PowMag 07 2013

Vol. 157 No.
7 July 2013

Dealing with
Drought
Power in Indonesia
Fuel Delivery System Upgrades
ORP Predicts WFGD Chemistry
ELECTRIC POWER
Conference Reports
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July 2013
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POWER www.powermag.com 1
ON THE COVER
Severe and record-setting droughts around the world have resulted in significantly reduced
power generation in some nations. Worldwide, generators at both thermal and hydropower
plantsincluding Hoover Dam, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, pictured here with a
visibly low water level in the impounded Lake Mead in November 2010are looking at ways
to cope with increasing constraints on water supplies. Courtesy: Gail Reitenbach
COVER STORY: WATER MANAGEMENT
28 Water Issues Challenge Power Generators
Drought, resulting in low inland water body levels and higher temperatures, has
forced operational adjustments and even plant shutdowns. Both thermal and hydro
plants are exploring waterwise strategies to cope with what is starting to look like
the new normal. We review some recent technology installations, as well as R&D
projects, designed to minimize freshwater use.
SPECIAL REPORTS
POWER POLICY
34 Indonesia: Energy Rich and Electricity Poor
Imagine trying to plan and operate an electricity system in a nation consisting of
more than 17,500 islands. Even though it boasts significant coal and natural gas re-
serves, Indonesias generation and transmission assets struggle to keep up with the
pace of economic development.
WATER TREATMENT
40 ORP as a Predictor of WFGD Chemistry and Wastewater Treatment
Measurement of oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) enables you to predict wet flue
gas desulfurization (WFGD) absorber chemistry and could help you predict process
equipment corrosion and wastewater treatment requirements.
PLANT DESIGN
44 The Case for Utility Boiler Fuel Delivery System Upgrades
An ASME subcommittee has investigated potential fuel delivery system upgrades on
three typical 500-MW wall-, tangential-, and cyclone-fired boilers. Its suggested up-
grades have a simple payback of no more than two years. What are you waiting for?
FEATURES
ASSET MANAGEMENT
50 EMP: The Biggest Unaddressed Threat to the Grid
Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a force of nature that can wreak havoc with much
of our modern electronic infrastructure, and credible sources claim that at least one
nation has been working on a super-EMP nuclear weapon for over a decade. So why
has there been no federal-level response?
ENERGY STORAGE
53 Beacon Power Makes a Comeback
In the power generation and delivery industry, being ahead of your timeparticular-
ly if youre ahead of regulationscan prove disastrous for business. This is the story
of one such company thats getting a second chance. Good thing, too, as the need for
its services is only going to accelerate.
Established 1882 Vol. 157 No. 7 July 2013
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|
July 2013 2
PIPING SYSTEMS FOR POWER PLANTS
Engineering, pre-fabrication, construction and commissioning of piping systems are efectively and
ei ciently performed all over the world. Within two own works in Germany including clean hall and
induction bending machines, piping systems are constructed and prefabricated to highest quality
standards and ei cient welding processes such as TIG, narrow-gap, SAW.
Bilinger Piping Technologies is internationally active and present in Europe with its subsidiary and
sister companies, but also within the CIS, GCC, RSA and India.
www.piping.bilnger.com
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ELECTRIC POWER 2013: FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY
56 Gas-Electric Integration Swamps All Other Issues
This years roundup of selected ELECTRIC POWER Conference sessions starts with
the ever-popular State of the Industry keynote and Executive Roundtable discus-
sion. Gas got a lot of air time, as youd expect, but there was one threat on the
industrys horizon that almost nobody wanted to address.
60 Is Gas Getting Too Hot to Handle?
Gas-fired generation has a lot going for it, especially for fast-response and distrib-
uted generation needs, but the volatile generation market is revealing some unwel-
come effects on both gas-fired plants and their owners.
62 What Does the Market Expect from Gas Plants?
Even with favorable natural gas prices, building new gas-fired plants can be a chal-
lenge. The reasons, in the U.S., vary with the region.
64 The Beguiling Promise of the HTGR
High-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) are back as the next new thing (after
small modular reactors) because they promise a laundry list of desirable features
and benefits.
65 Wind Resources Face Market and Policy Headwinds
Its a familiar story: The boom-bust construction cycle is fueled by an on-again/off-
again federal production tax credit for wind generation.
66 Fighting Transformer Fires
Transformer fires can be especially unpredictable and deadlyunless you heed this
sound advice from a Consolidated Edison presenter.
NUCLEAR POWER
67 Too Dumb to Meter, Epilogue
Heres the conclusion of POWERs exclusive serialization of the book Too Dumb to
Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends, and Duds on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy
by Contributing Editor Kennedy Maize.
DEPARTMENTS
SPEAKING OF POWER
6 Four Strange-but-True Stories
GLOBAL MONITOR
8 Power Sector Laments Europes Uncertain Future Energy Policy
12 THE BIG PICTURE: Parched
13 Turkey Prepares to Host First ATMEA 1 Nuclear Reactors
14 Energy Storage Developments and Demand Ramp Up
16 E.ON Avoids Shuttering Ultramodern German Combined Cycle Units Despite
Profit Concerns
18 POWER Digest
FOCUS ON O&M
20 Industrial Wireless Sensors: A Users Perspective
LEGAL & REGULATORY
26 Exporting Natural Gas
By Steven F. Greenwald and Jeffrey P. Gray, Davis Wright Tremaine
71 NEW PRODUCTS
COMMENTARY
76 Bridging the Gap Between Company and Community
By John G. Waffenschmidt, Covanta Energy Environmental Science and Com-
munity Affairs
In the Features section of the online
issue, youll find a web-exclusive re-
port by Senior Writer Sonal Patel on
the American Wind Energy Associa-
tion conferenceThe State of Wind
Power.
And remember to check our Whats
New? segment on the homepage regu-
larly for just-posted news stories cov-
ering all fuels and technologies.
Get More POWER
on the Web
56
16
PIPING SYSTEMS FOR POWER PLANTS
Engineering, pre-fabrication, construction and commissioning of piping systems are efectively and
ei ciently performed all over the world. Within two own works in Germany including clean hall and
induction bending machines, piping systems are constructed and prefabricated to highest quality
standards and ei cient welding processes such as TIG, narrow-gap, SAW.
Bilinger Piping Technologies is internationally active and present in Europe with its subsidiary and
sister companies, but also within the CIS, GCC, RSA and India.

BILFINGER PIPING TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
www.piping.bilnger.com
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July 2013 4
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July 2013 6
SPEAKING OF POWER
Four Strange-But-True Stories
L
ast months column, Opinions la
Carte, prompted an unusually high
number of emails from readers. Un-
expectedly, the responses to the different
format were universally favorable. In my
decade of writing these editorials, this
was the first time reader response was
unanimous. It seems you favor bite-sized
appetizers rather than a single, large por-
tion of opinion. To assuage your appetite,
these four stories caught my eye over the
past month. My virtual door is always
open. Send your comments or ideas to me
at robertp@powermag.com.
UK Green Madness Continues
The coal-fired Drax power station, the larg-
est in the UK, burns 38,000 tons of coal
a day and supplies 7% of the UKs power
needs. New UK renewable standards forced
the plant to shut down the first unit in April
to begin a $1.1 billion conversion of its six
boilers from burning coal to burning wood
chips. Heres the rub: The plant will ultimate-
ly burn 60% more than the entire UK annual
wood supply, so most of the wood chips will
be harvested from U.S. forests, shipped by
boat 3,000 miles across the pond, and then
hauled by train to the plant site.
The idea seems ludicrous until you fol-
low the money. To boost the use of carbon
neutral fuels, the UK government agreed
to give the same near-100% renewable
subsidy that now goes to onshore wind
farms to coal plant owners that make the
fuel switch. A new UK carbon tax, starting
at $24.80 per metric ton and doubling by
2020, took effect April 1 and also spurred
the conversion decision. UK news sources
reported that about half a million people
were unable to pay their rising energy
bills last winter; many resorted to burning
used books in their hearths because it was
cheaper than burning coal.
Environmentalists Trigger German
Coal Rebound
The rapidly increasing price of electricity in
Germany (currently 35/kWh for households,
17/kWh for industry, on average) has flat-
tened that countrys economy and forced
many large industrial companies to find
new off-shore locations, often as not in the
U.S. Load migration coupled with lucrative
feed-in tariffs paid mostly by residential rate
payers has accelerated rate increases, with
no end in sight. Also, the EUs moribund
economy has deflated the cost of CO
2
emis-
sion allowances, from about 35.90 in 2008
to about 3 today, which means coal-fired
generation is now the countrys cheapest
electricity supply option.
Ironically, the same German environ-
mentalists who succeeded in coaxing
trillion-dollar subsidies for wind and solar
and convinced the government to close
the countrys nuclear plants have unpre-
dictably caused German utilities to build
more coal-fired plantsup to 25 new
plants were reported by one German news
source. Its no wonder that the Washington
Post calls the EU energy policy the green-
energy basket case.
EPAs Sue and Settle Sidesteps
Congress
Since 2008, environmentalists have adopt-
ed the tactic of filing lawsuits to further
their overreaching regulatory goals rather
than pursuing change through the legisla-
tive or regulatory process, as Congress in-
tended. The process only works when you
have an administration that is sympathet-
ic to the goals of those filing the suits.
The sue-and-settle process sidesteps the
regulatory rule-making process by bring
suit against the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), for example, for missing a
regulatory deadline. The EPA then enters
negotiation with the group that brought
the lawsuit to reach a settlement, which
is then approved by the federal court. The
agency next goes into overdrive to pro-
duce new regulations to comply with the
court order, all the while blaming the en-
vironmental group or the court for requir-
ing the new regulations.
In 60 sue-and-settle cases filed from
2009 through 2012, the EPA never defend-
ed itself in court, allowing the demands of
the organization that brought the lawsuit
to prevail (34 of these cases alone were
filed by the Sierra Club). In each case, the
EPA failed to disclose the lawsuits to Con-
gress, stakeholders, or the Office of Man-
agement and Budget, as required by law,
until the consent decree was finalized. So
much for President Obamas January 2009
promise that his administration would be
committed to creating an unprecedented
level of openness in government. Con-
gress is now considering legislation to put
an end to this practice.
Job Creation Promise Falls Flat
Do you remember when in 2008, Presi-
dent Obama promised to create 5 million
jobs over 10 years by investing stimulus
funds into shovel ready projects? You
are surely familiar with the many com-
panies that have gone bust after taking
taxpayer money (Solyndra is just the most
infamous). Often overlooked are those job
creation promises. In early May, the De-
partment of Energy (DOE) quietly released
on its website a list of loan guarantee
projects with the number of documented
permanent jobs created. A quick analy-
sis of the data shows that for the $15.99
billion spent on renewable projects since
2009, DOE Section 1705 (renewable proj-
ects) loan guarantees have produced only
1,188 permanent jobsa cost of $13.46
million per job! The data once again evi-
dences that the federal government can-
not compete with private enterprise when
it comes to picking technology winners
and permanent job creation.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWERs
editor-in-chief.
Loan guarantees have produced only 1,188
permanent jobsa cost of $13.46 million
per job!
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July 2013 8
Power Sector Laments Europes
Uncertain Future Energy Policy
Energy policy in the European Union (EU) is in upheaval as con-
cerns mount over the impact of energy costs on the competitive-
ness of the power industry. Over April and May, the EU voted on
but failed to pass several crucial climate measures, from setting
a renewables target for 2030 to boosting the carbon price of
its floundering Emissions Trading System (ETS). Industry groups
have said the policy uncertainty could prove expensive.
On May 22, EU leaders held the first of a special series of
thematic discussions on economic sectorial and structural issues,
but ensuing draft conclusions from that debate on how to limit
the impact of energy costs seem to prioritize industrial com-
petitiveness over climate change, calling on member states to
ensure competitive energy prices and a diversification of en-
ergy supply. The conclusions also reportedly pledge to review the
causes of Europes soaring energy prices by the end of the year.
Separately, the European Commission in May reportedly drew up
a draft action plan asking member states to consider removing or
temporarily freezing taxes, including renewable and network lev-
ies, on energy-intensive industry for a period of two years.
Just a day before that summit (May 21), the European Parlia-
ment failed to set a renewables target for 2030 in the 40% to
45% range, approving instead a nonbinding resolution that says
the EU should try to achieve a share of renewables in the over-
all energy mix of more than 30%. The bloc currently has three
2020 climate targets: an improvement of 20% on the continents
carbon dioxide emissions, a 20% share of renewables, and a 20%
improvement in energy efficiency.
And in April, by a 334315 vote, European Parliament mem-
bers rejected a proposed reform to reverse the sinking price of
carbon and subsequent glut of permits in the ETS carbon trad-
ing program, Europes flagship climate policy that has seen a
turnover that reached 90 billion in 2010. The proposed reform,
also known as backloading, would have withheld 900 million
carbon allowances and steepened an annual decline in allowance
numbers to shore up carbon values. We believe that backloading
is now politically dead and it is very unlikely that any political
intervention in the scheme will be agreed during the third phase
[20132020], said Stig Schjlset, head of EU Carbon Analysis at
Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. We do not envisage prices rising
much above the current 3 mark and they may well drop lower at
least until the end of the third phase. The focus will now shift to-
wards structural, more long-term oriented measures but certainly
this vote makes the EU ETS irrelevant as an emissions reduction
tool for many years to come, he said.
The events have prompted Europes electricity industry as-
sociation EURELECTRIC, an entity whose members represent the
power sector in 32 European countries, to decry current EU cli-
mate and energy policies as a source of confusion, not clarity.
Todays policy framework is half European, yet still half nation-
al; half market-based, but also half command-and-control; and
seems to be only half committed to the ETS, says a May letter to
EU heads of state from EURELECTRIC president and CEO of ENEL,
Fulvio Conti.
