FGD and DeNOx
NEWSLETTER

January 2022

No. 524

 

Table of Contents

COAL – U.S.

      COAL – WORLD

CO2

 

BIOMASS

 

HYDROGEN

BUSINESS

 

COAL – U.S.

US EPA Steps Up Enforcement Over Coal Ash Dams

 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed rejecting requests to continue to dispose of coal ash in unlined dams at three major coal-fired power plants. The coal-fired power plants are the 1304 MW Clifty Creek plant in Indiana, the 2600 MW James M. Gavin plant in Ohio and the 726 MW Ottumwa plant in Iowa. The EPA determined the continued use of coal ash dams at the three plants should not be allowed as defects in their proposed management could prevent adequate groundwater cleanup.

The EPA proposed conditional approval for the operation of the coal ash dam at the 1371 MW H.L. Spurlock Power Station plant in Kentucky, subject to rectifying groundwater monitoring issues.

Current EPA regulations require most of the estimated 500 unlined coal ash dams to begin closure by April 2021 but allow utilities to apply for an extension. The EPA is considering a further 48 requests for an extension on the closure deadline. Earthjustice and the Southern Environmental Law Center welcomed the EPA decisions as a strong signal that power utilities cannot continue to operate leaking, unlined ash dams.

Five Imperatives to Thrive in a Hydrogen Future

Aaron Denman, Mark Porter, Peter Parry, and Peter Meijer of Bain outline the steps to a hydrogen future;

·        Hydrogen is emerging as a viable, low-carbon energy source for some industrial and transportation uses.

·        Depending on incentives and uptake, the demand for hydrogen could nearly triple by 2050.

·        Hydrogen producers, infrastructure players, and customers should be looking at where hydrogen is likely to play a role in their business and work back to understand the value chain and its linkages. Most will need to build new capabilities to take best advantage of the opportunity.

The most plausible scenarios point to the emergence of an attractive market, so it would be a strategic misstep for companies to take a backseat position. Across industries, executives should be looking at the potential applications for hydrogen and working back through the value chain to determine which are most feasible—and where to place their bets. To give executives a better view of the possibilities, Bain analyzed the potential market and identified five no-regrets actions to take in order to position your company for success in the hydrogen market of the future.

Bain researched several scenarios for the growth of the hydrogen market, taking into consideration the full range of potential future applications, hydrogen’s ability to play a meaningful role against zero-emission alternatives, based on whether hydrogen is the right solution, as well as factors such as cost competitiveness, and the readiness of technology and supply to meet demand. As renewable energy becomes more cost competitive, green hydrogen will become less expensive to produce. Supporting technologies, such as carbon capture and electrolyzers, will become less expensive as they are built out. Increases in carbon prices and taxation will further improve hydrogen’s competitiveness, and government subsidies will act as a catalyst to accelerate learning and cost decline.

The Bain base case scenario, an integrated industry, points toward a global market of 300 million metric tons (Mtons) by 2050 with the potential to establish a profit pool of more than $250 billion This would represent an initial period of modest growth from 2020 to 2030, with demand accelerating after that.

In this scenario, Bain assumes most major industries will increase their use of hydrogen, some more than others. For example, in transportation Bain expects battery electric vehicles to become the standard for most vehicle categories, and hydrogen to play a role in specific vehicle classes like heavy-duty trucks, or for specific applications where hydrogen has an advantage over alternatives—for example, where batteries would be too heavy. In this scenario, we assume transportation and industrial applications will make up 80% of the demand, with power, heat, and other uses making up the rest. Since some of these high-potential applications will require significant investments in infrastructure (for example, hydrogen fuel stations for transportation) or process changeovers (such as replacing traditional blast furnaces to enable a direct reduced iron process in steel production), short-term opportunities may be found in other industrial or power applications.

We could also see an accelerated uptake scenario in which, for example, hydrogen plays a role as fuel for power production or energy storage for renewables, depending on the decarbonization plans of major power utilities. However, given the uncertainties in the uptake of technologies and relative competitiveness of hydrogen, adoption could be much slower, which would result in something closer to the focused uptake scenario with an estimate of 185 Mtons by 2050.

Both blue and green hydrogen (that is, hydrogen from low-carbon and zero-carbon sources) make up less than 1% of total hydrogen production today. Significant advances in technology and experience will have to occur to make these competitive, along with more renewable energy, infrastructure for the transport and storage of hydrogen, and a large installed base of industrial applications to nurture growth. Public investments will be required to create the right initial opportunities and catalyze market growth until hydrogen, blue or green, can be competitive at scale on its own.

Winning in the hydrogen value chain

Hydrogen will need to be cost competitive against other low- or zero-carbon solutions. Here, adoption speed will depend on factors like the availability of low-cost renewable energy to make green hydrogen and the availability of alternative supply chain infrastructure for hydrogen 

The complete article is available at https://www.bain.com/insights/five-imperatives-to-thrive-in-a-hydrogen-future/

 

B&W Thermal Awarded Equipment Installation Contracts with Large U.S. Utility Totaling More Than $18 Million

Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) announced that its B&W Thermal segment has been awarded contracts totaling more than $18 million to install equipment to improve the operating efficiency, performance, and increase availability for two power plants for a large U.S. utility. B&W’s subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., LLC (BWCC), will install waterwall panels, reheater tubes, and other technologies.

“BWCC provides field construction, construction management, and maintenance services for projects of all sizes for utilities and industrial customers, including for renewable energy, environmental, and decarbonization projects,” said B&W Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morgan. “Our goal is always to help our customers maintain and improve their plants’ operation, efficiency, and availability so that they can continue to reliably serve their customers.”

