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The U.S. added 6,681 MW of net natural gas-fired capacity in 2013, far outstripping any other generation source, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. This figure represented a substantial drop from 2012, when 9,210 MW of new gas capacity was added, but it still accounted for just over 50% of total additions last year. […]

Entergy Louisiana’s Ninemile Point plant has been powering New Orleans and southeast Louisiana since the 1950s. The facility in Westwego, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, comprises five dual-fuel boiler units, the oldest of which came online in 1951. The plant currently has just under 2,000 MW of generation capacity in operation. That’s […]

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A study by the Sandia National Laboratory last year demonstrated that hydrogen fuel cells mounted on floating barges could potentially provide shore-based power for visiting ships at West Coast ports, substantially reducing emissions from shipboard diesel generators. Now, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the U.S. Department […]

In its preliminary Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) for the summer of 2014, the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said that more than 2 GW of new combined cycle plants coming online this summer will “significantly reduce the likelihood of scarcity conditions.” The region has struggled with its reserve margins for years, and […]

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3D metal printing is still an experimental process in nearly all industries, used primarily for prototypes and test products. But if Siemens and GE have their way, it will soon become a standard means of rapidly producing small numbers of industrial parts. Siemens announced in December that it would begin using 3D printing—also known as […]

Gas market regulators and observers have been warning for several years that the rapid shift toward reliance on natural gas was creating a risk of shortages in the event of unplanned demand shocks. A series of mild winters in the 2010s reduced demand for heating, freeing up supplies and pipeline capacity for power generation. Even […]

GAS Power Stay Connected Current Issue | Find a Job | Post a Job Release your turbine’s potential with the most powerful control system available.   Gas Group Warns EU Will Badly Miss 2050 Carbon Emissions Goals Under Current Policies 01.21.2014 | Thomas Overton The European Union (EU) cannot meet its 2050 carbon emissions goals […]

Even for the rapidly expanding gas-fired power sector, Dallas-based Panda Power Funds has been making waves. On Dec. 20, the private equity firm announced another deal: It has completed the acquisition and financing of Moxie Energy’s planned 829-MW Patriot generating station, a combined-cycle project to be located in Clinton Township, Pa. (Figure 1). Construction is […]

The European Union (EU) cannot meet its 2050 carbon emissions goals without reform of its carbon-pricing scheme, according to a report from the European Gas Forum released on Dec. 13. While progress toward the goals has been made, the report warns that the pace of decarbonization will stall in the 2020s because low carbon prices, […]

Lower gas prices, expanding infrastructure, and coal retirements are likely to drive a much greater role for natural gas in the Midwest, according to a new study by the Midcontinent Independent Service Organization (MISO). The study, released Dec. 6, is the third phase of ongoing assessment that MISO initiated in 2010 after recognizing the impending […]

Those enormous amounts of water used in hydraulic fracturing may not be the environmental headache they appear to be. That’s because of the downstream effects of more abundant, less expensive natural gas unlocked by the process, known as “fracking,” according to a new study from the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of […]

Gas Power Direct   Archive   |   Post Jobs   |   View Jobs   |   Email to Friend   |   Subscribe   December 2013 In This Issue California Builds a High Efficiency CHP Plant for Its Capital ComplexConference Presenters: World Shale Gas Growth Is Aloft on Uncertain Dynamics Coal-Fired Power Continues […]

When the State of California needed a new Central Utility Plant (CUP) to provide electricity, steam, chilled water, and compressed air to its 5.5 million square foot, 23-building campus in downtown Sacramento, the requirements were stiff. The original CUP was sending as much as 15 million gallons of heated water per day to a spray […]

Once the dominant fuel in the southeastern U.S., coal has been hammered by plummeting gas prices and more efficient gas-fired plants, according to the most recent figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Though the region has seen a steady increase in gas-fired capacity over the past decade, as recently as 2008, coal still provided […]

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It’s official: The coal- and oil-fired Salem Harbor Station north of Boston, scheduled to be retired next year, will be replaced with a fast-ramping natural gas combined cycle plant. The four-unit, 720-MW plant, which was built on the site of an existing coal terminal in the 1940s, was sold by previous owner Dominion Resources to […]

For the past few years, the North Dakota oil boom has run far ahead of the state’s ability to ship its oil and gas out of producing areas because of a lack of gathering pipeline infrastructure. While excess oil can be shipped by rail, the low price of natural gas has led producers to flare […]

The oldest power plant in South Korea is making way for something so new that no one has even attempted it before. Korea Midland Power Corp. (KOMIPO) announced earlier this year that Seoul Thermal Power Station, built in the 1930s, would be replaced with a new 800-MW two-unit combined cycle power plant—one that will be built […]

California’s drive to add flexibility to its grid in response to expanding renewable generation took another step forward in September as NRG Energy commissioned two new fast-start units at its El Segundo Energy Center near Los Angeles. The two units, with a combined 550 MW capacity, represent the second Siemens Flex-Plant to go into commercial […]

As variable generation from wind and solar power increases and peak loads grow and become more volatile, the U.S. electric grid will rely more and more on gas-fired power to maintain system flexibility. Often at the core of these gas-fired power plants are aeroderivative turbines, whose fast-start and cycling capabilities allow for frequent on-again, off-again […]

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Pressures on competitive power markets have fueled substantial declines in plant valuations over the past five years, with coal plants taking the brunt of the damage. That’s the conclusion of a new report from financial services firm Fitch Ratings released on Wednesday. The report, which calculated the net present value of plants across the country […]

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that although natural gas use for power generation through the first seven months of 2013 is down 14% from historic highs last year, it remains above the 2009–2011 average across the U.S. The drop is the result of higher gas prices relative to coal compared to 2012. However, […]

Much attention has been devoted recently to the increased cycling that is necessary in fossil plants as more renewable capacity is added to the grid, but data on the precise impacts has been slight. Now, a new study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aims to correct that. The key findings: While cycling would increase […]

If you’ve been paying attention to energy issues in the media lately, you may have encountered a curious narrative that’s starting to gain traction among supporters of renewable energy. Namely, that the core problem with wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, which is matching moment-to-moment demand with the intermittency wind and sunlight, isn’t really a […]

  If you’ve seen U.S. coal industry executives casting wistful glances across the Atlantic recently, there’s a reason. In the U.S., natural gas is enjoying a boom unseen in decades, perhaps ever. New production from shale should make the country a net exporter within a decade. New gas-fired plants are starting up almost as fast […]

  As environmental regulations continue their forward march and gas prices remain low compared to historic rates due to increased domestic supply, the number of power plants changing their primary fuel source to natural gas has increased dramatically. In 2011 and 2012, just more than 5.5 GW of power plant capacity switched to burning primarily […]