Conti called on leaders to put an end to investor uncertainty
and urgently agree on a coherent top-down package of propos-
als which establish an ambitious, firm, long-term, economy-wide
greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030 up to 2050, in line
with the European Council goal. It is imperative, he said, that
the body work out the regulatory disorder not just to avoid
windfall taxes and retroactive changes, but also to give investors
a foundation through long-term policy. Without early investment
signals, Europe could face a lost decade of climate and energy
policy inaction between 2020 and 2030, and this would require a
costly sprint to decarbonize in the last two decades before 2050,
the group said, citing a report titled Power Choices Reloaded
that it published in mid-May.
Among serious measures that should be tackled is an im-
proved market design, including a European coordinated ap-
proach to capacity mechanisms in which all assets contributing
to the security of supply are fairly remunerated, Conti and
the heads of Gasterra, GDF Suez, Iberdrola, Eni, RWE, E.ON, and
Gasnatural Fenosa urged in a separate release. Also required is a
more sustainable approach to the promotion of renewables so
as to reduce costs to citizens and favour a greater convergence
between member states.
Siemens Energy, too, has voiced concerns about European en-
1. More efficiently siting renewables. A study by Siemens
Energy analyzing power-producing systems across Europe identifies con-
siderable potential for optimization and concludes that if renewables instal-
lations were built at sites in Europe that offer the highest power yields (as
shown in this image, which includes associated extension of the power
grid), nearly 45 billion of investment could be saved by 2030. Several hur-
dles would need to be overcome, however, including implementation of a
European Unionwide integrated electricity market. Courtesy: Siemens
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July 2013 10
ergy policy direction. A study that the global power equipment
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University of Munich to ascertain the utilization rate of resources
of energy systems worldwide and how reliable that supply is sug-
gests that billions are being wasted every year as a result of inef-
ficiencies in worldwide systems and marketsand particularly in
Europes. For example, [i]f [renewables] installations were built
at the sites in Europe that offer the highest power yields, some
45 billion of investment in renewables could be saved by 2030,
Siemens concludes (Figure 1).
But such a feat would require, among many other complex
needs, a strongly centralized structure that could necessitate a
single integrated energy market for Europe. In preparation for
a presentation of the findings of Siemens study, and to offer
possible solutions to future energy challenges at the World En-
ergy Congress in South Korea this October, Michael S, CEO
of Siemens Energy sector, has been engaging in a series of six
roundtables with industry, policy-makers, and experts. The take-
away from the very first one in Brussels this May: Creating one
European market is indeed an idealistic experiment, and its fore-
most challenge will lie in harmonizing 27 diverse European en-
ergy landscapes and creating political consensus among member
states on how to proceed.
In another related development, ambitions to import solar
power generated from North Africa to Europe, as initially pro-
posed by the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii), have deflated.
In late May, Dii CEO Paul van Son told EU media portal Euractiv
.com that the initiative had abandoned one-dimensional
thinking about the 400 billion plan to source 15% of Eu-
ropes renewable power from the Maghreb by 2015. Dii is in-
stead looking at a business model that creates integrated
renewables markets.
Susanne Nies, head of Energy Policy and Generation at industry
association EURELECTRIC, put it into better perspective. Firstly,
at a very basic level, we are still missing lines and capacities for
export. Building these is technically difficult because of the deep
waters in the Mediterranean, she said. Beyond the link between
North America and Europe, consideration should be given to how
some countries, such as Spain, are already struggling with excess
renewables capacity, and to cross-border interconnection lines,
which are also congested.
Secondly, it is difficult to argue that the EU needs the ad-
ditional [renewable energy supply] capacity, she pointed out.
Renewables in Europe are already competing to replace existing
conventional plants, and importing more renewable power would
require solving plenty of system issues, a move that could re-
quire giving time to the technical, economic, and regulatory
framework to adjust.
Finally, North Africas own power consumption is slated to
grow tremendously, and it already exceeds demand, she said. It
would be a big mistake for Africa to neglect its own, indigenous
power generation and risk its own security of supply for the sake
of satisfying the demand of Europe.
The 56-member Dii continues to have supportersincluding
RWE, E.ON, Deutsche Bank, ABB, and the German reinsurer Mu-
nich REeven though it saw the high-profile withdrawal of Sie-
mens and Bosch, and Spains reluctance to engage in deals given
its current austerity measures.
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04_PWR_070113_GM_p14-19.indd 11 6/13/13 10:56:13 AM
|
July 2013 12
0
-60
60
i
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c
h
e
s

o
f

w
a
t
e
r

p
e
r

y
e
a
r
CHANGE IN PRECIPITATION BY END OF 21ST CENTURY
Research suggests that over the next century, wet areas
will get wetter and dry areas drier.
Source: NOAA/GFDL CM2.1
The total volume of water on Earth is about 1.4
billion cubic kilometers (km). Freshwater resources
make up around 35 million km, or just about 2.5%
of the total volume.
THE WORLDS WATER RESOURCES
Of these freshwater resources, about 24 million
km or 70% is in the form of ice and permanent
snow cover. Freshwater lakes and rivers contain
only around 0.3%of the world's freshwater. The
remaining 30% is groundwater.
70% of the worlds blue water withdrawals at a
global level go to irrigation, 20% for industry use,
and 10% for domestic use
Source: UNEP
Some parts of China are critically vulnerable to
drought, but though it is pursuing plans to
massively increase generation capacity, including
coal, nuclear, and hydro plants, China's per-head
freshwater resources are only one quarter of the
global average. During 2009, painful water
shortages in southwest China crippled the
region's rich hydropower supplies. In 2011, the
country implemented power rationing stricken by
low water levels in the mighty Yangtze River.
The vast grid failure
that shut off the
lights to half of
India's 1.2 billion
citizens in August
2012 was blamed in
part to low rainfall
that restricted
hydropower
generation.
East Africa had critical
power cuts as water levels in
the hydropower-dependent
region reached their lowest
levels in 60 years in 2010
and 2011, including in
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,
and Ethiopia (which plans to
increase its hydro capacity
to 15 GW from 1 GW within
the next decade)
Brazil this winter suffered
its worst drought in 50
years, which impacted
power generation in the
country that depends on
hydropower for 67% of
supplies. Its power sector's
vulnerability to drought
was especially highlighted
by the 2001-2002 energy
crisis.
In 2010, Venezuela warned of a
power system collapse as a
drought pushed water levels
precariously low in the country's
biggest hydropower dam.
Drought events in 2003 and
2006 in Europe required the
shutdown or curtailment of a
number of thermoelectric
units. During the 2003 event,
France was forced to shut
down as much as 25% of its
nuclear eet.
In 2011, Texas experienced one of the
most extreme droughts in the states
history. In December 2011, sources of
cooling water supplies were at historic
lows for almost 11,000 MW of generating
capacity. In addition, market electricity
prices rose dramatically in August 2011,
during the height of the drought and peak
electricity demands: real-time electricity
prices on Texas wholesale market hit the
states market cost cap of $3,000/MWh on
ve days in August.
New Zealand in 2008 urged households to cut
power consumption by 15%, concerned about
low water levels in the country's lakes. The
public was also asked to save power for similar
reasons in 2001, 2003, and 2006.
From 2000 to 2010,
southeastern
Australia experienced
a one in a thousand
year drought.
Generation at three
coal plants was
curtailed in 2007 to
protect municipal
supplies.
THE BIG PICTURE: Parched
Water scarcity as it relates to energy use is becoming a major concern. Cooling water accounts for more than 50% of na-
tional water withdrawals in several developed countries (Eurostat 2010), and it is becoming more important as developing
countries become more energy-intensive. At a river basin level, dry periods have triggered rolling blackouts, and not just
because hydropower plants are forced to operate at dangerously low levels. POWER takes a look at more recent drought-
related outages around the world.
Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, Senior Writer
July 2013
|
Turkey Prepares to Host First ATMEA 1
Nuclear Reactors
An agreement signed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Er-
dogan and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this May could
pave the way for the worlds first ATMEA 1 reactors to be built
in Turkey in the 2020s. Construction of four reactors using the
midsize nuclear reactor design developed through the collabora-
tion of French nuclear firm AREVA and Japans Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries (MHI) could cost as much as $21 billion, begin as early
as 2017, and be completed by 2023.
The Gen-III+ pressurized water reactor (PWR) design developed
by the Atmea French-Japanese joint venture that was established
in 2007 has a capacity of 1,100 MWe (Figure 2). Developed to be
marketed to countries embarking on new nuclear programs, the de-
sign has three active and passive redundant safety systems and an
additional backup cooling chain, like AREVAs EPR. It also has a 37%
net thermal efficiency, 157 fuel assemblies, a 60-year life, and the
capacity to use mixed-oxide fuel only. French nuclear regulator ASN
approved the general design in February 2012.
If the agreement proceeds, the proposed reactors could make up
Turkeys second nuclear power plant in the northern city of Sinop on
the Black Sea. An international consortium of Japans MHI, Itochu
Corp., French utility group GDF Suez, and the Turkish Electricity Gen-
eration Co. (EUAS) would further develop the project. ATMEA would
provide the nuclear island for the plant construction contract.
Turkey imported much of its energy in 2012 at a cost of about
$60 billion, and its future energy policy stresses energy efficiency
and security. Development of nuclear power is expected to slash
reliance on Russian and Iranian gas for power. But though a nuclear
power program has been under development since the 1970s, plans
to build the countrys first nuclear plant at Akkuyu, near the port of
Mersin, were only made concrete in August 2009, when two agree-
ments between Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK) and Russias
Rosatom were inked for the construction of four 1,200-MWe AES-
2006 units. That $25 billion project is expected to break ground this
September, and the first unit could come online by 2019.
According to developers AREVA and MHI, the ATMEA 1 reactor
design is under consideration in Jordan and Vietnam. Media re-
ports suggest Jordan could soon decide which nuclear technology
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2. The first of its kind. An agreement between Japan and Tur-
key this May paves the way for the construction of four ATMEA 1 reac-
tors in Turkeys northern city of Sinop, on the Black Sea. ATMEA 1 is a
midsize Generation III+ pressurized water reactor of 1,100 MWe net,
developed by ATMEA, the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and AREVA
joint venture. Courtesy: ATMEA
|
July 2013 14
it will use to build two planned nuclear reactors, one expected to
begin construction this year and be completed by 2020, and the
other for operation by 2025. Along with the ATMEA 1 design, Jor-
dan is evaluating AtomStroyExports AES-92 model VVER-1000.
Energy Storage Developments and
Demand Ramp Up
Despite technical and financial hurdles, annual global demand for
grid-scale energy storage is expected to soar to 185.4 GWh by 2017,
which means a possible 231% average year-on-year demand growth
between 2012 and 2015, according to Lux Research. A report recent-
ly released by the research firm projects that Japan, China, the UK,
Germany, and the state of Arizona will lead the world in grid storage,
accounting for about 58% of global demand in 2017.
By 2017, who uses energy storage will also vary, the firm fore-
casts, projecting that ancillary services and renewable energy
integration will only account for 1.4% of global demand while
renewable energy time shifting will take up a 54% share. Among
technologies that will lead the surge in demand for energy storage
are vanadium redox batteries, followed by sodium-sulfur, sodium-
nickel chloride, and zinc-bromine flow batteries. Lithium-ion bat-
teries will take a smaller share, while flywheels will retain just 2%
of the market in 2017, Lux predicts. (See Beacon Power Makes a
Comeback on p. 53 for more on flywheel generation.)
The month of May alone saw several key developments for energy
storage. The U.S. Senate reintroduced bipartisan legislation that
would create an investment tax credit for energy storage technolo-
gies of all types, closely mirroring a bill recently introduced in the
House. The Storage Technology for Renewable and Green Energy
(STORAGE) Act was originally introduced in the 112th Congress
in both chambers with bipartisan support. The measures follow
legislation to provide Master Limited Partnership parity to extend
a pass-through corporate structure and tax treatment to several
renewables sectors as well as to energy storage.
Possible Compressed Air Energy Storage Sites. Also in
May, the U.S. Department of Energys Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL) and federal power company the Bonneville
Power Administration (BPA) said they identified two possible sites
in eastern Washington state to build compressed air energy stor-
age (CAES) facilities that could temporarily store the Northwests
excess wind power. CAES plants use a large air compressor that is
powered when electricity production is abundant, which pushes
pressurized air into an underground geologic storage structure.
Later, when power demand is high, the stored air is released back
up to the surface, where it is heated and rushes through turbines
to generate electricity. CAES plants can regenerate as much as
80% of the electricity they take in, according to PNNL.
Only two CAES plants exist in the world today, howeverone
in Alabama and one in Germanyand both use manmade salt
caverns to store excess electricity. The PNNL-BPA study exam-
ined a different approach: using natural, porous rock reservoirs
that are deep underground to store renewable energy. Analysis
identified two particularly promising locations in eastern Wash-
ington. One, dubbed the Columbia Hills Site, is just north of
Boardman, Ore., on the Washington side of the Columbia River
and has a storage capacity of 231 MW. The second, called the
Yakima Minerals Site, is about 10 miles north of Selah, Wash.,
in an area called the Yakima Canyon and has a storage capacity
of about 150 MW.
The Columbia Hills Site could access a nearby natural gas
pipeline, making it a good fit for a conventional compressed
air energy facility. Such a conventional facility would burn
a small amount of natural gas to heat compressed air thats
released from underground storage, PNNL said. The Yakima Min-
erals Site, however, has little easy access to natural gas. So
the research team devised a hybrid facility that would extract
geothermal heat from deep underground to power a chiller that
would cool the facilitys air compressors, making them more
efficient. Geothermal energy would also reheat the air as it
returns to the surface (Figure 3).
BPA is now expected to use the performance and economic
data from the study to perform an in-depth analysis of the net
benefits CAES could bring to the Pacific Northwest. The results
could be used by one or more regional utilities to develop a com-
mercial CAES demonstration project.