BWCC provides outage services, installation, refurbishment, mechanical repair, and maintenance services for a variety of industries, equipment, and plant installations, regardless of the original manufacturer. Some industries served include power utility, oil & gas, oil sands, chemical and petrochemical, pulp & paper, biomass, waste-to-energy, and general manufacturing.

 

IHS Has a New Analysis on Decarbonization Challenges

Some highlights were summarized by  Etienne Gabel  and Xizhou Zhou.

Should the power sector indeed lead a full-fledged global energy transition effort, then, according to one of the IHS Markit deep decarbonization scenarios, over 2021-50 the world may need to add about 28,000 GW of clean generation capacity, or 5.5 times more per year than was added annually over the past 10 years. This represents a total future investment of approximately $30-40 trillion.  On a comparative basis it is a big scale up in offshore wind and batteries.

The ability to achieve this will depend on the level of commitment. A good example is the European Commission, which has committed to building 60 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050.

The report can be found at Decarbonizing electric power: Key challenges and opportunities after the 2021 global energy crunch and COP26 climate negotiations | IHS Markit

 

COAL – WORLD

Ducon to Provide Coal Clean Technology For 2 x 600 MW Singareni Thermal Power Plant in India

 

Ducon Infratechnologies Limited will provide its proprietary Coal Clean Technology, Fuel Gas Desulphurization (FGD) system for a 2x600 MW Thermal Power Plant, of the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd., awarded to an EPC organization Ducon has partnered with.　　

 

This project was jointly bid by Ducon’s affiliate, Ducon Technologies Inc., USA with a leading EPC organization in the Indian subcontinent and utilizes Ducon’s proprietary and most advanced Limestone Flue Gas Desulfurization technology. Ducon will provide its LFGD execution expertise to the project from concept to commissioning. The anticipated value of the order for Ducon will be in the range of INR 150 – 200 Crore. This is the Third Coal Clean Technology / FGD project being secured by Ducon in the current financial year. The other two Coal Clean Technology/FGD projects, where orders are still awaited, are from NTPC for 2 x 250 MW Barauni Thermal Power Station, Stage-II and 2 x 195 MW Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station, Stage-II with an order values in the range of INR 500-600 Crore and INR 100 to 150 Crore respectively.

 

With over 200 GW of Coal-Fired Power/Steel/Cement and other plants, India’s commitment on Green Energy/Emission standards and strict regulatory mandates, Indian companies will spend an approximate US$ 20 billion on Fossil Fuel Clean Technologies/Greening of Fossil Fuels and Green Energy sources expanding the Fossil Fuel Clean Technology market exponentially in the next 2-3 years.

 

1,000 MW Coal-fired Power Plant in China is Now Online

Guodian Power Shanghaimiao Corp., part of the state-owned China Energy Investment Corp, reported that the new 1,000 MW Unit 1 of the Shanghaimiao power plant is online after a 168-hour testing period. The facility is the largest coal-fired power plant currently being built in China. A recent report from researchers at China’s State Grid Corp. said the country’s need to satisfy increased demand for electricity could bring development of up to 150 GW of new generation capacity by year-end 2025. That would put China’s known coal-fired generation capacity at about 1,230 GW. More details are shown at
 First 1-GW Unit of Major China Coal-Fired Plant Comes Online (powermag.com)

 

Indian Government to Require 100% Reuse of Flyash

Recently, the Centre government drafted the new fly ash utilization rule for Thermal Power Plants(TPPs), bringing them to mandatory　utilize 100% of fly ash　within three to five years. Existing provisions allow TPPs to fully utilize fly ash in a three-year cycle in a staggered manner.

What does that mean? The choices are compliance or fines.

It introduced fines of Rs. 1,000 on non-compliant plants under the ‘polluter pays principle’, taking into account utilization targets with immediate effect. The 'polluter pays' principle is the commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment.

Under this, the collected fines will be deposited in the designated account of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and shall be used towards the safe disposal of the unutilized ash.

Unutilized accumulated ash (legacy ash)　where TPPs will have to utilize it within 10 years from the date of publication of final notification in a staggered manner. If not complied, a fine of Rs 1000 per ton will be imposed on the remaining unutilized quantity which has not been fined earlier.

Thermax Bags Rs. 545.6 Crore Order for Two Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Systems

Thermax Limited has concluded an order of Rs. 545.6 crore from an Indian power public sector company to set up flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems for their two units of 500 MW capacity each in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.

The FGD systems will be installed at their plant to cut down SOx emissions and comply with the air quality standards set for the power plants.

In the current financial year, this is our second FGD order. "Our proven technological capabilities in the area of air pollution and gaseous abatement, especially FGD, where we are already executing a few large orders, led to this competitive win. In addition to supporting the customer in meeting statutory compliance related to industrial pollution norms, the project reinforces our commitment to the environment," says Ashish Bhandari, MD & CEO, Thermax Limited.

The scope of supply includes design, engineering, manufacturing, civil work, construction, and commissioning of the FGD systems. The project is slated to be completed in 30 months.

Andritz to Supply the 12th High-Efficiency Powerfluid Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler to Japan

Andritz has received another order from Toyo Engineering Corporation in Japan to supply a 50-MWe PowerFluid circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler on an EPS basis. The boiler will be part of the biomass power plant in Tahara-shi, Aichi Prefecture, in Japan. Start-up is planned for 2025.

