GE Wins First Solar-Gas Hybrid Plant From Turkey’s MetCap
//Bloomberg
By Rachel Layne and Chris Martin - Jun 7, 2011
General Electric Co. (GE) said its new turbine designed to pair gas and renewable-power generation was chosen by Turkey’s MetCap Energy Investments for the first combination solar-natural gas plant.
The site will use technology from closely held eSolar Inc., wind and the “FlexEfficiency” gas turbine GE announced last week. The combination will be able to operate at a fuel- efficiency rate of more than 70 percent, greater than the rate of 61 percent for the combined-cycle turbine alone, GE said. It also makes solar more cost-efficient.
“This will be a power plant that combines wind, natural gas and integrated combined technology under one roof,” Paul Browning, who runs thermal products at GE Energy, the world’s biggest maker of power-generation equipment, said at a Milan press conference.
The plant, to be located in Karaman, Turkey, will have a capacity of about 530 megawatts, enough to power more than 600,000 homes, MetCap Chairman Celal Metin said at the conference.
“We have worked with every single party in industry who has something to offer in state-of-art, in gas turbines, steam turbines, solar sites and wind,” Metin said. “We did not give it to them. They earned it.”
Gas, Steam, Wind
The plant will integrate GE’s 9FB gas turbine, which has a capacity of 510 megawatts and a frequency of 50 hertz; a steam turbine; a generator; GE wind-turbine power; and power from eSolar-concentrated thermal tower technology, according to a statement from the companies.
“Solar-thermal with combined-cycle power plant are the most economic there is,” Browning said in an interview. He said Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE expects more order announcements in the “weeks and months ahead.”
Under a license agreement, eSolar’s projects will be transferred to GE Energy and become part of the integrated solar, combined-cycle effort, Chief Executive Officer John Van Scoter said in an interview.
GE’s investment combined with an $11 million U.S. Department of Energy solar-storage grant put Burbank, California-based eSolar in a “very good position financially” to become cash flow positive, he said.
Competition Ahead?
GE Energy, based in Atlanta, competes with companies including Germany’s Siemens AG. (SIE) Siemens last year said its H- class combined-cycle turbine combination set a world record at 60.75 percent efficiency grade. Browning said he expects competition.
“My long experience is that when GE goes somewhere, others follow,” Browning said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see movement in this direction by others in our industry.”
China’s Harbin Electric, the parent of Harbin Power Equipment Co., will buy four 9FB gas turbines from GE by the end of 2013, with two that incorporate the newest technology, GE said last week.
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt said last month that sales of energy- efficient equipment, including gas turbines, will accelerate in 2011’s second half, helping to lead profit growth into 2012.
The new turbine’s debut follows about $11 billion in energy purchases since October including Dresser Inc., a maker of oil- field gear, and the well-support division of John Wood Group Plc.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/ge-chosen-by-metcap-for-combined-cycle-power-plant-s-technology.html
China
IEA believes new policy could lead to positive outlook on energy mix
// China Daily
June 08,
China's new policy for gas usage could usher in a golden era for a greater role of natural gas in the global energy mix, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
"Despite minimal growth in gas-fired power generation in China from 2000 to 2009, its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) reflects a major policy shift, which aims to give gas a much more important role in the broader energy system," the IEA said in a special report entitled Are We Entering The Golden Age of Gas, which was released on Monday in London.
China's 12th Five-Year Plan has strong implications for gas usage, targeting an 8.3 percent share in the primary energy mix in 2015 or 260 billion cubic meters (cu m) annually, based on China's goal for energy consumption.
This is an upward shift from 85 billion cu m of gas consumed in 2008, or 3.8 percent in the energy mix.
Focusing on energy efficiency and the usage of cleaner energy, the 12th Five-Year Plan charts a course to more sustainable economic growth.
Gas demand in China, now about 100 billion cu m a year and almost equal to Germany's, may soar to match that of the 27-nation European Union by 2035, according to the IEA report.
The new report, part of the World Energy Outlook 2011 series, presented an illustrative "high gas scenario", which incorporates a combination of new factors that will result in a more prominent role for natural gas.
These factors are ample availability of gas, which lowers average gas prices, implementation of China's policy for gas usage, lower growth of nuclear power and more usage of natural gas in road transportation.
As the most important country in shaping the future of energy markets, China's energy demand and its exponential economic growth mean that its policy can dramatically affect the trajectory of global gas demand, the report noted.
The report said that natural gas is a particularly attractive fuel for countries and regions - such as China, India and the Middle East - that are urbanizing and seeking to satisfy rapid growth in energy demand.
"These countries and regions will largely determine the extent to which natural gas use expands over the next 25 years," the report said.
It went on to predict that the global usage of gas would rise by more than 50 percent from 2010 levels.
Gas will overtake coal as the most popular fuel after oil, with its share of the global energy mix increasing to more than 25 percent by 2035, according to IEA.
"We have seen remarkable developments in the natural gas market in recent months. There is a strong potential for gas to take on a larger role, but also for the global gas market to become more diversified and therefore improve energy security," said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, at the launch of the report.
However, the report also presented a cautious note on the climate benefits of such an expansion, noting that an increased share of gas in the global energy mix is far from enough on its own to put the world on a carbon emissions path that is consistent with a global temperature rise of no more than two degrees Celsius.
While natural gas is the "cleanest" fossil fuel, Tanaka added it is still a fossil fuel.
He said increased use of natural gas could muscle out low-carbon fuels, such as renewable and nuclear energy - particularly after Japan's nuclear accident and the likelihood of a reduced role for nuclear energy in some countries.
"An expansion of gas usage alone is no panacea for climate change," he said.
The IEA advises 28 developed economies, providing research, statistics, analysis and recommendations. China is not part of the IEA but the agency provides analyses of the country.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90860/7403115.html
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