Here are the Headlines for the July 8, 2011 – Utility E Alert
UTILITY E-ALERT
#1032 – July 8, 2011
COAL
– US
§
EPA Finalizes Clean Air Transport Rule
§
B&W to supply FGD System for R.M. Schahfer 14 and 15
§
FGD at Harllee Branch to be delayed until 2015
§
US Appeals Court says EPA has discretion to approve Kentucky Coal-fired Power
Plant Permits
§
EPA disputes AEP over Coal-fired Power Plant Shutdown Claims
§
Coal-fired Projects for 2014 Start-up Represent Purchases of $220 Billion
COAL – WORLD
GAS / OIL – WORLD
BIOMASS
CO2
§
Toshiba to Study Feasibility of New Coal-Fired Unit with CCS in Bulgaria
§
UK Advisory Committee Urges Government to Immediately Approve Promised Funding
for Longannet CCS Project Immediately
§
Republicans Try to Block Greenhouse Gas Rules in 2012 Spending Bill
NUCLEAR
BUSINESS
HOT TOPIC HOUR
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Upgrade Tracking System, click on:
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Meet
the Most Ambitious Greenhouse Gas Goals with New Coal Plants Now
It may seem counterintuitive but the best way to reduce CO2 is to
build lots of ultrasupercritcal coal power plants now and then retire them in
2050. This is the conclusion reached by the McIlvaine Company in its Fossil &
Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis & Forecast. This conclusion
is based on the following factors:
·
New power plants can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30 percent while
eliminating nearly all other pollutants.
·
The economic life of these new power plants is only 25 years.
·
The economics of wind and solar will be much more attractive 25 years from now.
·
Because new plants use 30 percent less coal, the cost of electricity will not
rise despite the big investment.
The recommended program results in a slight rise in CO2 emissions by
2030, but a dramatic reduction in 2050 and potentially the elimination of coal
as a power source by 2070.
World Coal-fired Capacity in 20 Year Intervals
Category |
2010 |
2030 |
2050 |
2070 |
GW Coal Total |
1900 |
2600 |
1300 |
0 |
TWH From Coal |
8500 |
11,630 |
5815 |
0 |
GW Coal Replaced |
|
1200 |
0 |
0 |
GW Coal New |
|
700 |
0 |
|
Total Coal Additions GW |
|
1900 |
(1300) |
(1300) |
Replace with CCS GW |
|
10 |
400 |
x |
CO2 Tons/MW |
6500 |
5000 |
4000 |
x |
CO2 Billion Tons |
12.3 |
13.3 |
5.2 |
0 |
Coal-fired capacity would rise by 700 GW in the next 20 years, but 1200 GW of
ultrasupercriticals would replace old subcritical boilers. As a result, the CO2
emissions per MW would drop by 24 percent. The trillions in investment in the
replacement coal-fired power plants would greatly stimulate the world economy
without financial penalty due to the low operating costs of the new units.
Subsequent to 2030, the coal-fired power plants could be retired, assuming the
cost of alternatives has dropped sufficiently to make this switch economical.
Half of these power plants could be replaced by renewables by 2050. Some
of the remaining power plants could be equipped with carbon capture systems.
The result would be a 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions. The
remaining coal-fired power plants could be retired in 2070, bringing the CO2
emissions from coal-fired power generation to zero.
The recent decisions by Germany and other countries to place less emphasis on
nuclear power have dictated a new strategy regardless of views relative to the
environment. Under this scenario, the share of power generation from coal will
only be 35 percent in 2030. In any case, a very ambitious program in
renewable and gas will be needed.
Recent concerns about the economics and environmental hazards with shale gas
also dictate a conservative plan relative to the use of this source for power
generation.
Some environmentalists will argue that 2050 is too late to make major CO2
reductions. The thesis is that some cataclysm can occur in the meantime.
However, the recent revelations that the greenhouse warming potential of methane
is much greater in the first 20 years would persuade one to steer clear of shale
gas if one is trying to avoid a 2030 cataclysm.
The major hurdle for environmental acceptance will be some guarantee that
coal-fired power plants built now will be retired 25 years after construction.
One option would be to set lifelong CO2 emission limits for any
plant. This would force the retirement at the desired time.
For more information on various options for using fossil and nuclear power to
meet the world’s generating needs click on: Fossil & Nuclear Power
Generation: World Analysis & Forecast
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#n043.
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Research Advances Storage Technology
Reliable storage systems are important to the increased use of renewable energy.
Each month the McIlvaine Renewable Energy Update carries a section on
storage technology. Research is being done at several locations to advance the
development of storage technology.