The Andritz PowerFluid boiler will be integrated into a biomass-fired power generation facility that will be fueled by wood pellets. With its high efficiency and state-of-the-art technology, it is the perfect solution to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets and contribute towards carbon neutrality in Japan. The biomass power plant will be capable of supplying power for roughly 110,000 households in Japan.

Valmet to Supply a Biomass Power Boiler and a Flue Gas Cleaning System

 

Valmet will supply a biomass power boiler and a flue gas cleaning system to Tahara Biomass Power LLC in Tahara, Japan. The new CFB (circulating fluidized bed) boiler will enable the customer’s power plant to achieve a stable power supply at high thermal efficiency while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. This is already the sixth order received for Valmet's CFB boiler to the Japanese market since 2016.

The order was included in Valmet's orders received in the third quarter 2021. The value of this kind of order is typically around €70 million. The installation work is scheduled to start in 2023, and the plant will start commercial operation during 2025.

The project will be delivered in cooperation with the Japanese company JFE Engineering Corporation. JFE Engineering will be the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor for the Tahara Biomass Power Plant.

"We are proud to supply one of the largest biomass-fired boiler plants in Japan with a maximum biomass combustion capacity. This is also our sixth boiler plant order in a row with JFE Engineering Corporation, which is a proof of our long and trustful cooperation," says Jari Niemelä, Director, Boilers and Gasifiers, Energy business unit, Valmet.

AWE Exhibitors at PowerGen

The following is coverage of the exhibitors with AWE products. Details are found at https://www.powergen.com/

AVS USA Inc. - Booth #2472

Advanced Valve Solutions USA is a worldwide provider of Hora and Persta Control Valves for the Power industry. We can help you upgrade your power Stations from Baseload to Cycling operations. We provide Hp, IP, LP Bypass, Feedwater control, Attemperator, OTC (GE/Alstom GT24,GT26 units), Drain and Main Steam Stop valves in Gate, Globe and Check valves.

Brands:　Advanced Valve Solutions USA Inc, Hora, Persta. HP Bypass, Attemperation, Feedwater Control, OTC (GE/Alstom GT24,GT26), Drain and Main Steam Stop Valves. Gate, Globe and Check

AeriNOx - Booth #5837

AeriNOx is an environmental engineering company.

Our strength is helping customers comply with federal and local emission regulations targeting process machines, marine vessels, offshore rigs, stationary diesel and natural gas engines and turbines. Come see us at booth #5837

Brands:　SCR, Catalyst, NOx, PM, HC, Emissions, Oxidation

Babcock Power - Booth - MR-5665

Babcock Power, Inc., provides customers with safe, efficient, environmentally responsible generation solutions worldwide. Its extensive portfolio includes patented technology, equipment, and aftermarket services for heat exchangers, HRSGs, steam generators, boilers, and environmental AQCS; for the global power generation, combined cycle, industrial, environmental, refinery, petrochemical, solar, biomass, and waste-to-energy markets. Babcock Power subsidiaries: Vogt Power International Inc., Thermal Engineering International (USA) Inc., Babcock Power Services Inc., Riley Power Inc., Boiler Tube Company of America, TEi Construction Services Inc., Babcock Power Environmental Inc., and GSI Geo-Synthetics Systems.

Brands:　HRSG; harps; pressure parts; construction, outage & maintenance services; condensers; heat exchangers; geosynthetics; retrofits; studies; rebuild; field engineering; inspections; fabrication.

Bray - Booth #4356

Bray International, Inc. has a global presence in over 60 countries. Bray's product portfolio includes butterfly valves (resilient seated, high performance, triple offset and PFA lined), ball valves (floating, PFA lined, severe service and trunnion), knife gate valves, check valves, pneumatic and electric actuators, and control accessories.

Brands:　Bray, Bray International, Bray Controls, Flow-Tek, Bray/Rite, Bray/VAAS, Ultraflo, Amresist

Buffalo Pumps - Booth #5301

Buffalo Pumps is a custom manufacturer of centrifugal pumps for demanding and critical applications. It states that it is the leader in supplying heavy duty, cost competitive lube oil pumps to the power generation industry since 1950.

Catalytic Combustion - Booth #5944

Emission control design, development, and manufacturing.

Catalytic Combustion Corporation is an emission control Technology company developing and manufacturing products that remove harmful substances and noise from process exhaust. Products range from systems to control emissions from large manufacturers and power generating operations to small catalysts that control emissions from household appliances and most every application in-between.

Champion Valves - Booth #5810

Champion Valves, Inc. has a complete range of high-quality and competitively priced industrial check valves. It maintains a large inventory of finished valves, backed by decades of experience and exceptional customer service.　

Brands:　CVR Dual Disc Wafer Check SDR Single Disc Wafer Check NZ Axial Flow Nozzle Globe Check NZW Axial Flow Nozzle Wafer Check SCW Silent Wafer Check SCG Silent Globe Check SCT Silent Threaded Check

Chicago Valves and Controls　- Booth #3837

Conval Booth – Booth #5038
 Conval is a designer and manufacturer of severe service valves for a wide variety of high-pressure/temperature applications for the power industry. Clampseal globe valves, Camseal top-entry ball valves and SwivlDisc gate valves　 are designed for tough applications.　

Brands:　Clampseal Y- Pattern, T-Pattern and Angle Pattern Globe and Check valves Camseal high pressure/temperature MSBV's SwivlDisc gate valves Whisperjet pressure control

Doosan - Booth #5035
 Doosan owns core technologies and ongoing performance with the key components of the power generation business. Doosan is also making substantial inroads into the eco-friendly power generation business including ESS(Energy Storage System) and microgrid.