3. Hybrid geothermal compressed air storage. A site
identified by the U.S. Department of Energys Pacific Northwest Na-
tional Laboratory (PNNL) and federal power company the Bonneville
Power Administration, called Yakima Minerals, is about 10 miles north
of Selah, Wash. It could house a geothermal compressed air energy
storage facility with a capacity to generate 83 MW and store 150 MW.
Courtesy: PNNL
Compression & power
generation facility
Geothermal
reservoir
Compressed
air reservoir
4. A pilot project. The California Energy Commission and Pacific
Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) unveiled the Yerba Buena Battery Energy
Storage System Pilot Project, a system that charges a utility-scale sodi-
um-sulfur battery, shown here. Courtesy: PG&E
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July 2013 16
Sodium-Sulfur Battery Pilot. In the U.S., also this May,
the California Energy Commission and Pacific Gas and Electric
Co. (PG&E) unveiled the Yerba Buena Battery Energy Storage
System Pilot Project, a system in east San Jose, Calif., that
charges a utility-scale sodium-sulfur battery (Figure 4) man-
ufactured by NGK Insulators when demand is low and then
sends reserved power to the grid when demand grows. The
system has the potential to provide important services for bal-
ancing energy supply and demand, [and] helping to support
greater integration of intermittent renewable generation, the
commission said in a statement. The project has a 4-MW ca-
pacity that can store more than 6 hours of energy. PG&E is
working with the Electric Power Research Institute to study
how sodium-sulfur battery energy storage can improve power
quality and reliability.
Undersea Pumped Storage. Norwegian research scien-
tists announced they would attempt to realize a concept of
storing electricity at the bottom of the sea using high water
pressure. The idea entails use of an underwater pumped hy-
droelectric power plant. Imagine opening a hatch in a sub-
marine under water. The water will flow into the submarine
with enormous force. It is precisely this energy potential
we want to utilize, explains Rainer Schramm, inventor and
founder of the company Subhydro AS to Gemini.no. Schramm
is collaborating with Scandinavian research firm SINTEF on
the concept. Many people have launched the idea of stor-
ing energy by exploiting the pressure at the seabed, but we
are the first in the world to apply a specific patent-pending
technology to make this possible, he adds.
Schramms concept essentially converts mechanical energy us-
ing a reversible pump turbine, as in a normal pumped storage
hydroelectric plant (Figure 5). A pumped storage power plant is
a hydroelectric plant which can be charged up again by pumping
the water back to the upper reservoir once it has passed through
a turbine. This type of power plant is used as a battery, when
connected to the power grid, the inventor explains. The plants
turbine will be connected to a tank on the seabed at a depth of
400 to 800 meters. The turbine is fitted with a valve, which when
opened, allows water to flow in and start turning the turbine. The
turbine drives a generator to produce electricity. When the tanks
are full, the water is removed by running the turbine in reverse,
so that it functions as a pump.
One can connect as many tanks as one wishes. In other
words, it is the number of water tanks that decides how long
the plant can generate electricity, before the energy storage
capacity is exhausted, Schramm says, noting that calculations
indicate an electric storage efficiency of about 80% round trip.
A normal-size plant could produce about 300 MW for a period
of 7 to 8 hours.
E.ON Avoids Shuttering Ultramodern
German Combined Cycle Units Despite
Profit Concerns
German energy giant E.ON in late April narrowly averted idling
its Irsching 4 and 5 units in Bavaria, Germanyits most tech-
nologically advanced gas-fired generating units that began
operations just three years ago at a cost of 400 million.
The 569-MW Irsching 4 (a 2011 POWER Top Plant) was the
worlds first to feature a Siemens H-class turbine (Figure 6)
and boasts an efficiency of 60.4%. The 860-MW Irsching 5,
commissioned in 2010, has an efficiency of 59.7% and is a
multi-shaft plant with two steam turbines, each one with a
waste heat recovery boiler.
But E.ON had said the highly efficient combined cycle
units were unprofitable because, while Europes wholesale
5. Storage under the sea. Norwegian researchers are work-
ing to realize a concept that stores power using an undersea pumped
hydroelectric power plant. To use the water pressure on the sea
bed, mechanical energy is converted by a reversible pump turbine,
as in a normal pumped storage hydroelectric plant. Source: Knut
Gangsster/Doghouse
6. The 60-Hz H-Class. E.ONs Irsching 4 unit in Bavaria was the
test site of Siemens advanced 50-Hz H-class SGT5-8000H gas tur-
bine until the end of 2009, when it was expanded into a combined
cycle gas turbine plant by adding a waste heat recovery boiler and a
steam turbine. The first of three 60-Hz versions (SGT6-8000H, shown
here) of the gas turbine was successfully started at Florida Power &
Light Co.s $900 million Cape Canaveral Next Generation Clean Energy
Center in Port St. John, Fla., last November. Cape Canaveral began
commercial operations on April 24. The 274-MW turbine is also capable
of reaching efficiencies topping 60% in combined cycle operation, Sie-
mens says. Courtesy: Siemens Energy
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July 2013 18
power prices had fallen by 50% since
2009, low-cost coal imports and low
carbon trading prices had squeezed
profit margins of power plants burning
much pricier natural gas to near zero.
An agreement reached between E.ON,
Germanys Federal Network Agency, and
the local network operator Tennet TSO
this April ensures, however, that E.ON
will receive acceptable compensation
for its fixed costs of the two units. Ten-
net said the units were needed to en-
able support of tremendous renewables
growth in the country and for redis-
patch measures, if necessary.
Germanys Federal Network Agency
recently ordered that fixed costs should
be paid to power plants that are op-
erated more than 10% of the time on
demand of transmission operators. A
paradigm market design in Germany was
still necessary, as E.ON CEO Johannes
Teyssen said in a statement, particularly
one that provides acceptable compen-
sation for maintaining technologically
advanced, climate-friendly generating
capacity. Germany is still too fixated
on megawatts, installing wind turbine
after wind turbine and solar panel after
solar panel in the belief that by doing
so it has already transformed its energy
system, he added.
The traditional distinction between
generation, transmission, distribution,
and consumption is dissolving, Teys-
sen said, pointing to the evolution of
smart grids. The focal point of these
grids isnt the traditional energy util-
ity but rather the customer. Custom-
ers can now choose whether they want
to buy energy from the grid or make it
themselves and perhaps even market it
to others. E.ON is part of that trans-
formation, he said, and that will create
a greater earnings strength and lasting
value for its shareholders.
POWER Digest
Saudi Arabia and Egypt Sign $1.6
Billion Agreement to Link Electricity
Grids. Under an agreement signed on
June 1, Saudi Arabias majority state-
owned utility, Saudi Electricity Co.,
and Egypts state power company, Egyp-
tian Electric Holding Co., will share
the cost of building a 3,000-MW un-
dersea transmission cable to link their
electricity grids. The $1.6 billion deal
anticipates the 20-kilometer-long net-
work will be finished by 2015. Egyptians
currently suffer intermittent blackouts
during the day as a result of inadequate
supply. About 45% of Saudi Arabia ca-
pacity is idled during the cooler winter,
while cooling accounts for more than
50% of electricity demand in summer.
Both countries see a demand surge dur-
ing the holy month of Ramadan, which
begins this year in July.
Scotland Approves Worlds Larg-
est Wave Power Farm. Scotlands
government approved Aquamarine
Powers 40-MW wave farmto date, the
largest in the worldoff the northwest
coast of Lewis, Scotland, marking a ma-
jor milestone for the fledgling marine
power sector. The green light from the
government and its regulator, Marine
Scotland, follows onshore planning ap-
proved last September, and it means
the Edinburgh firms subsidiary, Lewis
Wave Power Ltd., could begin install-
ing its near-shore Oyster wave energy
machines at the site in the next few
years, once necessary grid infrastruc-
ture has been put in place. The project
envisions deployment of between 40
and 50 Oyster devices along the coast
at Lag na Greine, near Fivepenny Borve.
Aquamarine Power is currently testing
a second-scale wave machine known as
the Oyster 800 at the European Marine
Energy Centre in Orkney, which is now
grid-connected.
Philippines Experiences Major
Blackout. Half of Luzon, the largest
island in the Philippines, suffered a
10-hour-long blackout on May 8 after
the Calaca-Bian 230-kV line tripped
and triggered a system disturbance that
knocked six power plants offline. The
blackout affected the capital city of
Manila and several adjacent provinces.
Grid operator National Grid Corp. of
the Philippines (NGCP)which was
privatized in 2007 and is now co-owned
by the Chinese governmentinitially
attributed the failure of the transmis-
sion lines to a generation deficiency,
but a later investigation by the coun-
trys Department of Energy suggested
the event could have been caused by a
bush fire in Talisay, Batangas.
The problem is thought to have
first affected a unit of Semirara Min-
ing Corp.s 600-MW Calaca Coal Power
plant, then the 1,218-MW Sual coal-
fired power station in Pangasinan, the
1,200-MW Ilijan combined cycle power
plant, First Gas Powers 1,000-MW San-
ta Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo plants,
and the 460-MW Quezon power plant.
Reports suggest about eight other
plants may have been affected. The DOE
has asked NGCP to explain why its auto-
protection system did not prevent the
outage from spreading. Industry groups
in the country have, meanwhile, warned
that Philippines power consumption is
growing at 4.5% per year and that the
country could see even more frequent
blackouts if it does not add at least 600
MW by 2015.
UAE Begins Construction on Sec-
ond APR-1400 Reactor. Construction
officially began on the United Arab
Emirates (UAEs) second new nuclear
power reactor on May 28 at the Barakah
site in western Abu Dhabi. A South
Korean consortium headed by Korean
Electric Power Corp. will build and
manage the APR-1400 reactor for the
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (Enec),
one of four planned for that site. Bech-
tel is to provide project management
for the plant. Construction of Barakah
1 began in July 2012. Construction li-
censes for both units have been award-
ed by the Federal Authority for Nuclear
Regulation, and Enec plans to apply for
operating licenses for Units 1 and 2 in
2015. All four units are expected to be
completed between 2017 and 2020.
Japanese Reprocessing Facility
Moves Closer to Operational Start.
Japans delay-plagued Rokkasho repro-
cessing facility in Japans northern Ao-
mori Prefecture this May completed a
test that proves its vitrification lines,
marking a milestone that moves it clos-
er to commercial operation. The facility
owned and operated by Japan Nuclear
Fuels Ltd. was scheduled to start up in
2008, but commissioning has been halt-
ed 19 times because of technical and
financial problems, particularly prob-
lems in the locally designed vitrification
plant for high-level waste, according to
the World Nuclear Association.
Spent nuclear fuel has been accumu-
lating at the site since 1999. The plant
requires a license from the Nuclear Reg-
ulation Authority before it can begin
operating to produce about four tonnes
of fissile plutonium per year, enough
for about 80 tonnes of mixed oxide
fuel. Though only two nuclear reactors
remain operational following the Fu-
kushima Daiichi accident, and Japans
future nuclear power policy is in limbo,
the countrys waste management focus
continues to be on reprocessing before
underground disposal. Japans govern-
ment and private companies have in-
vested more than $21 billion in the
Rokkasho facility since construction
began in 1992.
Sonal Patel is POWERs senior writer.
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July 2013 20
Industrial Wireless Sensors:
A Users Perspective
There are many reasons to anticipate that the use of wireless
instrumentation in industrial settings will increase dramati-
cally in the next few years. However, certain stumbling blocks
could curtail this deployment. As usual, cost and availability
are critical factors when considering potential deployments.
Installed and operating costs of the wireless instruments must
be competitive with their wired equivalents if these instru-
ments are to have widespread deployment.
Similarly, wireless offerings must be readily available in
a timely manner, preferably from multiple manufacturers, to
be able to get deployment traction. In addition, deployment
of such instrumentation in an industrial settingwhere se-
curity and robustness criteria are much more stringent than
in residential settingshinges on user acceptance of veri-
fied performance and security requirements as well as those
mentioned above. As is the case for many technologies that
they utilize, industrial users are typically not wireless system
experts but rather technical staff members who have a mea-
surement application for which wireless technology appears
to be a viable option.
In 2013, as in recent years, these industrial users need
to evaluate many factors when considering a wireless sensor
network, including radio performance, battery life, interop-
erability concerns, standards compliance, and security. With
many industrial users considering widespread deployment of
wireless instruments, it is imperative that accurate informa-
tion for applying the technology to real-world applications be
available to the end user.
Wireless Sensor Applications
Sensing applications for which wireless sensor technology
is a good solution are numerous in all types of process and
manufacturing plants. Plant designers and plant operators
are continually searching for new technology to improve
their plant operation, performance, and reliability. But before
making a significant investment in a new technology such as
wireless sensor networks, a plant needs assurance that the
technology is ready for industrial use and that the technol-
ogy provides a clear advantage over an existing technology
or provides a function not available with current technol-
ogy. Which applications fit these criteria depends on many
factors, including whether the installation will be at a new
plant or an existing facility. Several potential applications
are discussed below primarily from the retrofit perspective.
One of the most common wireless sensor applications to-
day is enhanced equipment condition monitoring of critical
plant machinery such as pumps, fans, and motors (Figure 1).
Plant maintenance practices have become much more ana-
lytical in recent years, but the analysis depends on process-
and maintenance-type data being readily available. In many
situations that type of data is not easily available or not
available at all. When most existing plants were built, it was
not economically justifiable to install sensors on much of the
less-critical machinery. Retrofitting wired sensors to collect
the data is still too expensive, and periodically collecting
the data manually is not an option due to staff reductions in
recent years. Wireless sensors may greatly reduce the instal-
lation cost, enabling more data collection and resulting in
improved proactive maintenance practices.
Another example of industrial use of wireless sensors, and
specifically wireless sensor networks, is in the power plant
performance testing area (Figure 2). Performance tests are
run periodically to determine the plant efficiency using spe-
cial test instruments and data collection systems that may
only be deployed for several days. Considerable labor costs
and time are associated with running cables to all the test
instruments. The use of wireless sensors could significantly
reduce the time and effort required to set up and tear down
test instruments for each test.
