GE’s Jenbacher Cogeneration Technology Set to Power Urban District Energy Project in Melbourne

26 March 2012

GE’s Jenbacher Cogeneration Technology Set to Power Urban District Energy Project in Melbourne

 

• 2-Megawatt (MW) Jenbacher Unit to Help Cogent Energy Supply Power, Heat and Cooling for Dandenong Commercial District
• Cogeneration Plant Could be Expanded Up to 6 MW to Meet Melbourne’s Growing Energy Needs

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA—March 26, 2012—One of GE’s (NYSE: GE) natural gas-fired Jenbacher gas engines will be powering a cogeneration plant that will provide reliable electricity and thermal energy for a major urban revitalization initiative in Dandenong, Victoria. Built by Cogent Energy, the plant will play a pivotal role in the VicUrban-lead Revitalising Central Dandenong (RCD) initiative that is rejuvenating the south-east region of Melbourne.

The collaboration marks GE’s first urban district energy project in Australia.Clarke Energy Australia, GE’s authorized distributor for Jenbacher gas engines in Australia, will supply project owner Cogent Energy with a 2-MW,J612 Jenbacher cogeneration unit for Phase 1 of the new power facility, which could be expanded to 6 MW.

GE’s ecomagination-qualified Jenbacher system was shipped to the Dandenong site in January, with commercial operation set to begin this year. The gas engine is expected to save the equivalent of about 9,900 tons of carbon emissions a year, which equals the removal of more than 5,500 cars from the road.

The cogeneration plant is set to dramatically reduce the emissions and energy use of the Dandedong Commercial District by reducing its reliance on energy from the grid. The plant also will have the capacity to produce surplus hot water, which Cogent Energy will then sell back to local commercial buildings to provide cooling via building owner-supplied absorption chillers.

“Helping central Dandenong transform itself into a vibrant, 21^st century retail and services district will require a reliable, cleaner, cost-effective supply of energy to meet the growing needs of the area’s business and residential communities,” said Blair Healy, manager of Cogent Energy. “GE’s Jenbacher technology offers the optimal energy efficiency we required to make this project successful.”

“Australia represents an important growth region for GE as more customers embrace various distributed power applications—including industrial cogeneration—to bring the sources of energy production closer to end-users,” said Rafael Santana, CEO and president—Gas Engines for GE Energy.

GE is helping customers worldwide to generate reliable on-site electricity and heat at or near the point of use through its comprehensive suite of distributed power solutions ranging in size from 119 kilowatts to 100 MW. The fuel flexibility of GE’s Jenbacher gas engines and its other distributed energy technologies also promotes greater regional energy and economic security by enabling countries to use more of their own energy resources to meet their domestic needs.

The Dandenong project builds on GE’s commitment to supporting Australia’s energy goals. The company’s involvement in Australia dates back to 1902 when GE installed one of the electric motors in Sydney to open the Pyrmont Bridge over Darling Harbour.

More recently, in September 2011, GE announced it would supply an integrated solution of on-site power and water filtration equipment to a consortium that is building a water treatment plant on behalf of Australian coal seam gas company QGC. The project, located at QGC’s Kenya site near Chinchilla in Queensland, integrates GE’s Jenbacher and Waukesha gas engines for the first time. The units will generate on-site power for GE’s advanced membrane and thermal water treatment technologies that will desalinate water produced during the extraction of coal seam gas.

GE’s Jenbacher gas engines are designed to run soley on a variety of gases, which results in high levels of generator efficiency, reliability and environmental performance.

Many of GE’s Jenbacher products are ecomagination-qualified, providing customers with products that improve their operating performance and reduce environmental impact. Ecomagination is GE’s business strategy to help meet customers’ demand for products that improve their bottom line and reduce their impact on the environment. Ecomagination reflects GE’s commitment to invest in a future that creates innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

GE Energy works connecting people and ideas everywhere to create advanced technologies for powering a cleaner, more productive world. With more than 100,000 employees in over 100 countries, our diverse portfolio of product and service solutions and deep industry expertise help our customers solve their challenges locally. We serve the energy sector with technologies in such areas as natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear energy; wind, solar, biogas and water processing; energy management; and grid modernization. We also offer integrated solutions to serve energy- and water-intensive industries such as mining, metals, marine, petrochemical, food & beverage and unconventional fuels.