Endress & Hauser - Booth #3944

Flexitallic – Booth #5438

Manufactures industrial static sealing products. Flexitallic also offers custom engineering solutions for toughest applications. The newest product line is the Change Gasket.

Brands:　Change Gasket, Thermiculite, Sigma, Flexpro, Spiral Wound Gaskets, DJs, PTFE, SEL Graphite

Flo-Tite - Booth #5831

Flo-Tite Inc. is a manufacturer of high quality ball valves and actuation equipment. Products range from standard commercial type Ball Valves to high-pressure metal seated Control Valves. Flo-Tite Inc. is a manufacturer of high quality ball valves and actuation equipment. The company maintains an inventory of standard valves in Carbon, Stainless, Steel and Alloy 20.

GEA - Booth #5755

Centrifugal separators from GEA are used in power plants to treat fuel oils and lube oils for turbines and diesel engines. Precision separation is essential to the smooth operation of generators. The result is a reliable, cost-effective supply of energy and efficient use of natural resources. An uninterrupted power supply requires systems that operate trouble-free, efficiently, and reliably in all load ranges.

Treatment systems from GEA are designed to assure constantly high availability. In all these fields of application, the OSE separator generation is entering a new dimension. GEA offers

Brands:　Fuel & Lube Oil Treatment; Fuel Oil Conditioning; Wastewater & Sludge Treatment; Cat Fines Removal

GKN Hydrogen - Booth #4134

GKN Hydrogen, a division of GKN Powder Metallurgy, is pioneering safe, emission-free green hydrogen storage to help organizations and societies around the world achieve their carbon neutrality goals. We are bringing to market a range of modular hydrogen storage solution based on metal hydrides.

Brands: Energy Storage, Hydrogen, Metal Hydrides, Green, Safe, Compact

Hilliard Booth - #5145

The HILCO® Division of The Hilliard Corporation, cost-effectively brings fluid contamination problems under control. Products help reduce the cost of new oil purchases, decrease disposal costs, lessen component wear, reduce downtime, and curtail environment contamination. HILCO® has supplied thousands of liquid fuel filters, coalescers, and systems to OEM turbine and engine manufactures to maintain fuel cleanliness to their specifications. Striving for continuous improvement in testing of vessel designs, cartridge configuration, and cartridge media,

Hose Master - Booth #4607

Hose Master engineers and manufactures high quality corrugated metal hose and expansion joint solutions for Utility and Power Generation industries. Wherever high temperatures, extreme pressures and vibration are encountered, Hose Master products are trusted for the most critical applications including hoses and expansion joints for steam piping, HRSG penetration seals, and turbine crossovers.

Brands:　Corrugated Metal Hose Stripwound Metal Hose Expansion Joints Annuflex Masterflex ChemKing PressureFlex HP PressureMax HP Interflex Ultraflex

Hug Engineering - Booth #5849

Hug produces systems for diesel and gas engines used in Marine, Power Generation and Mobile applications. The company provides efficient solutions and customized concepts for exhaust gas cleaning.

Brands:　SCR, NOx reduction, oxidation, diesel particulate filter, DPF, catalysts, emissions control, emissions after-treatment, low to zero emissions

Kennedy Valve - Booth #5656

American Made UL Listed FM Approved fire protection valves, fire hydrants, and accessories. 24" and down gate valves, as well as indicator posts and wall posts. We also offer the industry's only factory installed OS&Y tamper switch. 12" and down supervised butterfly valves, and UL-FM check valves.

Brands: Kennedy Valve, G365 Guardian, K17

KSB – Booth #4716

KSB SupremeServ provides the power industry pump service, repairs, spare parts, and engineering on all brands & types. Our service centers, strategically located throughout North America, are ready to serve with  installation and commissioning of your equipment, maintenance and repair, customized service concepts, spare parts, or replacement.

Brands: Pump Service, Repair, Commissioning, Custom parts, Reverse Engineering

Leistritz - Booth #5408

Leistritz manufactures rotary screw pumps for fuel oil injection, unloading and transfer applications, as well as gearbox and bearing lubrication. In addition, our line of Re-Engineered pumps can replace obsolete equipment without piping modifications. Flow rates up to 10,000 gpm and pressures up to 2200 psi.

Brands: Screw Pumps

Miratech – Booth #5539

Miratech is a leading provider of cost-effective, reliable, emission and acoustic solutions for Natural Gas and Diesel Reciprocating Engines, and oxidation catalysts for Gas Turbines. The products are used in Power Generation, Energy Infrastructure, Industrial, and Marine applications.

Brands: Screw Pumps

Montrose - Booth #5565

The premier provider of environmental services

Montrose Environmental Group offers unsurpassed Air Quality Measurement, Environmental Laboratory, Engineering and Regulatory Compliance Services throughout the United States and abroad. We strive to achieve optimal environmental performance in a way that effectively complements our clients’ operations.

Brands: Emissions Testing, EPA Compliance, RATA, MACT/NESHAP, NAAQS, Engineering

NANO  - Booth #4725

NEL – Booth #4129

 Nel Hydrogen offers hydrogen gas solutions for power plants

Nel is a global, dedicated hydrogen company, delivering optimal solutions to produce, store & distribute hydrogen for applications ranging from grid-level support for renewable energy storage to electric generator cooling in power plants.

Brands: The Leader in On-site Hydrogen Generation, HOGEN, PEM

Parker - Booth #5125

Advanced Motion and Control Technologies and Systems

As a collaborative partner, we work one-on-one with you to create cleaner more efficient energy. Whether for nuclear, coal-fired, gas turbine, and combined cycle plants…or biomass, hydroelectric, waste-to-energy, geothermal, wind, and solar our solutions reduce costs and optimized performance.

