combined cycle

The average capacity factor for U.S. natural gas–fired combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) exceeded that for coal-fired plants in 2015 for the first time since the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has been keeping records, the agency noted on April 4. Gas generation exceeded coal generation for most of 2015, though coal ended slightly ahead for […]

In the early 2010s, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was staring down the barrel of dangerously low reserve margins, a combination of growing demand and an energy-only wholesale market that

Gas-fired power is hot, at least in North America, and quite a few smaller utilities and generators that have never owned a gas turbine plant have begun looking at building one. For large investor-owned companies with plenty of institutional experience in power plant construction, it may be business as usual, but for smaller firms that […]

The Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) in Sharm El-Sheikh resulted in some big agreements for the Egyptian government including a reported $10.5 billion deal with Siemens and a $1.7 billion order with GE. The conference was held March 13–15, 2015, and was purported to be a key milestone of the government’s medium term economic development […]

The Lodi Energy Center (LEC) is a 296-MW 1 x 1 combined cycle plant in Lodi, Calif., just north of Stockton and east of the San Joaquin River delta (Figure 1). From the outside, there’s little to distinguish

Aheat-recovery steam generator (HRSG) is much like other power generation equipment—run it at design conditions and chances are it will run with high availability and require only routine maintenance for

With the growing need for operational flexibility across the power industry, the combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) fleet is increasingly being subjected to load-following and cyclic operation. This change in