Probably the most common use for wireless sensors to-
day is to monitor remote equipment where long wiring runs
would be cost-prohibitive. These types of installations tend
1. Remote data collection. The blue device in the center of
the photo is a wireless sensor used to collect vibration data on a
pump that was not previously monitored. Courtesy: Southern Com-
pany Services Inc.
2. Wireless layout. This diagram documents conducting wireless
sensor testing in preparation for utilizing wireless sensors for perfor-
mance testing. Source: Southern Company Services Inc.
Device raised to platform
near top of HRSG stack
These two
devices were
on the ground
near concrete
columns
No communication
with this device
One device
inside PEECC
and one outside
on platform
July 2013
|
to be point-to-point applications using
proprietary protocols and do not use
the wireless sensor networks such as
ISA-100.11a or WirelessHART.
Currently, the use of wireless sensors
in industrial applications appears largely
limited to monitoring functions rather
than closed-loop control tasks. The use
of wireless sensors for closed-loop control
application will probably be very limited
for several years until there is consider-
able experience using the technology on
monitoring-only applications.
Barriers to Acceptance of
Wireless Sensors
Whenever a new technology is intro-
duced there are always barriers to its
acceptance, and wireless sensors are
no exception. The barriers include new
technology, increased cost, standards
confusion, concerns about the robust-
ness of the products, and cybersecurity.
New Technology. There is always
some inherent resistance to change due
to uncertainty about the performance of
a new technology. Industrial users can
be very leery of deploying serial number
1 of anything, especially something as
complex as a wireless sensor network.
Once a technology has success in a simi-
lar environment, its adoption in the in-
dustrial world can increase dramatically
and rapidly.
Increased Cost. Some of the early
projections for wireless sensor costs
were quite low, and this has led many in-
dustrial users to expect wireless sensors
to have lower installed (lifecycle) costs
than traditional wired sensors. However,
based on the authors experience, so far
that does not appear to be the trend with
industrial sensors. The wireless portion
of the sensor is merely added on to an
existing wired sensor, which results in
higher costs. The increased component
cost can easily exceed the cost savings
associated with wiring, particularly for
those transmitters that are expected to
be deployed for many years (it is not
atypical in a power plant for a transmit-
ter to be in one location for 50 years).
There appear to be opportunities for
low-cost sensors on many applications,
but that may require a mindset change
at many plants.
Standards Confusion. The fact that
multiple incompatible wireless sen-
sor standards currently have products
in the market causes concerns for us-
ers that they may choose a standard
that eventually will become extinct.
There is also considerable uncertainty
about what compliance with a standard
means. For example, does compliance
(or certification) with a standard en-
sure interoperability between vendors
devices, and does it provide some cer-
tainty about security?
Uncertainties Concerning Robust-
ness. Industrial products are expected
to be near 100% reliable by most us-
ers and, for many users, there is not
enough operating experience or pub-
lished test results with the new wireless
sensor networks to know whether they
meet that expectation. Arguments that
wireless networks can be made more
reliable than their wired counterparts
are difficult to make given that many
consider (often incorrectly) the wired
networks nearly 100% reliable, if not
100% reliable.
Cybersecurity. In power plants to-
day, all wireless network products are
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July 2013 22
subject to extreme scrutiny for cybersecurity vulnerabilities
due to the NERC CIP standards. Because the wireless sen-
sor networks are less familiar to IT personnel, they receive
even more attention. In some companies, the wireless sen-
sor network will only be allowed to communicate with the
plant digital control system using nonroutable protocols,
such as serial MODBUS. NERC standard CIP-005-2 Cyber Se-
curity Electronic Security Perimeter requires that each facil-
ity establish an electronic security perimeter for all critical
cyber assets, but it is not clear how to do this for a wireless
sensor network that is connected to the plant distributed
control system. This hurdle will probably be an issue for
several years to come.
Despite all these barriers, there are always a few compa-
nies that are willing to experiment with new technologies
that show significant promise. These companies in some ways
serve the industry as beta testers, and if the equipment per-
forms as expected, other companies will eventually begin to
use the new technology.
Multiple Standards Compete
Industrial standards play a very important role in todays
highly technical society. Many years ago standards were
usually developed after several competing technologies
were already established in the marketplace. Today in many
cases, standards are developed before products reach the
marketplace and actually drive the development of many
commercial markets. Such is the case with wireless sensor
networks. Three main standards have been developed,
with each attempting to drive the development of wireless
sensors in a particular direction.
The majority of wireless industrial sensor approaches now
being deployed or being considered for deployment are based
on these three different standards: the HART Communications
Foundations WirelessHART (IEC 62591), the International Soci-
ety of Automations ISA100.11a, and the Industrial Wireless Alli-
ance of Chinas WIA-PA (IEC 62601). Aside from these industrial
automation standards, users must also be aware of the underly-
ing wireless network standards IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15.4, and
IEEE 802.15.3a and their interactions with the three principal
industrial automation protocols mentioned previously. The main
questions being asked by end users revolve around interoper-
ability, reliability, and security.
If there were a worldwide wireless sensor czar, then
there would probably only be one industrial wireless sensor
standard, but in a real, market-driven environment, that will
not be the case. Although the presence of multiple stan-
dards may be a barrier to industrial acceptance, it is the
reality that users must accept, at least for the near future.
A single standard for wireless may not be critical, as the
airwaves (unlike wires) are pretty forgiving of multiple pro-
tocols. Smart phones today support four or five different
wireless protocols, but the user sees a common interface in
spite of the underlying protocol variability.
A number of standards issues remain that cause concern
for users.
Is one standard better than another? With complex
systems like wireless sensor networks and varying end-user
requirements, there probably is no right answer to this ques-
tion. The more pertinent question is, Does one or more of the
standards meet the industrial users current and future needs?
Even this question can be a challenge to answer without ac-
tually investing in a system and testing it thoroughly.
3. Swapping out wired transmitters. The typical end user
has high confidence that this approach will work all the time. Source:
Taft Engineering
Vendor A
wired sensor
Vendor B
wired sensor
4. Swapping out wireless transmitters. The typical end user
has less confidence that this transition will work. Source: Taft Engineering
Vendor A
wireless sensor
Vendor B
wireless sensor
5. Multi-vendor wireless sensor network. This arrange-
ment must ensure that full functionality is possible for all the sensors.
Source: Taft Engineering
Vendor A
wireless sensor
Vendor B
wireless sensor
Gateway
vendor C
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July 2013 24
It is even more difficult being a seer and knowing that
a technology will succeed in the marketplace and be avail-
able decades down the road. Although there is a wealth of
technical information published on wireless sensor networks,
most of it is not written to the industrial user audience and
does not address the most fundamental end-user questions,
namely cybersecurity and interoperability. Also, little of
the published material is written by an unaffiliated author.
Though skepticism is not always warranted, the end user of-
ten sees such material as advancing a vendor agenda and
being biased.
Are standards useful? From an industrial user perspective,
the most useful aspect of a standard is the strong expectation
that compliance with a communications standard will ensure
seamless interoperability between different vendors products
(Figures 3, 4, and 5). The current wireless standards are quite
complex, and there may be too little user experience to assess
interoperability.
Based on limited testing by the authors, it appears that a
third-party gateway will read the wireless sensor process vari-
able reliably, but other secondary information may not be fully
available. For example, if one vendors sensor is intended to
measure vibration, can another vendors gateway bring back
the spectrum information, or is the information limited to
only the 1x or other aggregate values? Also, does compliance
with one of these standards provide any guidance to the end
user on the security of these devices?
Does it matter whether the standard is a consensus,
industrial consortia, or de facto standard? Many people
consider consensus standardsthose produced by ANSI ac-
credited standard-writing organizationsto be the only true
standards. However, many commonly used and very successful
standards have been developed by industrial consortia. Each
method has its own strengths and weaknesses, but for most
users, the standard development process is less important
than the final outcome and manufactures adherence to the
standard.
Is certified compliance necessary? Many questions are
related to standards compliance, particularly with complex
standards such as WirelessHART and ISA100.11a. Ideally, a
trusted certification organization would thoroughly test all
devices submitted, and those that pass would receive a cer-
tification that the device complies with the standard. This
certification would be available to the user to provide as-
surance that the device is in compliance and meets some
minimum functionality defined by the standard. This mini-
mum standard should be clearly defined by the standards
organization.
In reality, it is more complicated than that because the
standards have a plethora of implementation options, which
are very difficult to completely test. As a result, only a very
limited set of options, often called a profile, is tested. If a
users application requires a different set of options, then the
certification may not be very useful. Similarly, it would be
beneficial for any device labeled as compliant to be tested by
the compliance organization to ensure it is, and to be regis-
tered as having complied.
Is there an independent and published assessment
of the cybersecurity of wireless devices? This is perhaps
the most important question that should be asked today. Ask
not only if a device adheres to a standard but also if good
coding practices and other design features are available that
will make the device more intrusion-resistant. Also, does the
compliance organization have a role to play in these security
assessments, or is this best handled by an independent, third
party? If the compliance organization is the exclusive asses-
sor, there could be the appearance of bias. Whether handled
by the standard compliance organization or an independent,
third party, the methodology used to test cybersecurity should
be made available to the end user.
Standards can certainly have an impact, either beneficial
or deleterious, on future widespread deployment. If standards
are clear to the end user and have verifiable compliance by
certification or other means, they will reduce uncertainty and
allow the end user to make informed decisions, thus reducing
the technological risk. Having multiple, competing standards
for wireless transmitters is in itself not a problem, as long
as the marketplace is still robust and not so fractured that,
in effect, a standard becomes one manufacturers proprietary
workspace, locking end users into that single manufacturer.
Suggestions for Users
Given the current state of the wireless sensor technology,
standards, and the market, what is an industrial user to do?
First, as with most other new technology issues, users should
clearly define their needs for sensors and consider whether
wireless sensors are really the best option. This may seem so
1990s, but twisted-pair, copper wires and 4-20 mA signals
could still be the best communication network and protocol
for some applications. Users should gather as much technical
information as they can consume from a variety of sources,
including vendors, other users, technical interest groups, and
the web. The idea is not to become an expert but rather to
understand some of the terminology and be aware of some key
technical issues.
Along these lines, it would be useful if an independent or-
ganization could produce an independent and vendor-agnostic
users guide to wireless sensors.
Dont wait for a single standard to emerge victorious, be-
cause that is unlikely to happen.
Finally, we suggest that users, after a reasonable investiga-
tion, purchase a small wireless sensor system and apply it to
a noncritical application in their plant. There is nothing like
actually using a system to increase ones level of understand-
ing and expose the systems strengths and weaknesses.
Wireless sensors networks have the potential to significant-
ly alter the industrial sensing landscape in the next decade,
but before that happens, users must be comfortable apply-
ing the technology in their plants. Three major standards
are currently vying for users affection, and it is very unlikely
that a single standard will emerge in the next several years,
so waiting is not a good choice. There are certainly barriers
to the adoption of wireless sensor or any new technology, but
with good preparation and cooperation from manufacturers,
these barriers can be overcome.
Users should do their due diligence before making a major
commitment to the technology. Part of the due diligence should
include installation and testing of a small wireless sensor net-
work system before committing to a complete system.
Contributed by Wayne Manges (mangesww@ornl.gov),
Oak Ridge National Laboratory; John N. Sorge
(jnsorge@southernco.com), Research and Technology Man-
agement, Southern Company Services Inc.; and Cyrus W. Taft
(cwtaft@taftengineering.com) principal of Taft Engineering.
This article is based on a paper presented at the 55th Annual
ISA POWID Symposium.
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July 2013 26
Steven F. Greenwald Jeffrey P. Gray
Exporting Natural Gas
T
he transformative increases in current and expected future do-
mestic natural gas production have spawned yet another energy
debate: Should the U.S. should export natural gas? In May, the
Department of Energy (DOE) conditionally approved Freeport LNGs
application (submitted December 2010) to export 1.4 Bcf/d from
its existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Quintana Island,
Texas, for 20 years. Asia represents the most likely market for LNG,
particularly China and Japan. The authorization remains subject to
environmental review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The policy implications of the DOEs decision are underscored by the
19 export applications pending at the agency.
Opponents of the exportation of natural gas contend that it
will increase domestic prices, harming U.S. manufacturers and
consumers, and that expanding the market for natural gas will
promote production of and increase reliance on fossil fuels. In
literally his first moments as secretary of energy, within days fol-
lowing the DOEs approval of Freeports application, Ernest Moniz
expressed an intent to revisit the export of natural gas: [E]very-
thing is on the table until I have done my analysis.
Secretary Monizs intervention portends a further intrusion of poli-
tics into energy policy, economic assessments, and law. It is unlikely
that Secretary Monizs personal analysis will change the outcome;
Freeport and other export projects should obtain export authority.
More importantly, any further extension of the already prolonged
regulatory process will not improve the quality of the decision-mak-
ing and will likely engender uncertainties in the market.
The Law and DOE Policy
The Natural Gas Act (NGA) requires that the secretary of energy au-
thorize any export of natural gas. The NGA further directs the grant-
ing of export authority, unless the secretary finds that the request
will not be consistent with the public interest. The law creates
a rebuttable presumption that the export of natural gas advances
the public interest, obligating opponents to present an affirmative
showing that the export will be adverse to the public interest.
The DOE assesses requests for export authority based on its 1984
Policy Guidelines, which favor market resolutions: The market, not
government, should determine the price . . . of [exported] natural
gas. . . . The federal governments primary responsibility in authoriz-
ing [exports] should be to evaluate the need for the gas . . . while
minimizing regulatory impediments to a freely operating market.
Freeport asserted that exports would provide economic ben-
efits through increased domestic natural gas production and a
material improvement in the nations balance of trade. It also
maintained that the exports would have only a minimal impact
on domestic natural gas prices. Freeport also advocated that the
exports would facilitate natural gass ability to displace coal and
gasoline and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally.
