POWER digest
FutureGen names four finalists. Following an extensive technical review, the FutureGen Alliance (www.futuregenalliance.com) has announced its short list of candidate sites to host a $1 billion, first-of-its-kind, near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant. Of 12 competing sites in seven states, the Alliance concluded that the following four are best suited to host the first FutureGen facility:
- Mattoon, Illinois
- Tuscola, Illinois
- Heart of Brazos (Jewett), Texas
- Odessa, Texas
"FutureGen will help meet the world's growing demand for clean electricity, fuel our global economy, and sustain livelihoods," said Dr. Charles Goodman, chairman of the FutureGen Alliance. "We have maintained an aggressive schedule since this international partnership formed in late 2005, and [this] announcement marks another important milestone in developing this critical technology solution."
The four remaining sites will now advance to the next two steps of the selection process: a comprehensive review by the U.S. DOE of their compatibility with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and a more detailed site characterization. Late next year, following completion of DOE's NEPA review, the Alliance will select a final site, setting the stage for plant construction. The first FutureGen plant is slated to come on-line in 2012.
PG&E's unfinished business. San Francisco–based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to acquire, complete, and operate Contra Costa Unit 8—a natural gas–fired, 530-MW, 2 x 1 combined-cycle project that Atlanta-based Mirant Corp. began but never finished building.
PG&E expects to complete construction and commissioning of the plant by 2008 at a cost of about $300 million. It would cost the utility much more to build a plant of similar capacity from scratch.
Relinquishing Contra Costa Unit 8 was one of the conditions of Mirant's 2005 settlement agreement with the State of California to resolve claims that the company manipulated the wholesale market during the 2000/2001 electricity crisis. Mirant agreed to transfer to PG&E the equipment, permits, and construction contracts for the plant, which is located near Antioch.
Wärtsilä win in Tanzania. Helsinki-based Wärtsilä Corp. has signed a $73 million engineering, procurement, and construction contract with Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd. to site a 100-MW natural gas–fired power plant in Dar es Salaam, the nation's capital, by May 2007.
Wärtsilä will equip the plant with twelve 20-cylinder Wärtsilä 34SG gensets. Delivering up to 9 MW at 750 rpm, they are among the most powerful gas engines on the market today and can be a cost-effective alternative to gas turbines.
The plant, which will be fueled by gas from Songo Songo Island, will help alleviate Tanzania's electricity supply shortage by meeting about half of Dar es Salaam's demand.
"Africa is a growing power plant market for W�rtsil�," said Christoph Vitzthum, group VP for W�rtsil�'s power plants division. "The interest in our gas-fired power plants is particularly significant, as this large contract shows."
Even wind is bigger in Texas. The Lone Star State has overtaken California as the nation's largest producer of wind power. A report recently released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says that Texas now hosts 2,370 MW of wind power capacity, edging past California by 47 MW.
California had led the U.S. in wind power capacity since 1981, when the first commercial wind farms in the country were built there. In fact, at one time more than 80% of worldwide wind power capacity was located in the Golden State. Since then, the world and the rest of the U.S. have caught up.
According to AWEA, 822 MW of wind power capacity have been installed in the U.S. so far this year in 13 states. Texas gained its lead largely through the expansion of FPL Energy's Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, which grew from 210 MW to just over 500 MW. AWEA expects 2006 to set a new record with 3,000 MW of new capacity expected to be installed. Since the U.S. currently hosts 9,971 MW of wind capacity, the country will undoubtedly hit the 10-gigawatt milestone by year's end. For comparison's sake, the U.S. electric power industry's total installed generating capacity at the end of 2004 was a shade over 1,000 GW, according to the Edison Electric Institute.
Iceland orders more Japanese geothermal. Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI), in a consortium with Mitsubishi Corp. (UK) Plc and Balcke-Dürr GmbH (a German engineering company), has signed a turnkey contract with Orkuveita Reykjavikur, the municipal utility of Iceland's capital, to build two more 40-MW geothermal power plants at Hellisheidi.
MHI received an order to deliver Units 1 and 2 to the site in 2004, and the latest order (for Units 3 and 4) brings to 10 the number of geothermal plants ordered from MHI by Iceland since 1978. When all of them are commissioned, the country's total geothermal capacity will hit 340 MW. To date, MHI has delivered geothermal power plants totaling more than 2,500 MW to 12 countries other than Japan.
Hellisheidi is about 12 miles east of Reykjavik, and most of the electricity generated there will be used by nearby aluminum refineries. Units 3 and 4 are slated to go on-stream in September and November 2008, respectively. Each power plant consists of a steam turbine-generator, a condenser, and a cooling tower. The steam turbines will be manufactured by MHI, the generators will be supplied by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., and Balcke-Dü;rr will fabricate the condensers and cooling towers.
TXU asks for emissions cap. Dallas-based TXU Corp. has found itself waging a war of words in the media after announcing in April its intention to spend $10 billion to build 9,079 MW of new capacity fired by pulverized coal and lignite in east Texas within the next few years. The company says about one-fourth of that amount will be spent on best available air-quality controls for the new units and to retrofit existing coal-burning units with better emissions-reduction technologies. However, several local and statewide environmental organizations remain skeptical about TXU's promised emissions reductions, complaining that the company's verbal promises are not legally enforceable.