Follow GE Energy on Twitter @GE_Energy.

B&V to Provide Detailed Design for Busch Ranch Wind Project

News release from Black & Veatch:

Black & Veatch to Provide Comprehensive Detailed Design Work for Busch Ranch Wind Project

OVERLAND PARK, KAN. (8 February 2012) – Black & Veatch has been selected by Black Hills Energy - Colorado Electric to provide detailed design engineering services for the Busch Ranch Wind Project located south of Pueblo, Colo. The project represents Black Hills Energy’s first wind development in the state of Colorado and will be a significant component of the company’s plan to comply with the Colorado Renewable Energy Standard of 30 percent by 2020. Black Hills Energy is a subsidiary of Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH).

“The Busch Ranch Wind Project is an important step in our multi-phased approach to reach the renewable energy standard in Colorado,” said Christopher Burke, vice president of Colorado Utility operations.  “The high-quality services provided by Black & Veatch will enhance the value we are able to deliver to our customers from this project before, during and after its construction.”

The Busch Ranch Wind Project will use 16 wind turbines to produce 29 megawatts (MW) of renewable wind power. Black & Veatch is also providing the detailed design for the project’s collection and interconnect substations.

“Black & Veatch is utilizing its extensive technical capabilities to provide the detailed engineering design for the Busch Ranch Wind Project,” said Ed Walsh, Executive Vice President of Black & Veatch’s global energy business. “With design elements including generation, collection and interconnection, this project demonstrates how Black & Veatch is uniquely positioned to help our clients bring new renewable energy stations online.”

***

Editor’s Notes:

• Upon completion in December 2012, the Busch Ranch Wind Project will produce enough electricity to supply approximately 15,000 homes.
• The 16-turbine Busch Ranch Wind Project will generate 29 megawatts of renewable energy and will be sited 35 miles south of Pueblo, Co.
• Black & Veatch is providing the detailed design for all three project components including turbine placement and foundation support, collection and interconnection.

AEP Increases Natural Gas-Fired Generation Capacity

Following is another news release indicating increased use of natural gas.  As explained previously, natural gas is not a renewable energy source; however, because it produces the least greenhouse gases (GHGs) of the fossil fuels, it is worth paying attention to.  This news release is from an electric utility, American Electric Power.

AEP Increases Natural Gas-Fired Generation Capacity As Newly Constructed Dresden Plant Goes On Line

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 1, 2012 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has begun commercial operation of the Dresden natural gas-fired power plant, a nominal 580-megawatt combined-cycle generating unit. The plant, located near Dresden, Ohio, provides 25 permanent jobs and employed more than 800 workers at the peak of construction.

With the start-up of the Dresden plant, AEP has added more than 4,800 megawatts of natural gas-fired capacity to its generating fleet in the past decade. Natural gas accounts for 24 percent of AEP’s total generating capacity.

 “This is another step in the transformation of AEP’s generating fleet as we continue to diversify our fuel mix to improve our environmental footprint and provide economical electricity for our customers,” said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP’s president and chief executive officer. “Natural gas will become an increasing part of AEP’s generating portfolio in the coming decades as a result of the development of shale gas reserves and new environmental regulations, but we continue to believe our company and our nation need a diverse electricity generating portfolio that also includes investment in cleaner coal technologies, nuclear and renewable power.”

AEP purchased the partially constructed Dresden plant in 2007 for approximately $85 million from Dresden Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Dominion. AEP accelerated construction of Dresden in January 2011. Total costs for the plant were approximately $366 million.

The Dresden plant will supply electricity to AEP’s Appalachian Power customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.

WM Named EPA LMOP Industry Partner of the Year

Sometimes propaganda can have informational value.  News release from Waste Management:


Waste Management Named EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program Industry Partner of the Year

North America's largest landfill gas-to-energy owner and operator recognized for leadership in waste-based renewable energy development



Houston — January 18, 2012 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) has named Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) its 2011 Industry Partner of the Year for leadership in developing waste-based renewable energy. Waste Management is the largest landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) developer and operator in North America and is continuing to expand its roster of energy facilities. This year’s awards were presented earlier today at the 15^th Annual LMOP Partner and Project of the Year Awards Ceremony in Baltimore, MD.

To view a short video explaining how landfills can power homes, college campuses and more, visit the WM video- Landfill Power: Turning Gas into Energy.