The EIA and NERA Studies
The DOE commissioned the Energy Information Administration
(EIA) to assess the impacts of additional natural gas exports on
domestic production and prices. It also retained NERA Economic
Consulting to assess the macroeconomic impact. Their studies
found that increased exports would:
Yield overall net economic benefitsthe greater the export
level, the greater the benefit.
Increase domestic natural gas prices, but only modestly; in-
creased domestic production and the need for the delivered
price (that is, adding LNG transport costs) to remain competi-
tive with alternative foreign sources would restrain prices.
Benefit certain industries and workers and be detrimental to others.
The DOE accepted the studies finding of net economic benefits
and agreed that international market forces should appropriately
constrain domestic prices. With respect to arguments based on ex-
ports injuring segments of society, the DOE sagely responded: [T]he
public interest requires us to look to the impacts to the U.S. econ-
omy as a whole, without privileging the commercial interests of any
industry over another[;] . . . resource allocation decisions . . . are
better left to the market, rather than the Department, to resolve.
Time for Decision
Assessments of the economic consequences of regulatory deci-
sions, particularly on a global stage, can never promise 100%
accuracy; human judgment is not infallible, and basic assump-
tions inevitably change. Thus, opponents can readily challenge
any regulatory decision supported by economic studies based on
the uncertainties inherent in predicting the future. Policy makers
must distinguish between legitimate questions that demonstrate
analytical deficiencies that may taint a study and simply partisan
opposition to the conclusions of a study.
Correspondingly, unless studies are completed and implemented
in nanoseconds, updated data will always be available. Opposition
to policy decisions on the ground that the data relied upon is out-
dated ignores that comprehensive studies require time. Pleas to
delay regulatory decisions to allow data updates should be resist-
ed, absent a most compelling showing that intervening events have
demonstrated critical deficiencies in the operative assumptions.
Hopefully, Secretary Monizs suggestion that his agency suspend
further action on natural gas exports pending his own analysis
represents simply a rookie mistake made without appreciation of
the completeness of the record. The DOE decision encompasses more
than 100 pages, adheres to the existing law and DOE policy, and is
supported by comprehensive studies by nationally recognized en-
tities. The DOE analysis appreciates that the market will respond
to any regulatory decision and recognizes the markets invisible
hand best promotes the greater good (as opposed to the regula-
tor protecting one group at the expense of all). Ideally, Secretary
Monizs personal analysis will expeditiously concur.
Steven F. Greenwald (stevegreenwald@dwt.com) leads Davis
Wright Tremaines Energy Practice Group. Jeffrey P. Gray (jeffgray@
dwt.com) is a partner in the firms Energy Practice Group.
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July 2013 28
WATER MANAGEMENT
Water Issues Challenge
Power Generators
W
ater is essential to thermoelectric
power generation, but drought
and growing competition for wa-
ter from myriad other uses can have major
effects inside the power plant, impacting
operations and, ultimately, reliability.
Consider these recent examples. Do-
minions Millstone nuclear plant in Con-
necticut had to shut down a reactor last
August because the water it drew from
Long Island Sound was too warm. In re-
sponse, Dominion asked the Nuclear Reg-
ulatory Commission in May this year for
permission to use the seawater at 80F, up
from 75F. A decision is expected in 2014,
following a technical review.
Also last summer, Exelons two-unit
Braidwood nuclear station near Chicago
needed special permission to operate after the
temperature in its cooling water pond rose to
102F, four degrees above its normal limit.
Elsewhere in the U.S., low water levels on
parts of the Mississippi stalled coal barges
headed to power plants, forcing the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to dredge channels
to maintain commercial barge traffic.
Droughts in Europe in 2003 and 2006
forced the shutdown or curtailment of a num-
ber of thermoelectric units. During the 2003
drought, for example, French nuclear opera-
tors had to shut down as much as 25% of the
countrys nuclear fleet.
Drought conditions affect hydroelectric
generation, too. As POWERnews reported
in March, Brazil, which sources 67% of its
power from hydro, has suffered the worst
drought in 50 years, causing dams in the
northeast to fall to 32% of capacity. Both
power generators and electricity consumers
have seen price spikes as a result.
One of the most dramatic examples in the
U.S. is the visibly lower water levels in Lake
Mead and Lake Powell, along the Colorado
River. The light-colored rock in this issues
cover photo shows how far below historic
levels Lake Meadwhich supplies water for
generation at the iconic Hoover Dam near
Las Vegas, Nev.was in November 2010.
As of mid-May, Lake Powell storage be-
hind Glen Canyon Dam in Utah was 11,396
thousand acre-feet, around 47% of normal.
Lake Mead storage was 12,887 thousand
acre-feet, or 49% of normal. The AprilJuly
forecast for water flows along the Colorado
River was 3.00 million acre-feet, or around
42% of average. Despite the low levels, the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), which
operates Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams, has
been able to meet its contractual obligations.
However, Ron Smith, USBR acting power
manager for the Lower Colorado Region, ex-
plained that lower water levels mean lower
pressure and less generation potential, so the
units have been derated further.
To help address the impacts of lower
lake level on generation at Hoover Dam, the
USBR has installed a wide-head turbine
(sometimes called a low-head turbine)
on the Nevada side of the dam. N8, as it is
called, is rated at 130 MW but is currently
derated to 115 based on the lake level. Its
been a very successful installation, Smith
told POWER, and the plan is to install
more, because this type of turbine enables
generation across a wider range of rated
capacity, making for more efficient genera-
tion under low-head conditions.
Growing Water Scarcity
Drought can seem extreme in the U.S., but
a 2011 report from the National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL), Reducing
Freshwater Consumption at Coal-Fired Pow-
er Plants: Approaches Used Outside the Unit-
ed States, says that water-short areas can be
more widespread in countries such as China,
South Africa, and Australia. China, for exam-
ple, ranks as the worlds third-driest country.
The NETL report says that by 2030, Chinas
annual water demand could reach 216 trillion
Drought and competing uses for water continue to challenge power plant opera-
tors worldwide. In response, innovative approaches for reducing water use are
being explored from South Africa to China.
Courtesy: NV Energy
By David Wagman
WATER MANAGEMENT
July 2013
|
gallons, one-third of it for industrial demand
driven by thermal power generation. Water
supplies in China for 2030 are estimated at
roughly 164 trillion gallons. As a result, de-
mand is on track to exceed supply by about
52 trillion gallons in 2030. By comparison,
total water withdrawals in the U.S. in 2005
were 150 trillion gallons.
Reducing water consumption at all
types of steam power plants has been a
worldwide concern for years, sparking
a wide range of efforts to cut water use
while meeting growing demand for elec-
tricity (see table).
Steam-electric plants in the U.S. account
for around 40% of the nations freshwater
withdrawals. Much of that water is returned
to its source, however. That leaves actual
net consumption for power generation at
around 3% of the nations overall freshwa-
ter consumption.
Much of the net consumption stems from
evaporation and drift losses from cooling
systems. Research published by the Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI) suggests
that water use rates at plants with closed-
cycle, wet cooling systems might not be
sustainable in some locations as thermal
discharges from once-through cooling face
increasing regulatory scrutiny. Some plants
already operate under water use restrictions
or are being required to install water-con-
serving technologies. Whats more, siting
new capacity can be difficult due to water
supply constraints.
The net result is that cooling and water
treatment technologies to reduce water con-
sumption, the use of reclaimed water, and the
reuse of internal water and even wastewater
streams are gaining traction in the generation
sector. (See also New Coal Plant Technolo-
gies Will Demand More Water in the POW-
ER archives at powermag.com.)
For example, NV Energys Walter M.
Higgins Generating Station in southern
Nevada (Figure 1 and the photo at the top
of this story) is a 530-MW combined cycle
power plant that uses two Westinghouse
501FD combustion turbines and an Alstom
STF30C steam turbine. The plant entered
service in 2004 and, unlike conventional
power plants, uses a six-story-high dry
cooling system. Similar to a car radiator,
40 fans (each 34 feet in diameter) condense
the steam and cool plant equipment. The
plant uses 14 gallons of water for each
megawatt produced. By contrast, a conven-
tionally cooled power plant of similar size
might use as much as 650 gallons of wa-
ter per megawatt. The Higgins Station also
saves water by reusing gray water from
three nearby casinos.
NV Energy is one of the most experienced
generators in the U.S. when it comes to dry
cooling. Its 1,102-MW Chuck Lenzie Station,
30 miles north of Las Vegas, ranks as one of
North Americas largest dry-cooled power
plants. The plant includes two side-by-side
power production blocks outfitted with GE
7FA combustion turbines. The exhaust from
the four turbines produces steam for two GE
D-11 steam turbines. As part of its water use
strategy, the Lenzie station also uses a water
clarifier system that recaptures and recycles
about 75% of the process water.
Country
Electricity
generated
by coal
Drivers for reducing freshwater
consumption
Approaches for reducing freshwater
consumption
South
Africa
85% Abundant coal resources. Coal resources
and power plants are in dry regions.
Use efficient supercritical technologies,
dry cooling, advanced control systems,
dry bottom ash handling, and desalination.
Participate in water infrastructure devel-
opment, incentives, and water metering.
China 80% Large coal resources, so coal is to be
the dominant fuel for decades. China is
world's third-driest country, and there are
specific policies for reducing freshwater
consumption.
Replace, retrofit small, inefficient plants. In-
crease use of supercritical and ultrasupercrit-
ical units. Use dry cooling. Explore integrated
gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technol-
ogy. Use desalination at power plants.
Australia 70% Coal is likely to supply more than half the
total electrical generating capacity through
2035. Many areas are subject to long
drought. Groundwater use is restricted.
Supercritical steam cycles. Dry cooling.
Turbine upgrades. Coal drying. In-plant
water recycling.
India 70% More power is needed than is available.
Coal is expected to remain the dominant
fuel through at least 2050.
Increase efficiency. Use advanced super-
critical steam parameters. Replace/retrofit
old, inefficient plants. Reuse and recycle
wastewater. Research IGCC.
Denmark 50% No domestic coal resources. Supercritical and ultrasupercritical plants.
Cogeneration.
Germany 49% Coal is to remain a significant power gen-
eration fuel for several years. About half
of coal-fired generation is from low-rank
lignite, and power plants are aging.
Replacement of old, inefficient plants with
new, efficient plants, including ultrasuper-
critical. Research into plants with high steam
parameters and new materials. Lignite drying.
Japan 25% Imports all fuel. It is often difficult to ob-
tain water from local governments.
Use supercritical and ultrasupercritical
technologies and low-water-consuming
emissions control equipment.
Italy 13% Coal-fired power generation is to increase due
to coals lower costs; coal is expected to pro-
vide about one-third of generation as of 2013.
Replace/retrofit old plants with ultrasu-
percritical technology.
Global investment. Efficiency improvements along with supercritical and ultrasupercriti-
cal technologies are gaining favor in countries that face water constraints. Source: NETL
1. Fourteen gallons of water. NV Energys 530-MW Walter M. Higgins Generating
Station in Nevada uses a dry-cooling system that enables it to use 14 gallons of water for each
megawatt of power produced. A conventionally cooled power plant might use up to 650 gallons.
Courtesy: NV Energy
WATER MANAGEMENT
|
July 2013 30
Operational and Economic
Consequences
One of the biggest effects that drought has
imposed on electricity production stemmed
from a 2001 drought in California and the
Pacific Northwest. Although power out-
ages were largely avoided, significant finan-
cial impacts were tallied. For example, the
Northwest Power and Conservation Council
estimated in 2005 that the total regional eco-
nomic impacts totaled between $2.5 billion
and $6 billion.
The southeastern U.S. drought of 2007
2008 posed a risk to baseload thermoelectric
generation facilities. Tennessee Valley Au-
thority, for example, had to shut its Browns
Ferry nuclear generating plant temporarily,
and generation was reduced all across the
region during August 2007. Low water lev-
els led to a rise in water temperature, which
began to bump up against discharge tempera-
ture limits set in operating licenses.
A 2011 report from Argonne National
Laboratory, Analysis of Drought Impacts
on Electricity Production in the Western and
Texas Interconnections of the United States,
noted that hydro generation in general is far
more significantly affected by drought than
thermoelectric generation. It explained that
hydro generation varies widely, depending
upon hydrological conditions. In fact, reports
on droughts in the West in the mid-1970s and
in 2001 indicated little significant impact on
thermoelectric generation. The greater risk,
at least in California and the Pacific North-
west, stemmed from reliance on hydroelec-
tric generation.
Three other studies from Argonne looked
at potential impacts of drought on power
generation. The first looked at cooling-water
intake heights as an indicator of drought risk
for thermoelectric power plants. Of some 423
plant analyzed, 43% were identified as having
cooling-water intake heights less than 10 feet
below the typical water level of their water
source. The second study looked at U.S. coal
plants and ranked them by their vulnerability
on the basis of 18 different water supply and
demand-related indicators. Of the 580 plants
evaluated, 60% (representing roughly 90% of
total coal generating capacity) were said to
be vulnerable on the basis of either supply- or
demand-related criteria.
A third study, published in 2009, mod-
eled a drought scenario in the western U.S. to
estimate the impact on electricity prices and
CO
2
emissions. The model simulated sup-
ply to match historical hourly load data. The
results showed increases in electricity prices
ranging from 4% to 35%, depending on the
month and year. The researchers also esti-
mated a 5% increase in CO
2
emissions in the
drought scenario, resulting from an increase
in natural gas generation to make up for lost
hydroelectric generation.
A 2010 EPRI report, Freshwater Needs
for Thermoelectric Generation, said the
largest demand for water in thermoelec-
tric plants is cooling water for condensing
steam. The process of thermoelectric power
generation is well known, but the basics are
worth reviewing to focus more narrowly on
how water is used. Thermoelectric genera-
tion relies on a fuel source (fossil, nuclear, or
biomass) to heat water to steam that is used
to drive a turbine. Steam exhausted from the
turbine is condensed and recycled to a steam
generator or boiler. This steam condensation
typically takes place in a shell-and-tube heat
exchanger known as a condenser. The steam
is condensed by the flow of cooling water
through tube bundles that are located within
the condenser.
