320 MW Rampal Power Project will have Minimal Environmental Impact

§ Panda Power Funds acquires 750 MW Stonewall Combined Cycle Power Project

§ Duke Energy Florida to issue RFP for 1,640 MW of New Capacity in Citrus County, FL

§ “Multi-pollutant Control Technology” was the Hot Topic on Thursday September 26, 2013 and on Friday September 27, 2013

§ “Update on Coal Ash and CCR Issues, Standards and Solutions” is the of the “Hot Topic Hour” on October 3, 2013

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 $125.00 for non-subscribers. Market Intelligence webinars are free to McIlvaine market report subscribers and are $400.00 for non-subscribers.

DATE	Non-Subscribers Cost	SUBJECT	Webinar Type
October 17, 2013	$125.00	Air Pollution Control in China	Power
October 31, 2013	$125.00	Chinese FGD/SCR Program and Impact on the World	Power
November 21, 2013	$125.00	Wet vs. Dry ESP	Power
December 5, 2013	$125.00	Update on Gasification Projects and Technology	Power
December 12, 2013	$125.00	Selecting FGD Scrubber Components	Power
December 19, 2013	$125.00	Application of U.S. Mercury Control Technology in Other Countries	Power