Brands: EGT, Tube Fittings, Veriflo, RACOR, CleanDIESEL Velcon, Tube Fittings, Seal-Lok Xtreme, GreenMAX, NitroDry, SensoNODE, HAS, Intellinder

Reverso Pumps  - Booth #5740

Reliable Diesel Filtration for Reliable Engines

Manufactures Automatic Fuel Polishing Systems for diesel fuel bulk storage tanks and day tanks. Featuring Separ Filter 5-stage filtration, the systems remove 99.9% of water and particulate from fuel to increase engine reliability and prevent expensive repairs.

Brands: Reverso, Separ Filter

Victaulic - Booth #5044

Victaulic is designed to provide full system solutions to meet the rigorous demands and challenging environments of the power generation industry across all plant types and scopes of work. We are proud to be a part of the planning, design, and construction of power and energy facilities throughout the globe.

Brands: Victaulic, pipe fittings, pipe couplings

CO2

 

Four Principles to Guide Decarbonization Decisions

 

COP26 has increased the pressure on public and private organizations to escalate and accelerate their sustainability commitments. In this webinar recording, Bain partners Marc Lino, Torsten Lichtenau, and Debra McCoy are joined by Tim Mohin, chief sustainability officer and executive vice president at Persefoni, in a webinar to discuss actions companies can take to manage and mitigate climate change, while still creating value along the way.

 

Among the achievements that they found most encouraging were the strong commitments and international agreements, such as the more than 100 countries representing the lion’s share of the world’s forests pledging to halt deforestation by 2030. Parties agreed to update 2030 targets in 2022 rather than in five years, and they also closed loopholes around some legacy, poor-quality carbon credits. (For more, see “Four Myths about Carbon Offsets.”)  Some accomplishments were thwarted by disregard, such as the commitment to reduce methane that wasn't signed by several key emitters or the pledge to end investment in new coal power generation that failed to garner support from countries representing 70% of the world’s coal production.

 

But whatever happens on the policy side, much of the real work of the climate transition will be driven by finance and private companies, which were at the table in a serious way for the first time.

 

In the Bain work with large companies that are acting on their ambitions and starting to reduce their emissions, four specific principles are guiding decisions that are making a real difference.

Make carbon transition a pillar of strategy. Ambitions to reduce emissions should guide decisions about where to compete and allocate resources.

Get more bang from your net-zero buck. Measure the carbon transition like the rest of the business and find ways to monetize investments in carbon reduction.

Embed carbon transition into the fabric of the business. Price carbon internally, link compensation incentives to transition goals, and track greenhouse gas emissions as you would costs.

Avoid the hourglass effect. Senior managers and new hires may be enthusiastic supporters, but the transition needs buy-in from the middle managers who must implement change successfully.

The webinar can be viewed at https://www.bain.com/insights/beyond-cop-twenty-six-Implications-for-private-equity-webinar/

Industry Support for Large-Scale Carbon Capture and Storage Continues to Gain Momentum in Houston

 

Three additional companies have announced their support for exploring the implementation of large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in and around the Houston industrial area. Air Liquide, BASF and Shell are joining Calpine, Chevron, Dow, ExxonMobil, INEOS, Linde, LyondellBasell, Marathon Petroleum, NRG Energy, Phillips 66, and Valero to collectively evaluate and advance emissions reduction efforts in and around the Houston industrial area. This announcement increases the momentum for CCS and aligns with efforts to reduce emissions around the world.

 

The 14 companies are evaluating how to use safe, proven CCS technology at Houston-area facilities that provide energy and products for modern life, including power generation and advanced manufacturing for plastics, motor fuels and packaging. In December 2021, the companies held a series of workshops at the University of Houston to discuss collaboration and activation of this important, large-scale emissions-reduction effort.

 

Together, these companies and others in the region could capture and safely store up to 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year by 2030 and about 100 million metric tons per year by 2040, helping to significantly reduce emissions in the Houston region.

 

These efforts have already gained broad support in the Houston region, including from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the Harris County Commissioners' Court, the Greater Houston Partnership, and the Center for Houston's Future.

 

"Large-scale carbon capture and storage in the Houston region will be a cornerstone for the world's energy transition, and these companies' efforts are crucial toward advancing CCS development to achieve broad scale commercial impact," said Charles McConnell, director of University of Houston's Center for Carbon Management in Energy and former assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy. "As the energy capital of the world, Houston has the expertise and leadership—including industry, academia, and policymakers—to realize a low carbon, reliable and affordable energy future. I look forward to working alongside these 14 companies to make Houston the global leader in CCS."

 

Wide-scale, affordable deployment of CCS in the Houston area will require the support of industry, communities, and government. If appropriate policies and regulations are put in place, CCS could help the United States and Houston reach net-zero goals while generating new jobs and protecting existing jobs that are important to Houston's economy. CCS could also promote long-term economic growth in Southeast Texas and beyond.

 

CCS is the process of capturing CO2 from industrial activities that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and injecting it into deep underground geologic formations for secure and permanent storage. CO2 from the Houston industrial area could be stored in nearby on- and offshore storage sites. An analysis of U.S Department of Energy estimates shows the storage capacity along the U.S. Gulf Coast is large enough to store about 500 billion metric tons of CO2, which is equivalent to more than 130 years of industrial and power generation emissions in the United States, based on 2018 data.

 

CCS is one of the few proven technologies that could enable some industry sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as manufacturing and heavy industry, to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency projects that CCS could mitigate up to 15% of global emissions by 2040, and the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates global decarbonization efforts could be twice as costly without the technology.