In 2011, WM commissioned nine LFGTE facilities with a collective capacity of 29.5 MW, bringing the number of LFGTE facilities to 133 active projects in North America. In total, these facilities produced the equivalent of 617 MW of power – enough to power 473,000 homes, and offset the consumption of over 2.4 million tons of coal. Waste Management plans to commission four additional projects in the first quarter of 2012 and is working on at least eight additional projects through its dedicated in-house project development team, which works on both WM-owned sites and those owned by municipalities and industry partners.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leading partner in this sector by the EPA, and a testament to the hard work of our team over the last several years,” said Paul Pabor, vice president of renewable energy at Waste Management. “Waste Management developed much of the technology still in use today, and continues to find new ways to capture resources in waste. We’re looking forward to continued innovation, creating electricity, generating renewable fuels and powering local businesses with the resources at our disposal.”

Waste Management was active in two projects that won 2010 Project of the Year. The first, the University of New Hampshire EcoLine^TM project, brought gas from Waste Management’s Turnkey Landfill through a 12-mile pipe, supplying 85 percent of the campus’s heat and electricity needs. The second, at the Altamont Landfill Resource and Recovery Facility in Livermore, CA, consisted of a partnership with Linde North America. There, the companies produce up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from landfill gas every day to fuel hundreds of WM fleet vehicles. The Altamont project is the largest landfill gas-to-LNG project in the world.                                                   

Landfill gas, generated by the natural breakdown of organic materials in a landfill, contains large amounts of methane that can be collected to generate electricity, power local businesses or be turned into transportation fuel. A successful program can turn a modern landfill from a mere disposal site to a source of clean, renewable energy to power homes and fuel vehicles.

Waste Management is continually exploring new technologies and services to generate renewable energy from waste. LFGTE complements the company’s other waste services in the areas of recycling, landfill operations and waste-based energy technology. LFGTE projects also contribute to one of Waste Management’s sustainability goals, doubling energy generation by 2020 to power the equivalent of 2 million homes.

EPA’s LMOP has assisted with more than 500 LFG energy projects over the past 16 years. The United States currently has about 575 operational LFG energy projects which annually supply more than 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and ~102 billion cubic feet of LFG to direct-use applications. There is still significant potential for expansion of the technology; LMOP has identified over 500 landfills that could provide an additional 1,155 MW of electrical power.

(Archive Article) Huge Wind Turbine Farm Opens Off Southeast England

I will be uploading a series of New York Times articles that I downloaded from my Kindle over the past couple of years.  One thing that I really appreciate about the New York Times articles is that they include numbers.  We simply must have some numbers relating to amount of power generated, area occupied, construction costs, operating costs, etc. if we are to have intelligent discussions about renewable energy and possible alternatives.

Unfortunately, this article contains no cost data, but other data are presented, and that is a start.

Huge Wind Turbine Farm Opens Off Southeast England 

Published September 23 or 24, 2010

By JULIA WERDIGIER

LONDON — The world’s largest offshore wind turbine farm, with a capacity to power more than 200,000 homes for a year, opened on Thursday off the coast of southeast England.

The wind farm is operated by Vattenfall, a Swedish energy company, and has 100 turbines spread over 13.5 square miles. At 377 feet tall each, the turbines are visible from the coast in Kent. The wind farm took more than two years to build and is expected to generate 300 megawatts of electricity.

Vattenfall’s turbines mean that power generated from wind can reach five gigawatts in Britain, enough “to power all homes in Scotland,” Chris Huhne, Britain’s energy secretary said in a statement.

“We’re in a unique position to become a world leader in this industry,” Mr. Huhne said. “We are an island nation, and I firmly believe we should be harnessing our wind, wave and tidal resources to the maximum.”

The British government has said it aims to support the renewable energy industry to achieve its goal to get 15 percent of energy from sources like wind farms by 2020. The efforts have focused mainly on wind power in recent years. Wind accounts for about 4 percent of Britain’s electricity needs.

Some industry executives feared that more government investment would be threatened in October, when the coalition government presented its program of spending cuts intended to reduce the budget deficit.

Britain has about 260 wind farms operating across the country and off its coasts.

Vattenfall operates 700 wind turbines in countries including Sweden, Germany, Poland and Britain.

The British wind farm is part of Vattenfall’s plan to double its electricity generated from wind power from 2009 to 2011 by building nine wind farms in six countries.
==========