Why More Coal Is Going To Increase the Gas Turbine Market
Europe and the U.S. have been reducing coal burning power capacity and as a
result need to increase gas turbine capacity. But there is one area of the
world where increased use of coal rather than decreased use of coal will result
in increased gas turbine capacity and increased use of gas for home heating.
This counter intuitive program is being tracked in a number of McIlvaine market
reports and databases.
One way that increased coal use leads to more gas turbines is in integrated
gasification combined cycle plants (IGCC). There is one such plant under
construction in the U.S. The Kemper
County plant is now projected to cost almost $5.6 billion. Initially the
project was estimated to cost $2.4 billion. Start up is now slated
for May 2015.
The plant will capture 65 percent of CO2 and deliver 3 million tons
of liquid CO2 to oil companies for use in enhanced oil recovery.
This program has been subsidized by the U.S. government. The high cost can be
offset where there are enhanced oil recovery opportunities. However, there
are not many generation sites which are convenient to oil and gas extraction
sites where EOR would be justifiable.
The one area of the world where increased coal will lead to very large increases
in gas use is China. In northern and western China, 700 million tons of
coal will be gasified. The gas will then be piped to the big cities.
Six hundred thousand coal-fired industrial boilers will be replaced by new gas
turbine systems as well as home and residential gas heating units.
The Chinese government has launched a fast track $260 billion program to
eliminate the smog in the large cities. The foundation of this program is
clean gas for heating and power.
The magnitude of this effort is demonstrated by a comparison to the U.S.
Gas turbine plants in the U.S. deliver power equivalent to coal-fired boilers
consuming 400 million tons of coal per year. The Chinese program
will, therefore, generate enough gas to fuel nearly twice the entire U.S. gas
turbine capacity.
This program is generating outrage among environmentalists around the world.
But the outrage is failing to have any effect. The smog problem in the
major Chinese cities is causing huge health problems now. The average
Shanghai citizen is less concerned about creating a pleasant life for his
grandchildren fifty years from now than he is about eliminating the asthma risk
for his children this year. He is less interested in the fate of the polar bears
than he is in eliminating haze so severe that the sun is not visible.
The economic argument is equally persuasive. Coal gas is estimated to cost
as low as $4.50/MMBtu. Imported LNG is $15 /MMBtu.
This attitude is widely shared throughout Asia. Australia has eliminated
the carbon tax and completely reversed its position on global warming. In
both Australia and Korea there is considerable movement toward converting coal
to LNG. Posco is building a coal to gas plant to replace the LNG it is now
buying on the international market. India is considering following the
Chinese lead. It has coal reserves but little gas.
More information on these initiatives can be found in:
N043 Fossil
and Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis and Forecast
59EI Gas
Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program
N049 Oil,
Gas, Shale and Refining Markets and Projects
Renewable Energy Briefs
Mainstream Renewable Power Granted Consent by Scottish Government to Build and
Operate 450 MW Offshore Wind Farm
Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power has received consent
from the Scottish Ministers to build and operate its 450 megawatt Neart na
Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm in the Outer Forth Estuary in the North Sea.
This will be the first large-scale offshore wind farm constructed and operated
in Scottish waters to be directly connected to the Scottish electricity system.
The 450 megawatt wind farm will have the capacity to deliver enough power for
325,000 homes (more than the number of homes in Edinburgh) and equal to 3.7
percent of Scotland’s total electricity demand. The wind farm is expected to
start pre-construction activities next year and begin generating electricity by
2018.
NnG represents a capital expenditure investment of around £1.5 billion and is on
track to be the first offshore wind farm in the UK to attract true non-recourse
project finance at the construction stage. It has pre-qualified for the
Infrastructure UK Treasury Guarantee and European Investment Bank funding.
The wind farm will consist of up to 75 wind turbines and will occupy an area of
approximately 80 square kilometers. At its closest point to land it lies
over 15 kilometers off the Fife coast in water depths of 45-55 meters.
Ameren Missouri Announces 20 Year Plan for Cleaner Energy
Ameren Missouri filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission its 20-year
plan that supports cleaner energy in the state of Missouri, including major
expansions of solar and wind power.
The utility's "Integrated Resource Plan" examines electric customers' projected
long-term energy needs and describes Ameren Missouri's preferred approach to
meeting those needs in a cost-effective fashion that maintains system
reliability as it moves to cleaner and more diverse sources of energy
generation.
Many of Missouri's electric generation units are nearing half a century old, and
Ameren Missouri's comprehensive plan calls for transitioning its generation
fleet to a cleaner and more fuel-diverse portfolio over the next two decades as
energy centers reach the end of their useful lives.
Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, would add nearly 500
megawatts (MW) of renewable power generation under the plan, which, together
with other planned changes to its generation resources, would allow the utility
to achieve a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2035, based on
2005 levels.
The plan includes construction in 2016 of a second solar energy center that
would be the largest in the state of Missouri. Earlier this year, Ameren
Missouri broke ground on its first utility-scale solar energy center in
O'Fallon, MO, which is scheduled for completion later this year.
SCE Seeks Energy from Solar Installations
Southern California Edison (SCE) has launched a Request for Offers (RFO) to
procure electricity from independent power producers as part of its Solar
Photovoltaic Program (SPVP).
This RFO is the fourth solicitation (SPVP 4) since the program began in 2010.
The program is primarily designed to encourage energy production from
rooftop-mounted solar photovoltaic facilities sized between 500 kilowatts and 10
megawatts. SCE is seeking up to 63 megawatts of direct current power in SPVP 4
based on the economics of the offers.