SOLON Corporation, one of the largest providers of turnkey solar power
plants in the U.S., announced that it will partner with Tucson Electric Power
(TEP) and the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE) at the
University of Arizona to design and construct an Energy Storage Management
Research and Testing (SMRT) site. The purpose of the site is to research the
reliability and applicability of integrating different energy storage
technologies with photovoltaics onto the grid, and ultimately to provide
utilities greater control of their renewable portfolios.
The SMRT site will be attached to a 1.6 megawatt (MW) solar plant recently built
by SOLON, owned by TEP, and located at the University of Arizona’s Science and
Technology Park. The project is an open design allowing for many different
technologies to be added or replaced as advancements continue in the coming
years. SOLON will design and install the control system and oversee the project.
In August 2011, SOLON, in partnership with AzRISE, will introduce the first
phase of the project with a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology
designed and constructed by faculty and students at the University of Arizona.
CAES can be an ideal solution for storing large amounts of energy, giving
utilities the option of shifting solar energy output by hours, days, or even
seasonally. This means utility owners will have the option of using the energy
produced by their solar plants when they need it most.
To better address shorter-term variability caused by events such as cloud
coverage, a faster response is required of the storage medium. In keeping with
this, the second phase of the project, due to be installed in the fall, will be
a lithium-ion solution, followed by the third and fourth phases in the spring of
2012. All of these storage systems will be managed with SOLON’s Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
“Arizona is leading the way as a hub for solar energy innovation and energy
storage technologies form a key component,” said Joe Simmons, AzRISE Director at
the University of Arizona. “As such, we are pleased to be able to collaborate
with a local partner in SOLON, and with our local utility, TEP, to develop
cutting-edge storage solutions.”
W2 Energy, Inc. announced that
AzRISE
has prepared its laboratory to test the Advanced Energy Storage and Utilization
and System (AESUS), which uses as its core the NT Plasmatron and SteamRay.
It was necessary for AzRISE to retrofit a laboratory with 480 volt electricity
to power the 600 psi compressor, which will provide the compressed air for the
AESUS. AzRISE has just completed this electrical upgrade.
In the first week of July, AzRISE was to fly the W2 Energy technical team out to
the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona, to demonstrate NT
Plasmatron system to the AzRISE staff and University of Arizona students. Then
AzRISE will connect the NT Plasmatron system to a pressurized air tank and test
the complete AESUS system. AzRISE will deliver the AESUS system to a major
Arizona utility, where it will be connected to the grid and tested again. After
both tests are complete, AzRISE will provide W2 Energy with thorough 3rd party
engineering data on the system's operation and performance.
The U.S. Military, as well as companies and research facilities around the
world, have expressed interest in the AESUS as a means of high-volume energy
storage at a reasonable cost. The AESUS will allow solar and wind power
producers to store energy during peak production and release it during peak
consumption. The AESUS will also allow large-scale consumers of electricity to
buy inexpensive power during off-peak times and release that energy during
periods of peak usage and cost.
SolarReserve,
a U.S. developer of large-scale solar power projects announced that the company
received the "Increased Dispatchability Solution of the Year" award for the
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project at the
5th CSP Today USA Summit,
held June 29-30. SolarReserve's solar power tower with molten salt storage
technology was recognized for its ability to generate power on-demand, and
24-hours-a-day.
SolarReserve's solar power tower technology generates power from sunlight by
focusing the sun's thermal energy onto a central receiver. When electricity is
needed, molten salt heated by a receiver at the top of the tower is sent to a
heat exchanger to produce steam, which in turn drives a conventional steam
turbine electrical generator. The cooler molten salt is stored, ready to be
reheated by the sun and used again as part of a continuous closed loop. This
integrated energy storage allows the technology to deploy electricity on-demand,
day and night, providing the same operating stability, reliability and
dispatchability of a conventional power generator.
Johnson Controls, Inc., the world's leading automotive battery supplier, is
helping to position Wisconsin as a worldwide leader in energy storage. The
company announced it is endowing a professorship, research labs and graduate
studies in energy storage at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Johnson Controls Endowed Professorship in Energy Storage Research will add
an expert in technology education to the UW-Madison and UW- Milwaukee Colleges
of Engineering and Applied Science. The person who holds this endowed chair will
be responsible for maintaining cutting-edge laboratories and supervising
graduate students in research at both the Madison and Milwaukee campuses. The
position is expected to be filled this summer.
Part of the funding will support the creation of The Johnson Controls Energy
Storage Research Lab at UW-Madison. The lab will be housed in the new Wisconsin
Energy Institute under construction on the UW-Madison campus.
Beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year, the Johnson Controls Graduate
Research Fellows fund is also being established at the UW Foundation to support
advanced student research projects.
For more information on Renewable Energy Projects and Update, please v
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Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com