Cooling System Options
In general, three types of cooling system
designs are used for thermoelectric power
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07_PWR_070113_CS_Drought_p28-33.indd 31 6/13/13 11:52:00 AM
WATER MANAGEMENT
|
July 2013 32
plants: once-through, wet recirculating,
and dry. In once-through systems, the cool-
ing water is withdrawn from a lake, river,
or ocean. This water then is warmed as it
passes through the power plant and finally
is discharged back to the water body after
having passed through the surface con-
denser. As a result, plants outfitted with
once-through cooling water systems have
relatively high water withdrawal but low
overall water consumption.
Two basic technologies are used to sup-
port wet recirculating cooling systems, wet
cooling towers and cooling ponds. The
most common type of recirculating system
uses wet cooling towers to dissipate heat
from the cooling water to the atmosphere.
In wet recirculating systems, warm cooling
water is pumped from the steam condenser
to a cooling tower. There, heat from the
warm water is transferred to air flowing
through the cooling tower. In the process,
a portion of the warm water evaporates and
forms the commonly observed water vapor
plume. The cooled water then is recycled
back to the condenser. Because of evapo-
rative losses, some of the cooling water
needs to be discharged from the systema
process known as blowdownto prevent
the buildup of minerals and sediment that
could adversely affect performance.
For a wet recirculating system, only
makeup water needs to be withdrawn from
the local water body to replace water lost
through evaporation and blowdown. As a
result, plants equipped with wet recircu-
lating systems have relatively low water
withdrawal, but high water consumption,
compared to once-through systems.
Wet cooling towers follow two basic de-
signs: mechanical draft and natural draft.
Mechanical draft towers use a fan to move
air through the tower. By contrast, natural
draft towers rely on the difference in air
density between the warm air in the tower
and the cooler ambient air outside the tow-
er to draw air up through the tower. In both
designs, warm cooling water is discharged
into the tower for direct contact with the
ambient air. A cooling pond serves the
same purpose as a wet cooling tower, but
it relies on natural conduction/convection
heat transfer from the water to the atmo-
sphere as well as evaporation to cool the
recirculating water.
Dry cooling systems can use either a
direct or indirect air-cooling process. In
direct dry cooling, the turbine exhaust
steam flows through tubes of an air-cooled
condenser (ACC). The steam is cooled via
conductive heat transfer using ambient air
that is blown by fans across the tubes. As
a result, cooling water is not used in this
system. For indirect dry cooling, a conven-
tional water-cooled surface condenser is
used to condense the turbine exhaust steam.
However, a dry cooling tower, similar to an
ACC, transfers heat from the water to the
air via conduction. As a result, no evapora-
tive loss of cooling water occurs. Whats
more, water withdrawal and consumption
both are minimal.
In the U.S., existing thermoelectric
power plants use all of these types of
systems, with estimates suggesting that
around 43% of generating capacity uses
once-through cooling, 42% wet recircu-
lating, 0.9% dry cooling, and 14% cooling
ponds (Figure 2).
Plant type is an important factor in the
amount of water required. Of the fossil-fu-
eled plants, coal units have the highest heat
rates (or lowest efficiencies), as well as the
highest requirements for water over and
above that for condenser cooling, due to
the in-plant power and water requirements
for coal pulverization, flue gas scrubbing,
and ash handling.
Simple cycle gas turbine plants have a
condenser cooling load of zero, as a re-
sult of their design. For combined cycle
plants, anywhere from one-third to one-
half of the electric power output is gener-
ated with the steam portion of the power
cycle. In this case, the units condenser
cooling requirements correspond to the
output of the steam cycle. However, virtu-
ally all combustion turbine plants have ad-
ditional water requirements, including gas
turbine inlet air cooling, steam or water
injection in the gas turbine compressor in-
let, and, in the case of integrated gasifica-
tion combined cycle plants, water for the
gasification process.
Some renewable energy plants, such as
solar photovoltaic and wind, have no steam
condenser cooling requirements. However,
solar thermal and biofuel-fired power plants
typically use Rankine steam cycles similar
to the steam cycles at fossil plants. Whats
more, solar plants almost always require
water for collector surface cleaning.
Rethinking Water Use
In February 2011 and June 2012, EPRI is-
sued requests for information to invite what
it called early-stage, out-of-the-box, and
innovative ideas and technologies to reduce
freshwater use in power plants. Between
2011 and 2012, more than 100 proposals
were submitted. This year, a possible joint
solicitation between EPRI and the National
Science Foundation (NSF) aimed at ad-
vancing water-conserving cooling technol-
ogies is planned. Winning proposals will
be funded by both organizations through
collaborative but independent funding ap-
proaches, as NSF awards grants and EPRI
awards contracts.
One initiative, from the Gas Technol-
ogy Institute (GTI) and partners, suggests
developing an advanced cooling tower
fill to enable evaporative cooling of hot
water from the steam condenser at near
dew point temperature. This approach is
based on a method of evaporative cooling
called M-Cycle that allows cooling water
2. Cooling systems by technology and water source. Estimates suggest that
42.7% of generating capacity uses once-through cooling, 41.9% relies on wet recirculating systems,
0.9% employs dry cooling technology, and 14.5% depends on cooling ponds. Source: NETL
WATER MANAGEMENT
July 2013
|
to be cooled below the ambient wet-bulb
temperature (the current limit of cooling
temperature), or even to the dew point tem-
perature of the incoming air, with substan-
tially lower water and energy consumption
requirements.
To achieve this low cooling tempera-
ture, an airflow/tower fill arrangement
is proposed. Incoming airflow is drawn
through dry passages arranged in the fill
to be indirectly precooled by evaporating
water. The GTI team says this process dif-
fers from conventional cooling tower fills,
which have wet evaporation channels only.
The advanced cooling tower fills have dry
channels between the evaporation channels
to allow incoming ambient air to be pre-
cooled by evaporation to about dew point
temperature before the air turns into adja-
cent wet channels to remove heat from the
water. The precooled air enables evapora-
tion at a much lower temperature, resulting
in cooled water temperature close to dew
point temperature and below the ambient
air wet-bulb temperature.
The lower temperatures and decreased
evaporative losses compared to conven-
tional cooling towers result in 15% to 20%
less cooling water and makeup water us-
age, according to the GTI.
Based on modeling results, EPRI said
it expects to initiate engineering, fabrica-
tion, and proof-of-concept evaluation of an
experimental section of cooling tower fill
this year, in collaboration with the GTI and
a commercial manufacturer. Parallel en-
gineering and economic modeling will be
done to compare cost and performance for
the advanced fill system and a conventional
cooling tower in both retrofit and new con-
struction applications at 500-MW plants.
This will include assessing possible heat
rate improvements associated with opera-
tion at lower turbine back-pressure. Results
from these activities are expected to sup-
port the launch of field demonstration proj-
ects by the end of 2014.
Global Water Initiatives
Efforts are also under way outside of North
America to address water consumption is-
sues. NETL said that countries aggressively
implementing dry cooling technology in-
clude China, South Africa, and Australia.
China has adopted dry cooling for many
new plants. The Huaneng Qinling Power
Plant provides an example of how dry
cooling is being used in China. In Shanxi
Province, water shortages are hindering
development of the central Shaanxi plain,
consequently, the 1,300-MW Huaneng
Qinling Power Plant uses an indirect dry
cooling system. The technology relies on a
traditional steam surface or jet condenser
and a circulating water system to transfer
waste heat to the natural draft concrete
cooling towers using air-cooled heat ex-
changer bundles. The system also uses a
two-level cooling arrangement designed to
increase cooling efficiency. This two-level
arrangement was also used at the 1,320-
MW Huaneng Shanxi ZuoQuan Power
Plant. The cost of the cooling system is
estimated at $33 million.
South Africas state-owned electric util-
ity, Eskom, has implemented dry cooling
technology on power stations, where fea-
sible, despite the loss of efficiency, which
may be on the order of 1% to 1.5%, as at
the 750-MW Kogan Station in Australia,
which also uses dry cooling. Eskom op-
erates one of the worlds largest indirect
dry-cooled power plants (the 4,116-MW
Kendal plant) and one of the largest direct
dry-cooled plants (the six-unit, 3,600-MW
Matimba Plant, see Figure 3).
The Kendal Power Station uses an in-
direct dry cooling system. In this system,
water from a standard condenser is circu-
lated to the tower, where it enters a series
of heat-exchange elements at the base. Air
enters the bottom periphery of the tower,
passing over the heat-exchange elements.
Inside the tower, the heated air rises, pull-
ing in more cooled air. Fans are not re-
quired. Water consumption at the Kendal
Plant is about 0.08 liters per kWh.
The Matimba Power Plant uses a direct
closed-circuit cooling technology. Water
consumption is about 0.1 liters per kWh.
That compares with about 1.9 liters on av-
erage for wet-cooled stations. The choice
of dry-cooled technology for Matimba was
largely influenced by a scarcity of water
in the area.
In Australia, dry cooling is used in two
Queensland power stations (Millmerran
and Kogan Creek). The 850-MW super-
critical Millmerran plant opened in 2003
and is one of the most energy-efficient
plants in Australia. It uses air cooling to
condense steam from the turbine exhaust
and consumes 90% less water than con-
ventional coal-fired power projects. Re-
cycled wastewater from a nearby sewage
treatment plant is treated on site and used
as makeup water. All runoff water is con-
tained on site and reused. The 750-MW
supercritical Kogan Creek power plant in
Queensland began operations in 2007. It
has an air-cooled condenser that uses up to
90% less water than conventional plants.
Drought conditions are only one fac-
tor driving worldwide interest in reducing
water consumption for electric power gen-
eration. Competing uses make it almost
imperative for the sector to rethink how it
uses water and to take steps to reduce its
use as much as possible.
David Wagman is executive editor
of POWER.
3. Air-cooled in South Africa. Eskoms six-unit, 3,600-MW Matimba Station uses direct
closed-circuit cooling technology, which enables it to use 0.1 liters of water per kWh produced.
Courtesy: Eskom
|
July 2013 34
POWER POLICY
Indonesia: Energy Rich and
Electricity Poor
Even though it enjoys sizeable coal and natural gas reserves, Indonesia strug-
gles to provide electricity to its growing economy. Geography is its most
obvious challenge. Others include evolving international markets and an
energy sector that remains highly politicized.
By Sonal Patel
A
vast Southeast Asian archipelago of
more than 17,500 islands that straddles
the equator, Indonesia has become an
established and crucial player in the worlds
energy markets. It is endowed with some of
the worlds largest reserves of fossil fuels,
and in 2011, it was the worlds largest steam
coal exporter and the eighth-largest natural
gas exporter. Yet, today, energy security has
become Indonesias paramount challenge.
And it appears it will be the countrys preoc-
cupation until at least 2020.
At the heart of the issue is that the econ-
omy of worlds fourth-most-populous coun-
try (after China, India, and the U.S.), with
243 million people, has been booming at
an enviable annual rate of 6% since 2010.
But so has its domestic energy consump-
tion, which surged by more than 50% over
the past decade on the back of an emerging
consumer class. This consumption growth
has forced the country to halt exports of oil,
temper its natural gas exports, and redirect
nearly a quarter of produced coal for domes-
tic production of electricity.
On the other hand, compounded by its
geographic complexity, without available
electricity imports, and reluctant to rely on
diminishing domestic oil supplies that fuel
off-grid diesel generators on the nations
6,000 inhabited islands, the country has
been stricken by a critical undersupply of
power. Though it is one of Southeast Asias
biggest economies, it has one of the lowest
electrification rates in the region. This di-
lemma is underscored by forecasts suggest-
ing that between 2009 and 2019, national
electricity demand will increase by an aver-
age 9% per year and reach 328.3 TWh in
2020more than double last years figure
of 162.4 TWh.
The governments solution is to seek
massive power capacity increases, and it
recently embarked on an ambitious plan to
add at least 55.3 GW of new capacity and at
least 49,299 kilometers of new transmission
lines within the next decade. Can Indonesia
bypass a number of hurdles and resolve its
energy dilemma?
Addressing an Existing Crisis
It is important to note that the country has
been long-steeped in a festering electric-
ity crisis characterized by rolling black-
outs lasting, on a national average, about
3.8 hours per day, according to 2009 fig-
ures. As Dr. Mika M. Purra of the Center
on Asia and Globalization at the National
University of Singapore points out, power
shortages have been routine since Indone-
sias independence from the Netherlands in
1949. Moreover, Purra asserts that while
modernization of the power sector has
been a specific goal of the government
since 1998, a historical narrative reveals
repetitive attributes that have continu-
ously stalled any serious efforts to reform
the sector, thus causing significant harm
to the state, its economy and the general
public. One pervading issue is that the
governance structure is based on the domi-
nance of state-owned enterprises, and until
recently the government functioned on a
constitutional mandate as the sole provider
of electricity for the nation. Under the au-
thoritarian regimes of former Presidents
Sukarno (19451967) and Suharto (1967
1998), the principles of bureaucratization
were reinforced and did little to change the
structure of state-owned power entity Perse-
ro-Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), which
held an iron-grip monopoly on the countrys
generation, transmission, and distribution.