 

Discussions continue with other companies that have industrial operations in the Houston region, potentially increasing the projected total CO2 that can be captured and safely stored.

 

HYDROGEN

 

Trillions Should be Invested in Long Duration Energy Storage

 

The Long Duration Energy Storage Council hired McKinsey to determine future markets. Here is the summary of a report which can be viewed thorough the link provided.

 

Many LDES technologies currently exist, but they are at different levels of maturity. Some have been deployed commercially, some are still at the pilot phase. Projections show that LDES need to be scaled up dramatically over the next 20 years to build a cost-optimal net-zero energy system. For LDES to be cost optimal, costs must decrease by 60%. However, even greater cost reductions have already occurred in other clean technologies like solar and wind.

 

Between 2022–40, USD 1.5 tr–3.0 tr of total investment in LDES will be required. The total investment over this period is comparable to what is invested in transmission and distribution networks every 2–4 years. This investment has the potential to create economic and environmental benefit. The business cases for LDES can often be positive if sufficient mechanisms are in place to monetize the value. By 2040, LDES need to have scaled up to ~400x present day levels to 1.5–2.5 TW (85–140 TWh). 10% of all electricity generated would be stored in LDES at some point. Present-day LDES deployment is low, but momentum in LDES is growing exponentially.

 

This McKinsey report focuses on the relatively nascent mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrochemical storage technologies, instead of Li-ion batteries, dispatchable hydrogen assets, and large-scale aboveground pumped storage hydropower.

 

Mechanical LDES The most widespread and mature storage technology is PSH, a form of mechanical storage that accounts for 95 percent of the total energy storage capacity worldwide. New versions of this established technology are emerging to reduce its dependence on geographical conditions, For example, geomechanical pumped hydro, which uses the same principles as aboveground PSH but with subsurface water reservoirs. Other emerging mechanical energy storage solutions include compressed air energy storage (CAES) and gravity-based energy storage. The first stores energy as compressed air in pressure-regulated structures (either underground or aboveground). In its adiabatic form, CAES also includes thermal storage to store the heat that is generated during compression and reuse it in the discharge cycle. Gravity-based energy storage is another promising form of mechanical storage, which stores energy by lifting mass that is released when energy is needed. This technology is in an earlier stage of commercial development. Lastly, mechanical LDES can also take the form of liquid CO2, which can be stored at high pressure and ambient temperature and then released in a turbine in a closed loop without emissions. Liquid air energy storage (LAES) works similarly to CAES by compressing air but uses electricity to cool and liquify the medium and store it in cryogenic storage tanks at low pressure. For this reason, LAES is sometimes classified as mechanical storage and sometimes as thermal storage.

 

Thermal LDES Thermal energy storage technologies store electricity or heat in the form of thermal energy. In the discharge cycle the heat is transferred to a fluid, which is then used to power a heat engine and discharge the electricity back to the system. Depending on the principle used to store the heat, thermal energy storage can be classified into sensible heat (increasing the temperature of a solid or liquid medium), latent heat (changing the phase of a material), or thermochemical heat (underpinning endothermic and exothermic reactions). These technologies use different mediums to store the heat such as molten salts, concrete, aluminum alloy, or rock material in insulated containers. Likewise, the charging equipment options are diverse, including resistance heaters, heat engines, or high temperature heat pumps among others. The most widespread thermal LDES technology are molten salts coupled with concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, however, this technology is different from other novel LDES as it presents different characteristics (e.g. it cannot be widely deployed as it is not modular, the CSP plant has a large footprint and is only effective in regions with high solar radiation). Nonetheless, molten salts can effectively be used in novel thermal LDES to store electricity independently of CSP plants. Thermal LDES technologies can discharge both electricity and heat, supporting the decarbonization of the heat sector, which accounts for around 50 percent of the global final energy consumption (compared to 20 percent by the electricity sector in 2019). Of the total heat consumption, it is estimated that only around 10 percent is supplied by LDES could support the decarbonization of this sector through the provision of zero-emissions high grade heat to energy-intensive industries—that rely on fossil fuels and have few decarbonization alternatives—and other heat applications (such as district heating networks).

 

Chemical LDES Chemical energy storage systems store electricity through the creation of chemical bonds. The two most popular emerging technologies are based on power-to-gas concepts: power-to-hydrogen-to-power, and power-to-syngas (synthetic gas)-to-power. In the first case, electricity is used to power electrolyzers, which produce hydrogen molecules that can be stored in tanks, caverns, or pipelines. The energy is discharged when the hydrogen is supplied to a hydrogen turbine or fuel cell. If the hydrogen is combined with CO2 in a second step to make methane, the resulting Net-zero power: Long duration energy storage for a renewable grid | LDES Council, McKinsey & Company gas—known as syngas—has similar properties to natural gas and can be stored and later burned in conventional power plants. Similarly, hydrogen can be converted to ammonia for direct combustion.