SPI Solar Subsidiary Announces EPC Agreement for 30 MW Solar PV Project in Inner
Mongolia
SPI Solar, a vertically-integrated photovoltaic solar developer, announced that
its wholly-owned subsidiary, Xinyu Xinwei New Energy Co., Ltd., has signed an
engineering, procurement and construction agreement for a 30 megawatt PV project
in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia. The agreement with Alxa League ZhiWei PV Power
Co., Ltd., marks SPI Solar’s second agreement for a PV project in the Inner
Mongolia region announced recently. The project is scheduled to begin in October
2014, with completion and grid connection expected by the end of March 2015.
Viaspace and Tibbar Energy USVI Report Progress for 7 MW Biomass Power Plant on
St. Croix
Viaspace Inc. has issued an update regarding the progress of the Tibbar Energy
USVI, Giant King Grass fueled, 7-megawatt biogas power plant on the island of
St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The power plant will provide the only base
load renewable electricity in the USVI. The majority feedstock is from Viaspace
Giant King Grass (GKG). Tibbar will sell power for 25 years with a 5 year
option to the Water and Power Authority (WAPA). Tania Tomyn, CEO of Tibbar,
said, "Our project is a balance of public and private relationships. This is a
long term commercial solution that gives the USVI fossil fuel independence and
low cost power.
Tomyn said, "We expect to start work the first of the year (2015) and that will
create 150 jobs between the power plant construction and the farm development
that will happen simultaneously. After construction, the plant will employ
around 35-40 staff for 25 years." Tibbar has already been operating farms on the
island of St. Croix growing GKG for over 2 years now with great success.
For more information on Renewable Energy Projects and Update
please visithttp://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Projects_Brochure/renewable_energy_projects_brochure.htm
Headlines for Utility E-Alert –October 10, 2014
UTILITY E-ALERT
#1195 – October 10, 2014
Table of Contents
COAL – US
·
Fluor awarded Construction Contract AEP at Northeastern Power Station in
Oklahoma
·
Westmoreland and Cabot Corporation announce Activated Carbon Capacity Expansion
·
URS awarded Contract to Install SBS Injection™ Technology at Vectren’s A.B.
Brown
COAL – WORLD
·
Calaca Coal-fired Power Plant Expansion in Batangas, Philippines delayed
·
Aboitiz Power targets 2,000 MW expansion in the Philippines over Five Years
·
BHEL awarded Rs 7,800 Crore Contract for Power Project in Tamil Nadu, India
·
Balingian CFB Coal-fired Power Plant first of its kind in Malaysia
GAS/OIL – US
·
NTE Carolinas’ 475 MW Gas-fired Power Plant Project moves forward
·
Construction of 730 MW Gas-fired Power Plant in Lufkin, TX to start in 2015
NUCLEAR
BUSINESS
·
Verbund to sell Combined Cycle Gas-fired Power Plants to Austrian KKR
·
China needs the International Expertise to solve its Air Pollution Control
Problems
·
Huge Chinese FGD Market for New Equipment and Repairs
HOT TOPIC HOUR
For more information on the Utility Tracking System, click on:
http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/databases/2-uncategorised/89-42ei
“Dry Scrubbing” Will Be the “Hot Topic Hour” on – October 23, 2014
McIlvaine has a free website available to power, incinerator and cement plants
around the world
Dry
Scrubbing - Continuous Analyses.
The webinar on the October 23rd will provide further clarification of
all the various options including both DSI and the “reactor”. “Reactor” is
one way to describe both the fluid bed and spray dryer segment. But this is a
matter for discussion and resolution. Paul Farber has proposed categories
in our last webinar. We need to survey enough people around the world to
classify the segments and standardize. China has been a leader in fluid
bed scrubbing with some of the largest systems every built. So it is critical to
obtain input from this country.
The webinar will call on international suppliers such as KC Cottrell to help
lead the discussion. Where is DSI the best option? If you have a
medium sulphur coal, can you use spray driers or is the fluid bed the only dry
option? How are U.S. utilities and cement plants planning to meet the HCl
requirements of MATS? Where do you use sodium reagents as opposed to
calcium? Can you beneficially use or regenerate the flyash /sulphate
mixture?
List of Panelists:
Mike Widico
of KC Cottrell
Joseph (Joe) Riley,
President of BoldEco Environment
Dan Gross
of Kuttner LLC
Paul Farber,
Consultant
Dr. Jianchun Wang
(Joe) of Lonjing Environment Technology Co., Ltd.
We encourage participants to view the site prior to the webinar and to ask
questions and make observations which will be useful to decision makers.
Click here to view schedule and register
McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration
On Thursday at 10:00 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 |
|
October |
||
16 |
Municipal Drinking Water
This webinar has been postponed
for some weeks. In the meantime
we encourage you to submit
information to be posted on this
free website. |
|
23 |
Dry Scrubbing |
|
November |
||
6 |
Coal-fired Power Plant NOx
Reduction Innovations |
|
13 |
Power Plant Cooling |
|
December |
||
18 |
Boiler Feedwater Treatment |
Click here for the
Subscriber and
Power Plant
Owner/Operator
Registration Form
Click here for the
Non-Subscribers
Registration Form
Click here for the Free
Hot Topic Hour Registration
Form
----------
You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at:
http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_rsform&formId=5
Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvainecompany.com