Only after the Asian financial crisis of
199798 and the fall of Suhartos regime
did fundamental changes in the power sector
come, Purra says. The new era of democrati-
zation of political process achieved, among
its most notable changes, passage of Energy
Law No. 30 in 2009 (Figure 1). The land-
mark law allows independent power produc-
1. Major players. In a power market regulatory upheaval, Indonesias Energy Law No. 30,
passed in 2009, allowed independent power producers (IPPs) to begin generating and selling elec-
tricity. But state-owned power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) generated about 75% of
all power in 2012, remains heavily subsidized, holds a monopoly on transmission and distribution
grids, and functions as the system operator. This chart shows the major players in Indonesias
electricity system and how PLN generates revenues and receives subsidies. Source: Differ Group,
The Indonesian Electricity SystemA Brief Overview, differgroup.com/analysis, 2012
Regional government
Supply
Licensing
Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources
Planning
Funding
Regulating
Ministry of Finance
Subsidizing PLN, maintain-
ing social benefits system
IPP
Generation
Distribution
PLN
Electrification
Generation
Transmission
Distribution
Customers
Captive
Customers
Business
Industry
Public
Residential
Social
kWh kWh
kWh
kWh
kWh Tariff
Tariff
Feed-in
tariff
Feed-in tariff
or cooperation
Internal price
Funding
Subsidies
Social
benefits
subsidy
Electricity
Payment for electricity
July 2013
|
POWER POLICY
ers (IPPs) to generate and sell electricity to
end users in the Indonesian market, ending
PLNs 60-year-long monopoly as the single
electricity supplier in Indonesia.
Trickling Change
The election of President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono in 2004 ushered in more re-
forms, including policies to create an at-
tractive climate for investment in energy
infrastructure, to mitigate pollutant emis-
sions, and to scale up renewables. But Purra
isnt convinced that the sector has been
transformed enough. Despite numerous
and on-going attempts to reform, restructure
and vitalize the sector, the sector continues
to suffer from grave inefficiencies that bear
on market participants profitability, hinders
overall economic growth, and maintains an
untenable and uncertain environment for
foreign investors, he points out.
One gripe is that today PLN continues
to be the sole purchaser of electricity and
the second-largest state-owned enterprise
in Indonesia. It still owns and operates
about 75% of the countrys generating
capacity, it has retained its monopoly on
the transmission system, and it continues
to function as its system operator (Figure
2). Moreover, the entity is responsible for
the countrys electricity supply through the
right of first refusal clause, and IPPs can
only serve areas that have been declined by
PLN and are not included in PLNs plans
for electrification. Decentralization follow-
ing implementation of the new energy law
has, meanwhile, increased the autonomy of
regional authorities for the sake of increas-
ing rural electrification, to ease the imple-
mentation of new projects, and to stimulate
collaboration between regional authorities
and private actors.
Some improvements are certainly ap-
parent, however. In 2005, recognizing
that PLN could not independently fund
infrastructure growth because it heavily
depends on government subsidies, and to
attract private investment to the sector, the
government enacted new Public Private
Partnership (PPP) legislation. The follow-
ing year, it announced stage 1 of a fast-
track program that would be followed
by a second program in 2010; each stage
seeks to accelerate development of 10 GW
of new capacity, and the second part is
specifically geared to the growth of IPPs
and renewable energy. Though stricken by
debilitating delays and regulatory hurdles,
both measures have been arguably success-
ful. Compared with 2006, PLN increased
its total annual generation by 37% in 2011
(Figure 3), while generation from IPPs also
increased substantially (Figure 4).
In 2011, meanwhile, coal, oil, and gas
power plants made up 46% of Indonesias
power capacity. Diesel, used to fuel off-
grid capacity on remote islands, held the
second-largest share at 15% (Figure 5).
Pressing Forward
Propelled by an ambition frequently reit-
erated by the decade-old administration
Industry
60,176 GWh (34.6%)
Commercial
30,988 GWh (17.8%)
Public
10,694 GWh (6.1%)
Residential
72,133 GWh (41.5%)
Total generation
200,291 GWh
Transmission
193,730 GWh
Distribution
188,6998 GWh
PLN
149,783 GWh
(75%)
IPPs
50,508 GWh
(25%)
Self-use
6,560 GWh
Self-use
280 GWh
Self-use
94 GWh
2. Indonesias power system today. In 2012, 41.5% of Indonesias 200,291 GWh
was consumed by households. Industry and commercial users consumed a combined 52.4%.
Source: PLN
3. An achievement. Between 2006 and 2011, PLN increased total annual generation from
its power plants by 37%, to 142,739 GWh. Though solar, wind, and gas engines are included,
their contribution to the total is too small to show up. Courtesy: Handbook of Energy and Eco-
nomic Statistics of Indonesia (2012)
4. PLN power purchases from captive power plants and IPPs. Also between
2006 and 2011, PLN increased the amount of power purchased from emerging independent pow-
er producers and captive power plants, for a total in 2011 of 183,419 GWha 38% increase com-
pared with 2006. Courtesy: Handbook of Energy and Economic Statistics of Indonesia (2012)
|
July 2013 36
POWER POLICY
of President Yudhoyono to transform the
country into one of the worlds 10 major
economies by 2025and lift millions of
its citizens out of povertyIndonesia in
2011 published the Master Plan for Ac-
celeration and Expansion of Indonesian
Economic Development. It includes more
than 500 projects throughout the country
as well as six development corridors aimed
at creating economic clusters in various in-
dustrial sectors. Among its key elements is
a $96 billion injection to boost the coun-
trys ailing power infrastructure. It calls
for the installation of least 55.1 GW of new
generation capacity and 49,299 km of new
transmission lines by 2020 (Figure 6).
Modeled on the master plan, PLN later
released its own business plan, outlining
how the nations power supply could be
more than doubled over the decade-long
planning period. Significantly, it specifies
that IPPs will contribute 43% of the total
capacity needed: PLN will add 31.5 GW
and IPPs will add 23.8 GW by 2020.
Coal. Sitting on at least 6.1 billion short
tons of recoverable coal reservesmostly
bituminous or subbituminous and located
primarily in Sumatra and East and South
KalimantanIndonesia in 2011 overtook
Australia to become the worlds largest ex-
porter of coal by weight. Though the bulk
of the countrys mined coal is exported,
the government has encouraged coal-fired
power generation by setting a 20% domes-
tic market obligation for producers and
touting use of its relatively abundant do-
mestic supplies as one way to reduce de-
pendence on expensive diesel and fuel oil.
However, most projects outlined by
PLNs plan to install at least 35.6 GW of
new coal-fired capacity by 2020 have been
plagued by delays. About 17 coal plants
(almost 3 GW) are under construction. At
least 10 of these 17 (a total of 1,700 MW),
most in Kalimantan and the eastern part
of the country, are expected to come on-
line this year, while the remaining seven
should be completed next year. Construc-
tion on another 10 coal-fired plants with
a total capacity of 2.4 GW will also begin
this year, PLN indicates, including those
in Pacitan, East Java (630 MW); Pelabu-
han Ratu, West Java (1,050 MW); Barru,
South Sulawesi (100 MW); and Nagan
Raya in Aceh (220 MW).
Last year saw the completion of two
new 660-MW units at the Tanjung Jati B
power plant in Central Java (a POWER
Top Plantsee the October 2012 issue).
The 815-MW PTLU Paiton Unit 3, a su-
percritical plant in East Java, also came
5. Installed capacity, 2011. In 2011,
Indonesias installed power capacity amount-
ed to 39.9 GW, the bulk (16.3 GW) of which
was steam (coal-, oil-, and gas-fired) power.
The nation also had 5.5 GW of diesel capac-
ity, more than hydros 3.9 GW share. About
1.25 GW of nameplate renewable capaci-
tyincluding geothermal, wind, solar, and
mini and micro hydrohad been installed.
Source: Handbook of Energy and Economic
Statistics of Indonesia (2012)
6. Banking on coal. To ensure economic growth, Indonesia projects it will need to
develop at least 55.1 GW of new power plant capacity by 2020. State-owned utility PLN will
add at least 31 GW, while independent power producers are expected to add another 24
GW. At least 65% of the new additions will be coal-fired, while about 12.2 MW will be from
renewables. Source: PLN
7. At the top of the heap. At least 17 new coal-fired power plants with a combined
capacity of about 3 GW are under construction in coal-rich Indonesia. In July 2012, Japanese
firm Marubeni Corp. and partners Indika Energy, Korea Midland Power Co., and Santan Co. be-
gan commercial operation of the single-unit 660-MW PT Cirebon Electric Power station, shown
here. The $877 million plant in West Java was built under the independent power producer
program. A second unit at the site is being discussed. Courtesy: Marubeni
Steam 46%
Diesel 15%
Simple
cycle 12%
Combined
cycle 12%
Hydro 11%
Geothermal 3%
Gas engine 1%
Other renewables <1%
Coal gasification <1%
Waste <1%
July 2013
|
POWER POLICY
online, making the 2,035-MW Paiton
complex the biggest IPP project in the
country, while Japans Marubeni Corp. re-
cently completed the 660-MW supercriti-
cal Cirebon Electric Power station in West
Java (Figure 7).
Among notable projects in the pipeline
are foreign investment consortium PT
Bhimasena Power Indonesias 2-GW ul-
trasupercritical plant in Central Java. That
$4 billion project, the first procured under
PPP regulations, is on track to come on-
line by 2017, even though developers are
struggling to acquire the approximately
226 hectares of land (they have acquired
186 hectares) the planned plant needs.
Several local landowners have reportedly
accused the government of using forms of
violence and intimidation when acquiring
their land. An official with the coordinat-
ing economic ministry was widely quoted
this May as saying the government would
do everything to ensure the project pro-
ceeds as planned, saying failure would
deter prospective foreign investors that
could boost Indonesias infrastructure.
Natural Gas. Indonesia is among the
worlds five biggest natural gas producers
and, with 141 trillion cubic feet of proven
natural gas reserves (as of January 2012),
it has emerged as a major exporter of pipe-
line and liquefied natural gas (LNG), more
than half of which is relayed to Japan.
Since 2004, however, domestic consump-
tion of natural gas has more than doubled.
Compounded by production problems, this
has forced the country to buy spot cargoes
of LNG to meet export obligations and has
prompted the country to consider impos-
ing a moratorium on gas exports. Mean-
while, policy makers last year initiated
four studies to assess the nations shale oil
and gas potential, though no blocks have
been yet awarded to investors.
One reason for increased domestic gas
consumption, which accounted for 42% of
total production in 2011, is the countrys
declining oil production and reliance on
natural gas for transportation. Govern-
ment policies also emphasize that the
countrys gas resources should support the
nations economic development and pros-
perity, and the government allocates gas
supply in a hierarchical order, led by the
petroleum operation sector, the fertilizer
feedstock sector, and then the power sec-
tor. Additionally, plans suggest that future
new generation will be largely dependent
on coal instead of gas.
Even so, PLNs plans for capacity
growth call for at least 3.3 GW of new
combined cycle power and 4.1 GW of gas
thermal power. This March, Australian
firm Energy World Corp. put into service
the first of two 60-MW phases to expand
the 255-MW Senkang Combined Cycle
Power Plant in South Sulawesi.
Renewables. The primary reason coal-
and gas-abundant Indonesia is looking to
renewables is because the government
predicts that in the near future, fossil
fuel energy reserves will run out and In-
donesia will heavily depend on imported
energy, as Energy and Mineral Resources
(EMR) Vice Minister Rudi Rubiandini
said in a statement in December. The gov-
ernment had recently accelerated efforts
to develop renewable energy sources,
which had much potential but were vastly
underdeveloped, he noted. A 2006 presi-
dential decree, for example, mandates the
increase of renewable energy production
to 15% by 2025. Though the Master Plan
outlines substantial growth for hydro,
wind, and solar, geothermal and biomass
are slated to see the most growth.
Geothermal. Situated in the volca-
nic Ring of Fire that circles the Pacific
Ocean, Indonesia has one of the worlds
largest geothermal resource potentials, es-
timated at about 27.5 GW. Less than 5%
of this potential has been developed so far,
or about 1.2 GW, centered in six geother-
mal fields in Java (Figure 8), North Suma-
tra, and North Sulawesi. The government
has outlined goals to install 9.5 GW of
geothermal capacity by 2025, so that the
resource will account for about 6% of the
countrys energy consumption.
Four private sectorfinanced projects
have so far managed to conclude power
purchase agreements under the Fast Track
II program. This April, U.S.-based Ormat
Technologies became the fifth, as it began
developing the three-phase 330-MW Sar-
ulla geothermal power project in Tapanuli
Utara, North Sumatra. The $254 million
project will be the largest single geother-
mal contract when completed, as expected
by the end of the decade.
Biomass. Biomass resources have an
estimated production potential of 49,810
MW, but fewer than 1,000 MW have
been developed to date. However, several
companies have tapped into fast-grow-
ing crops such as cassava, jatropha, and
sweet sorghum for biofuel development.
GE, in partnership with PLN, has begun
developing a pilot program that will use
wood chips to fuel the U.S. companys in-
tegrated biomass gasification technology
to generate 1 MW. The project is expected
to demonstrate the viability of biomass to
generate power in remote areas such as
Sumba and other islands.
Hydro. Indonesias mountainous island
topography makes it ideal for large and
small hydropower facilities, but though
PLN estimates 75 GW of power potential
for hydro, only 5 GW have been devel-
oped. While the Master Plan calls for at
least 2.8 MW of new micro-hydro capac-
ity by 2020, PLN last year identified 96
potential hydroelectric power sites that
could offer at least 12.8 GW.
Several projects are now under con-
struction, including the World Bankfi-
nanced 1,040-MW pumped storage plant
at the catchment of the Upper Cisokan
River in West Java. The $800 million plant
is slated for completion in 2016. Chinese
state-owned firms, in particular, are spear-
heading development of large-scale hydro
plants such as the 110-MW Jatigede plant
(Figure 9) in West Java. In late May, Chi-
na Power Investment Corp. proposed a
$17 billion, 7-GW hydroelectric plant in
8. A mountain to climb. The 220-MW
Wayang and Windu power station 200 km
south of Jakarta is Indonesias biggest geo-
thermal power producer. The plant in a vol-
canic region carpeted with tea and quinine
plantations is named for Mt. Wayang and Mt.
Windu in West Java. The power is sold into
the state-owned power utilitys West Java
high-voltage grid. Courtesy: Business Wire
9. Streaming in. The 110-MW Jatigede
Hydropower plant under construction on the
middle reaches of the Cimanuk River in Sume-
dang Region, West Java Province, is expected
to be completed in early 2014. Chinas Sino-
hydro Corp. is building the $227 million plant
under a concession loan from the China Exim
Bank. Courtesy: Sinhydro
|
July 2013 38
POWER POLICY
Indonesias North Kalimantan region, and
work is expected to begin next year.