 

Electrochemical LDES Different batteries of varying chemistries are emerging to provide long duration flexibility. Electrochemical flow batteries store electricity in two chemical solutions that are stored in external tanks and pushed through a stack of electrochemical cells, where charge and discharge processes take place thanks to a selective membrane. These batteries are suited for long-duration applications where low chemical and equipment costs are possible. Emerging metal air batteries rely on low-cost, abundant earth metals, water, and air – meaning they have the potential for high scalability and low installed system costs. Furthermore, many of these solutions do not suffer from thermal runaway, making them safe to install and operate. Where a hydrogen technology demonstrates very similar behaviors and cost profiles to other LDES it has been included (such as solid oxide fuel cells). There are also hybrid flow batteries with liquid electrolytes and a metal anode which combine some of the properties of conventional flow batteries and metal-anode systems. Li-ion, hydrogen turbines, and large-scale aboveground PSH This report distinguishes between LDES and Li-ion as the scaling up of costs for a long-duration flexibility range makes Li-ion uncompetitive for a long-duration flexibility range. Hydrogen-based storage and reconversion to power via turbines (and fuel cells) can serve a role for long-duration storage but are called out separately in the report due to dissimilar cost performance at lower storage durations and the specific interest that has evolved around hydrogen in the energy community. Large-scale aboveground PSH are not included in the considered technology space as the deployment benefits and economics of novel LDES technologies, including novel PSH, are expected to outcompete these plants and LDES have fewer geographical limitations.

 

BIOMASS

 

Biomass Must Come From Sustainable Sources

 

UK legislation on biomass sourcing states that operators must maintain an adequate inventory of the trees in the area (including data on the growth of the trees and on the extraction of wood) to ensure that wood is extracted from the area at a rate that does not exceed its long-term capacity to produce wood. This is designed to ensure that areas where biomass is sourced from retain their productivity and ability to continue sequestering carbon.

 

Ensuring that forestland remains productive and protected from land-use changes, such as urban creep, where vegetated land is converted into urban, concreted spaces, depends on a healthy market for wood products. Industries such as construction and furniture offer higher prices for higher-quality wood. While low-quality, waste wood, as well as residues from forests and wood-industry by-products, can be bought and used to produce biomass pellets.

 

A report by Forest 2 Market examined the relationship between demand for wood and forests’ productivity and ability to sequester carbon in the US South, where Drax sources about two-thirds of its biomass.

 

The report found that increased demand for wood did not displace forests in the US South. Instead, it encouraged landowners to invest in productivity improvements that increased the amount of wood fiber and therefore carbon contained in the region’s forests.

 

A synthesis report, which examines a broad range of research papers,  published in Forest Ecology and Management in March of 2021, concluded from existing studies that claims of large-scale damage to biodiversity from woody biofuel in the South East US are not supported. The use of these forest residues as an energy source was also found to lead to net GHG greenhouse emissions savings compared to fossil fuels, according to Forest Research.

Importantly the research shows that climate risks are not exacerbated because of biomass sourcing; in fact, the opposite is true with annual wood growth in the US South increasing by 112% between 1953 and 2015.

 

The European Commission’s JRC Science for Policy literature review and knowledge synthesis report ‘The use of woody biomass for energy production in the EU’ suggests  a win-win forest bioenergy pathway is possible, that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, while at the same time not damaging, or even improving, the condition of forest ecosystems.

 

However, it also makes clear “lose-lose” situations is also a possible, in which forest ecosystems are damaged without providing carbon emission reductions in policy-relevant timeframes.

 

Win-win management practices must benefit climate change mitigation and have either a neutral or positive effect on biodiversity. A win-win future would see the forestation of former arable land with diverse and naturally regenerated forests.

 

The report also warns of trade-offs between local biodiversity and mitigating carbon emissions, or vice versa. These must be carefully navigated to avoid creating a lose-lose scenario where biodiversity is damaged and natural forests are converted into plantations, while BECCS fails to deliver the necessary negative emissions.

 

In a future that will depend on science working in collaboration with industries to build a net zero future continued research is key to ensuring biomass can deliver the win-win solution of renewable electricity with negative emissions while supporting healthy forests.

 

Bain Helps Clients Manage and Report Carbon Footprint

Bain & Company has a strategic partnership with and investment in Persefoni, a leading SaaS platform that helps investors and enterprises easily calculate, analyze, manage, and report on their real-time carbon footprints.

This first-of-its-kind partnership will pair Bain & Company’s expertise in carbon transitions, as well as its deep understanding of investors’ priorities, with Persefoni’s cutting-edge carbon accounting platform to deliver unprecedented solutions to Bain’s clients on their net-zero journeys—solutions that are actionable, trackable, linked to value and grounded in facts.

With an initial focus on Bain’s highly influential cadre of private equity and institutional investor clients—and their portfolio companies—this partnership will help Bain’s clients to manage their carbon inventory with the same rigor and transparency as their financial metrics.

“Bain & Company is continuously expanding its suite of services and tools aimed at accelerating the carbon transition, leveraging the latest technologies and working alongside our clients to create a more sustainable, responsible and profitable future,” said Torsten Lichtenau, partner, and global head of Bain & Company’s Carbon Transition Impact Area. “

45 TWH of BECCS by 2050

In the UK, the  CCC’s 2018 report ‘Biomass in a low-carbon economy’ points to BECCS as both a crucial source of energy and emissions abatement.

It suggests that power generation from BECCS will increase from 3 TWh per year in 2035 to 45 TWh per year in 2050. It marks a sharp increase from the 19.5 TWh that biomass (without CCS) accounted for across 2020, according to Electric Insights data. It also suggests that BECCS could sequester 1.1 tons of CO2 for every ton of biomass used, providing clear negative emissions.

However, the report makes clear that unlocking the potential of bioenergy and BECCS is only possible when biomass stocks are managed in a sustainable way that, as a minimum requirement, maintains the carbon stocks in plants and soils over time.

With increased attention paid to forest management and land use, there is a growing body of evidence that points to bioenergy as a win-win solution that can decarbonize power and economies, while supporting healthy forests that effectively sequester CO2.

