January 2015 - Power Air Quality Insights 189

A small percentage of coal-fired power plants use fabric filters. Most utilize precipitators. However, tough new regulations in all the regions of the world are creating a big market for fabric filters. They will be used on many new boilers as well as being retrofitted into existing power plants. In many instances the bags are installed in the existing precipitator casing. The market is regulatory driven. The extent of the switch in the U.S. and China will have the biggest impact. This is the conclusion reached by McIlvaine in World Fabric Filter and Element Market. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

The 2017 market for coal-fired boiler fabric filter systems could be as small as $1.5 billion or as large as $5 billion. The total market for fabric filter systems could be as low as $8.5 billion or as large as $12 billion.

World Fabric Filter System Revenues 2017 ($ Millions)
Application	Minimum	Maximum
Industrial	7,000	7,000
Coal-fired Utility Power	1,500	5,000
Total	8,500	12,000

Both the U.S. and China have tough new standards which will be difficult to meet with existing dry precipitators. The use of wet precipitators downstream of the existing dry precipitators will provide the required efficiency. However, fabric filters provide an equally efficient and, in most cases, a lower cost solution. This is particularly true when the existing precipitator casing can be used.

Traditionally, the U.S. and Australia were the main proponents of fabric filters. Now Italy, Russia, China and Chile are among the countries utilizing fabric filters for their coal-fired boilers. South Africa has a very large retrofit program.

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) announced substantial completion of the Tucannon River Wind Farm in Washington State. RES Americas served as the Balance of Plant (BOP) construction contractor for the project's owner, Portland General Electric (PGE), an investor owned utility in Oregon.

Located on 20,000 acres in Washington's Columbia County, the 267 megawatt (MW) project consists of 116 2.3 MW Siemens turbines and is expected to produce enough clean, renewable energy to power the homes of approximately 84,000 average residential customers. Construction of the project began in September 2013 and was completed in December 2014. The project was completed on time and constructed for a fixed price budget of $500 million, excluding AFDC.

The Tucannon River Wind Farm provided many economic benefits to the region. The project employed hundreds of workers during the construction phase and up to 18 full-time operations and maintenance staff will be employed during operations.

The Tucannon River Wind Farm is the sixth project constructed by RES in the adjoining Columbia and Garfield counties bringing continued economic benefits to the region.

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has received regulatory approval for a plan to install rooftop solar panels at customers' homes and provide their electric service for a set monthly fee that would remain fixed for up to 25 years.

TEP's Residential Solar Program, approved recently by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), will let customers go solar with no installation or maintenance costs. After paying a $250 administrative fee, participants will pay a fixed monthly electric rate that roughly matches their current average bills, generating significant savings if TEP's rates or energy costs increase in the future.

The first-of-its-kind program will be made available next spring to 500-600 customers in 2015. The company will seek participants in areas where TEP's solar arrays would maximize benefits for the local electric grid that serves all customers. System size requirements, proximity to the grid and opportunities to integrate advanced inverter technologies will be considered. TEP will also look for sites where solar panels can be positioned to maximize output that more closely coincides with peak demand.

TEP will partner with local solar companies to install and maintain the systems, contributing to Arizona's growing green energy economy. By installing the most cost-effective, reliable rooftop solar systems possible, the program will provide superior community and customer benefits.

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced that more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable power is being delivered to the San Diego region made possible by the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.

Before the nearly $1.9 billion infrastructure project was approved, SDG&E pledged that Sunrise would be used to deliver substantial amounts of Imperial Valley renewable power to the California market. The 500-kV Sunrise Powerlink, which was completed in 2012, connects the Imperial Valley Substation in Imperial County to the Sycamore Canyon Substation in San Diego County. The recent addition of the 150-MW Solar Gen 2 Imperial Valley solar project now brings to more than 1,000 MW the total amount of solar and wind power being transmitted to SDG&E customers from the Imperial Valley.

Seven of the 10 solar and wind projects SDG&E signed contracts for in Imperial Valley now are delivering a combined total of more than 1,000 MW of renewable energy to the grid. The achievement meets SDG&E’s commitment six years ago to replace any failed renewable contract that would have been deliverable by Sunrise with a new renewable contract from the same region. The power from these projects has greatly increased the amount of renewable energy in SDG&E’s resource portfolio, which has risen from 11.9 percent in 2010 to more than 30 percent in 2014.

B&W Vølund Consortium Awarded Contract to Build Waste to Energy Power Plant in Scotland

The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) announced that a consortium that includes its Denmark-based subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund A/S (B&W Vølund), has been awarded a $230 million contract to engineer, procure and construct a waste-to-energy (WTE) power plant near Dunbar, Scotland.

The Dunbar plant will be able to process up to 38 tons of municipal waste per hour and will help the Scottish government meet an ambitious target of landfilling zero biodegradable municipal waste by 2021.

The project was booked in the fourth quarter of 2014. Engineering is underway and the plant is scheduled to go on line in the fourth quarter of 2017.

IHI and Toshiba to Launch Demonstration Research of Ocean Current Power Generation System

IHI Corporation and Toshiba Corporation have been selected by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as co-researchers in the “Research and Development (R&D) of Ocean Energy Technology ― Demonstration Research of Ocean Energy Power Generation.” After concluding the formal contract with NEDO, they will conduct demonstration research of a turbine system driven by the ocean current.

Within this framework, the unique “underwater floating type ocean current turbine system” developed by IHI and Toshiba will demonstrate power generation in a real ocean environment, in a project expected to continue until fiscal year 2017. The research work is expected to prove the viability of ocean energy power generation and to create the framework for an industry, and also to contribute to improved energy security for Japan.

The underwater floating type ocean current turbine system is a power generation device with two counter-rotating turbines. It is anchored to the sea floor and floats like a kite carried and driven by the ocean current. IHI is the lead company in the co-research project and will manufacture the turbine and floating body. Toshiba will supply electric devices, such as the generator and transformer.

Ocean currents, such as the Kuroshio Current, are a natural energy resource with little fluctuation in flow regardless of time or season. In Japan, an island nation, success in converting the massive power of the ocean current will create a large-scale, stable power source.

On Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting on important energy and pollution control subjects. These Webinars are free of charge to owner/operators of the plants. They are also free to McIlvaine Subscribers of Power Plant Air Quality Decisions and Utility Tracking System. The cost for others is $300.00 per webinar.

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

DATE	SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION
January 15, 2015	Valves for Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Plants (POSTPONED)	More Information
January 22, 2015	FGD Components Including Blowers/Compressors	More Information
January 29, 2015	MATS Compliance Choices	More Information
February 5, 2015	Gas Turbine Regulatory Drivers	More Information
February 12, 2015	Coal Gasification Air Pollution Control	More Information
February 19, 2015	Mercury Measurement and Capture	More Information
February 26, 2015	Power Plant Wastewater Treatment	More Information
March 5, 2015	Dry Scrubbing and DSI	More Information