In a preemptive strike that should neutralize the naysayers, TXU has voluntarily asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to implement and enforce a systemwide cap on key emissions from the company's existing and proposed coal-fired units. In a letter to the TCEQ, Mike McCall—CEO of TXU Wholesale—wrote, "If approved, this unprecedented step will establish a binding contract between TXU and the state. It will guarantee that TXU will make the air cleaner by reducing more emissions than are added by the new units. We believe other Texas power developers should abide by this same high standard."
TXU has formally asked for systemwide limits on emissions of NOx, SO2, and mercury that are 20% lower than 2005 levels. If the utility stays under the caps, its net emissions would decline even with the addition of the new units because their emissions would be more than offset by reductions. Another way to look at it: TXU's fleetwide emission rates per megawatt-hour would fall by nearly 70%.
"Some have been skeptical about our commitment to reduce emissions by 20%. This request to create a legal contract to solidify the commitment clearly demonstrates otherwise," wrote McCall. To view his letter and more information on TXU's plan, visit www.reliabletexaspower.com.
AES breaks ground in Bulgaria. On June 6, AES Corp. (Arlington, Va.) officially kicked off construction of AES Maritza East 1. The $1.4 billion, 670-MW lignite-fired project is the company's first in Bulgaria and represents the single largest foreign investment to date in the former Soviet ally and one of the largest greenfield investments ever in southeast Europe. Upon completion, the plant will serve as a source of baseload electricity for Bulgaria and southeast Europe.
"Bulgaria is experiencing good economic growth and political stability . . . as it prepares to join the European Union [on January 1, 2007]," said Paul Hanrahan, president and CEO of AES. "It is the kind of market we want to do business in. Our new plant will help supply Bulgaria's growing electricity needs and maintain the country's position as an energy hub for the region."
"Maritza East 1 will be the newest, most efficient, and cleanest fossil-fueled power plant in Bulgaria," added Matthew Bartley, executive director of AES Maritza East 1. "It will meet World Bank environmental standards and employ world-class technology and equipment. We are very pleased with the support we've received from the Bulgarian government on this project and look forward to a long-term partnership with them."
The two-unit plant, which is expected to come on-line in 2009, will be constructed under the terms of a turnkey contract with Paris-based Alstom, which will supply its boilers, turbine-generators, and balance-of-plant equipment. The output of Maritza East 1 will be purchased by Bulgaria's national utility under a 15-year contract. The plant's lignite supply will come from another state-owned entity, Maritza East Mines.
Ormat looks to Indonesia. A consortium of three companies—Ormat Technologies Inc. (Reno, Nevada), a unit of Medco Energi Internasional Tbk (Indonesia's largest private oil and gas company), and Osaka-based Itochu Corp.�has won a contract from Indonesia's state-owned utility PLN to develop the Sarulla geothermal power project on the island of Sumatra on an independent basis. Although Indonesia's exploitable geothermal power potential has been conservatively estimated at 20,000 MW, candidate fields are widely distributed throughout the archipelago, so current installed capacity remains stalled at about 800 MW. Sarulla represents the largest single-contract project to date in the worldwide geothermal industry.
Medco leads the consortium, which bid to:
- Complete development of the geothermal steam field.
- Build field piping systems and three power plants (designed and supplied by Ormat) with a total capacity of 340 MW (gross).
- Create a special-purpose Indonesian company to own and operate the facilities under a concession from Pertamina, the state-owned oil and gas producer.
- Sell the plants' electrical output to PLN under a 30-year power-purchase agreement.
Ormat also will set up and supervise the operations and maintenance of the power plants. The project is projected to cost about $600 million, of which Ormat's share will be about $200 million. Full details will be released upon financial closing of the transaction.
The Sarulla project is expected to be built over the next five years in three phases of 110 to 120 MW each. The first power plant should be operational within 30 months, and the last within 48 months of financial closing. The output of the plants will be fed into PLN's North Sumatra-Aceh grid. Once all three phases are complete, electricity sales are expected to provide annual revenues of $110 million to the consortium partners.
To date, Ormat has supplied and constructed five plants of this type in the U.S., the Philippines, and New Zealand. The Sarulla power plants will use air-cooled condensers and reinject 100% of geothermal fluids. According to the company, this will sustain the reservoir and minimize environmental impact.
DOE database tracks new coal plants. Every few months, the U.S. Department of Energy updates a database of existing proposals for new coal-fired power plants created by its National Energy Technology Laboratory in 2002. Among the highlights of the June 2006 release were the following two factoids:
- 154 GW of new coal-fired capacity are expected to be needed in the U.S. by 2030.
- 153 new coal plants representing 93 GW of capacity are currently "under consideration."
Proposals to build new power plants are often speculative. Ultimately, the decision to proceed with or scrap a project is based on the dynamic economics of regional generation markets. Accordingly, the information in the database should be taken with several grains of salt. However, the data can be considered a snapshot of the short-term climate for new capacity development. Based on the two facts above, it is clear that the future of coal-fired capacity is so bright that shades are required to view it.
The contents of the database are derived from public information as well as from several tracking organizations and news groups. Head over to www.netl.doe.gov/coal/refshelf/ncp.pdf and see if your favorite project is listed.
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