BUSINESS

 

Program for ErgonArmor announces changes to Sales, Marketing and Distribution Program for Pennguard™ Block Chimney Lining System

 

ErgonArmor, a division of Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions Inc., has announced new and sweeping changes to the global sales, marketing, and distribution program for its Pennguard Block Lining System suite of products used in coal-fired power plant chimney applications.

 

To better serve the diverse needs of this global market, ErgonArmor will end its exclusive distribution go-to-market strategy at the end of 2021. Beginning January 2022, it will offer the Pennguard Block Lining System direct to consumers and through select nonexclusive distributors. This change will enhance Pennguard Block Lining System sourcing options for coal-fired power plant projects globally.

 

ErgonArmor anticipates this factory-direct distribution model will enhance its market position. In addition to ready access to the premier Pennguard brand of cellulated borosilicate glass block lining technology, clients will find more flexible service options, delivery timing and payment terms.

 

Coal-fired power plants first began using the Pennguard Block Lining System to protect chimneys and ducts against corrosive flue gas condensate in the 1980s. In the years since its commercial introduction, Pennguard has developed a globally dominant market share and exceptional track record of performance that clients have come to trust. While some nations have decommissioned coal burners in favor of alternative energy sources, others will continue to utilize affordable coal resources in conjunction with modern clean coal technologies to fuel economic growth.

 

“These changes will better position our Pennguard product line to react to the evolving coal-fired power plant market. We believe moving ourselves one step closer to the end user will be a welcomed change and provide a more efficient approach to this ever-changing landscape,” commented Christine Osborne, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ErgonArmor.

 

Lots of Differences Between Stated Policies and Plans For Net Zero

 

Sonal Patel, writing in Power, listed the eight overarching trends gleaned from the Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental agency’s annual outlook. She also provided three IEA scenarios.

 

Coal and natural gas generation will remain “cornerstones” of electricity flexibility, but flexibility profiles are slated to change as power generation mixes across the world transform, the IEA suggested. This graphic shows three IEA scenarios: the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), which explores where energy systems might go without further policy intervention; the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS), which assumes announced policies (as of October 2021) will be implemented; and the Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE).

 

Editor of Power Sees Lots of Bright Spots on the Horizon

 

Last week Aaron Larson, editor of Power, provided an optimistic view of the future of power.

 

“Opportunities are everywhere in the power industry these days. Not only are wind and solar energy seeing explosive growth, but also several other technologies are showing real signs of promise. Battery energy storage systems and microgrids have become mainstream grid components. Advanced nuclear power designs and hydrogen-based energy schemes have progressed beyond concepts and into real brick-and-mortar projects. The worldwide focus on climate change has developers of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies licking their chops, with serious deployment of CCS systems almost assured if the world is to meet goals aligned with the Paris Agreement.”

 

Aaron cited a report showing that the U.S. will average more than 29 GW of new solar capacity additions annually through 2026. However, this is far short of the 80 GW of solar additions SEIA says are needed annually to reach President Biden’s 2035 clean energy targets.

 

To Aaron  the most impressive growth  is taking place in the energy storage arena. ACP reported that 1,283 MW of storage power capacity was added in the U.S. during the first nine months of 2021—a 243% increase year over year. Furthermore, the storage energy capacity increased by 4,096 MWh, which more than doubled the capacity available in the U.S. just nine months earlier.

 

Optimism for small nuclear plants was supported by the Ontario Hydro purchase of a GE BWRX-300 SMR

https://www.powermag.com/optimism-is-warranted-in-the-power-industry-in-2022-and-beyond/

 

The eight trends are shown at  https://www.powermag.com/disorderly-transitions-eight-enduring-global-power-sector-trends/

PowerGen Moved to May Which Allows Time For IIoW Causation Loops to be Prepared

PowerGen International®, scheduled to take place on January 26-28, 2022, has been rescheduled and will now take place May 23-25, 2022, at the same location in Dallas.

This postponement gives some time to complete Industrial Internet of ‘Wisdom Causation Loops involving energy storage and decarbonization subjects. They will link exhibitors, speakers, and attendees.  In the past exhibitions, we have created route maps, but the Causation Loop takes it beyond  educating or problem solving and into actionable decisions based on Total cost of ownership (TCO) analyses.

Hydrogen and energy storage are two main topics at PowerGen. There is overlap in that hydrogen is a form of storage as well as a fuel with no resultant CO2 emissions.  Here are some of the TCO issues that speakers will be addressing.

Hydrogen

·       Do reciprocating engines fueled with hydrogen for CHP plants have a lower TCO than fuel cells?

·       What is the lowest TCO selection for low NOx burners which are safe and minimize NOx formation?

·       Do packaged boilers  firing hydrogen have the LTCO in CHP process steam or electrical power?

·       Can aeroderivative Gas Turbines demonstrate LTCO either through complementing Renewable Sources in hybrid configuration injecting at the same point of interconnect (POI) or utilizing a mixture of gas and green hydrogen?

·       What modifications to piping systems, water systems, emissions control, monitoring., safety systems, valves and compressors will be needed to lower the TCO when cofiring of hydrogen.

 

Energy Storage

·       What is the maximum duration of storage with lithium batteries that still provide LTCO?

·       Where is the TCO for Compressed Air Energy Storage lower than alternatives?

·       What is the TCO for electrochemical storage with several days capacity?

·       What is the  TCO for hydrogen storage  compared to other long duration options?

·       What is the TCO of pumped storage for periods longer than 12 hours?


These and other IIoW Causation Loops will be pursued over the next months prior to the show.

FGD and DeNOx Newsletter No. 524