Nuclear. Though nuclear capacity is
not included in PLNs plans, a 2006 presi-
dential decree calls for four nuclear power
plants to be built in Indonesia by 2025.
The country already has three experi-
mental nuclear reactors and at least two
uranium mines. Despite the Fukushima
accident in March 2011, the quake-prone
country seems determined to build new
modern (possibly thorium) reactors.
According to media reports, the Indone-
sian government has $8 billion earmarked
for the reactors that could be built in Cen-
tral Java and Bangka Island, off the north
coast of southern Sumatra.
Grid. Consisting of eight domestic in-
terconnected systems and 600 isolated
gridsall operated by PLNIndonesias
power grid is characterized by high trans-
mission losses and electricity theft.
Meanwhile, plans are under way by
leaders of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN), a geopolitical
and economic organization, to develop a
grid that will interconnect its 10 resource-
rich Southeast Asian country members by
2020. The project consists of 14 links,
at least two of which will link Indonesia
to Peninsular Malaysia and to the Asian
mainland.
A Need for Higher Power Tariffs
The EMRs Rudi in December warned
that along with minimizing the supply gap
to avert a future energy crisis, the nation
would have to push for energy efficiency
measures. Rudi recognized that complicat-
ing Indonesias challenges is a government
commitment to electrify 99% of the coun-
try by 2020up from about 76% in 2012.
Subsidizing energy caused Indonesian be-
havior trends to be consumptive and waste-
ful on energy use, he cautioned.
Several funding entities have echoed
Rudis concerns, saying that PLNs income
from operations alone is insufficient to
achieve Indonesias goal to extend electric-
ity to nearly 20 million citizens. The prob-
lems cause is simple: Tariffs have been set
low by the government for social reasons,
but the cost of generation is much higher
than the average tariff, notes the Asian
Development Bank.
To bridge the deficit, the Ministry of
Finance (MoF) provides funding to PLN,
which is referred to as the Public Services
Obligation (PSO). But because the PSO
is critical to PLNs solvency, that means
for IPPs like Japans Marubeniwhich
recently built the Cirebon supercritical
plantarranging long-term dollar-de-
nominated project finance requires cer-
tain government guarantee/support to be
issued from the MoF to assure PLNs pay-
ment obligations, a spokesperson told
POWER. Analysts note, however, that
government support is now only available
for projects within the fast track Stage
II or PPP programs.
Change is under way, albeit slowly.
Recognizing the burden on progress posed
by artificially depressed power tariffs, the
House of Representatives has made good
on efforts to increase tariffs by 15% this
year, starting with a 4.3% increase in
January and an additional increase every
three months. This hasnt boosted PLNs
bottom line yet, however. As the Jakarta
Post reported in April, the utility reported
a 41% drop in net income last year, losing
$330 million on foreign exchange losses,
increased operating expenses, and rising
fuel costs. Though it saw a revenue hike of
about 12%, about 44% of PLNs revenue
came from state subsidies, the newspaper
reported.
Land Acquisition and Finance
Hurdles
Nevertheless, reforms to encourage for-
eign investment in the countrys power
sector seem to have been successful. Cur-
rently, no major regulatory or legal im-
pediments involve foreign investment in
the power sector, experts claim, though
they outline a list of hurdles that must be
overcome beyond that. Among them, as a
recent analysis from the U.S. Embassy in
Jakarta notes, are [a]ccess to financing,
protracted land acquisition processes and
legal uncertainties, which can still cause
bottlenecks in infrastructure projects in
the sector and serve as a deterrent to doing
business in Indonesia.
These are serious issues that are hinder-
ing even PLN from gaining ground on its
fast-track program. The companys con-
struction director, Nasri Sebayang, told
the Jakarta Post this April that at least 36
out of 52 geothermal projects in the second
stage of the program are lagging and would
not meet the projected 2016 deadline. Six
plants with a total capacity of 360 MW are
delayed because they are located in con-
servation forests, while 16 other projects
with a capacity of 1,510 MW face tech-
nical issues. Of the 9.9 GW projected for
the first stage of the first-track program,
only about 45% are in operation, while just
46% (about 4.7 GW) of the second stage
was on track to come online on time.
Attracting IPPs has been Indonesias
most vital challenge as it tackles the grow-
ing demand for power, the strain on the
cost structure system, and the underuti-
lization of energy resources. In 2010, a
presidential regulation (amended in 2011)
established the Fast Track II program,
which consists of 44 coal, gas, geother-
mal, and hydropower power projects total-
ing 10.1 GW3 GW of which have been
reserved for IPPs. Some IPP projects are
procured under the countrys 2011-amend-
ed PPP framework, which could provide
infrastructure guarantees and may provide
fiscal and nonfiscal government support to
improve their feasibility.
Recent liberalized laws also allow pow-
er generators to sell electricity to entities
other than PLN, though a 2010 regulation
stipulates that foreign ownership of any
power project above 10 MW is limited to
95%; Indonesian entities or individuals
must own the remaining 5%.
Other factors that could temper enthu-
siasm for developing power projects in the
country involve land acquisition and per-
mitting. PLN generally expects developers
to acquire all land needed for a plant site
and transmission lines needed to connect to
the nearest substation (a corridor typically
20 km to 40 km in length) before the finan-
cial closing date. However, the process of
land acquisition can be complicated, given
that Indonesian law broadly recognizes
numerous forms of unregistered land, in-
cluding Adat (or native title), which some-
times makes it difficult to ascertain the
identity of land owners. And because the
law forbids foreign-owned companies to
hold unregistered land, converting rights
to registered land can be a lengthy and ex-
pensive process.
Among the permits requiredwhich
are prone to delay or blockageare those
from the Ministry of Forestry to borrow
forest area to build power projects. Then
a variety of permits are required from
government departments or ministries, in-
cluding the approval of an environmental
impact assessment, a business license, an
electricity business license, and a certifi-
cate of operation worthiness.
Nevertheless, several experts agree that
Indonesias economic fundamentals and
emerging regulatory framework are begin-
ning to synchronize. Some even express
renewed optimism in the investment
sector.
But others decry the high degree of
politicization of the system, pointing to
a failure to reform PLN, which, as Purra
describes it, has become an untouchable
behemoth that is allowed to continue to
dictate the future direction of Indonesias
electricity sector.
Sonal Patel is POWERs senior writer.
Need an easy way to obtain more
information to make an informed decision?
Customized newsletters are now available giving
you everything you need to make the right decision.
Look for DecisionBriefs on www.powermag.com
For information, contact Matt Grant at mattg@powermag.com
PRODUCT DETAILS. SPECS. TUTORIALS.
B DecisionBriefs |
INTRODUCING
|
July 2013 40
WATER TREATMENT
ORP as a Predictor of WFGD Chem-
istry and Wastewater Treatment
Recent studies have shown that system oxidation-reduction potential (ORP)
is not only an important factor for predicting wet flue gas desulfurization
(WFGD) absorber chemistry but also may be a predictor of process equip-
ment corrosion and wastewater treatment requirements.
By S.R. Brown, R.F. DeVault, and D.B. Johnson, Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc.
P
urge streams of wet flue gas desulfur-
ization (WFGD) units, which are one
byproduct of controlling SO
2
emis-
sions from coal combustion, are being in-
creasingly subjected to stricter wastewater
regulations. Consequently, coal-fired power
generators need a method for controlling the
operational chemistry of these WFGD units.
Upon implementation of a suitable control
method, WFGD bleed stream chemistry and
flow rate may be optimized, thereby result-
ing in improved performance of one or more
downstream unit operations. A further ben-
efit is reduced reagent and additive costs in
various devicies, including the WFGD unit.
One control parameter of interest is the
oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the
bleed stream. Much like pH, the measure-
ment of ORP can be taken in real time and
integrated with other plant-monitoring
data. By incorporating ORP measurements
into a process control scheme for limestone
forced-oxidized WFGD absorbersalong
with various other control variables such
as SO
2
removal, absorber pH, reagent flow
rate and/or one or more reaction stoichiom-
etries, and/or gypsum puritygenerators
are able to manage the oxidation states of
various dissolved metals in the slurry and
the potential reemission of mercury. (Also
see How to Measure Corrosion Processes
Faster and More Accurately, May 2009 in
the POWER archives and Mercury Control:
Capturing Mercury in Wet Scrubbers, Parts
I and II, July and September 2007, respec-
tively, in the COAL POWER archivesboth
available at powermag.com.)
A further benefit is control of the corro-
sion rate of the absorber recirculation tank
(ART) and other alloy parts within the sys-
tem. Many utilities have had ORP excur-
sion events in WFGD wastewater discharge
where the ORP readings changed from 150
millivolts (mV) to 300 mV to a reading
above 500 mV. Previously, these fluctua-
tions have gone largely unexplained. We
have determined that this magnitude of
change in ORP, in an ART, due to coal
composition and upstream air quality con-
trol system (AQCS) effects on WFGD ab-
sorber chemistry, can accelerate corrosion.
One potential solution to fluctuating ORP
readings is to use integrated process con-
trols designed to tune the upstream opera-
tion of the AQCS train to produce consistent
inlet flow parameters to the WFGD tower,
rather than operating each as an indepen-
dent process. The control of the ORP level
in a WFGD system may produce improved
plant operations by reducing the amount of
wastewater treatment necessary and helping
mitigate mercury reemission.
Fundamentals of ORP
ORP is a measure of the potential for a
chemical species either to acquire or re-
lease electrons. The potential is common-
ly measured by an ORP probe in units of
millivolts, which can be measured in real
time under online plant process conditions.
Positive readings are indicative of a system
operating in oxidizing conditions; negative
readings indicate a system operating in re-
ducing conditions. If a material comes into
contact with a solution that has a higher
oxidative potential, then a chemical reac-
tion may occur in which the solution is re-
duced and the material is oxidized.
The ORP of WFGD slurry and effluent is
driven by the presence or absence of strong
oxidizers. Many WFGD units operate at a
moderate ORP range of about 100 mV to
300 mV, thereby achieving, or yielding, a
rather stable voltage reading over time. The
range of 100 mV to 300 mV is referred to
as low ORP in this article. Such WFGD
units often have oxidizer concentrations
within the slurry below 200 ppm. Other
WFGD units operate at higher ORP values,
often above 500 mV. Slurries with high
ORP almost always contain a high concen-
tration of at least one strong oxidizer such
as persulfate (S
2
O
8
-2
), peroxymonosulfate
(HSO
5
-
), or hypochlorite (OCl
-
).
Persulfate has been identified and quanti-
fied using ion chromatography on absorber
slurry samples collected at several sites. This
anion is the most powerful oxidant of the
peroxygen family of compounds, and it be-
comes a more effective oxidizer at scrubber
process temperatures above about 120F due
to free radical formation. In several instances,
strong oxidizers were measured at total resid-
ual concentrations over 1,000 ppm in WFGD
absorber slurry samples exhibiting high ORP
after the samples were removed from the sys-
tem and analyzed in the laboratory. Operating
WFGD units are observed to swing from one
process condition to the other (high to low
ORP), but few, if any, hold at an intermedi-
ate value for an extended period of time. The
rate and magnitude of these changes in slurry
chemistry are indicative of upstream process
changes affecting absorber chemistry.
Once you determine the WFGD slurry
ORP, you can predict the dominant oxida-
tion state for the various constituents that
may be present in the absorber slurry. For
many metals, solubility is a function of the
oxidation state. Therefore, once the ORP of
a solution has been determined, a predic-
tion can be made of the preferred oxidation
state for a given chemical species in a so-
lution. The predominant species of various
metals, and other compounds or ions, can
thus be determined. Using this knowledge,
the ORP in WFGD slurry can then be con-
trolled in order to control the speciation of
various metal ions, as well as other com-
pounds and ions.
The range of potential electrochemical
states of a given material can be found with-
in a Pourbaix diagram for a given chemical
species and presented as a function of pH
and electrochemical potential versus pH.
July 2013
|
WATER TREATMENT
For example, a variety of general predic-
tions about the various phases of mercury,
selenium, and manganese based upon ORP
and pH can be made (see the table).
Dynamic Chemical Processes
By monitoring the ORP of WFGD absorber
process slurry, changes within the system
process and chemistry can be determined.
Estimations of various parameters of WFGD
absorber chemistry can also be determined,
including the dominant oxidation states and
phases of metals within the slurry, the po-
tential reemission of mercury, and the risk
of accelerated corrosion of the alloy vessel.
Measurement of the system ORP also alerts
operators to the likelihood of problems in
downstream wastewater treatment (WWT)
systems, especially the ratio and concentra-
tion of selenate ions to selenite ions within
an effluent stream.
The chemistry inside a WFGD absorber
is a complex system of hundreds of poten-
tially changing ionic species and distinct
compounds existing simultaneously through-
out the slurry. The modeling of WFGD ab-
sorber slurries has been based on equilibrium
thermodynamics to date. However, we have
determined that in operating units, WFGD
absorber slurry chemistry is more likely to
be kinetically controlled. Most absorbers are
operating at an unsteady state. Due to kinetic
interaction, mercury could become reduced
to the elemental state, thereby becoming va-
porous and exiting the system boundaries in
what is called mercury re-emission.
Another important aspect of ORP with
relation to WFGD process chemistry is the
reaction of any of the one or more strong oxi-
dizers present with one or more halide ions
present in solution, thereby resulting in in-
creased demand for reagent in the absorber
and a possible lowering of pH in the purge
stream after the solids have been removed.
Because persulfate is a powerful oxidant, it
has the ability to convert some halide anions
to their respective elemental state. Specifi-
cally, some chloride may convert to chlorine
under high-ORP conditions:
Similar reactions occur between the
oxidizer(s) and other halide species pres-
ent (for example, bromide, iodide, and the
like). Thus, the concentration of chlorine in
absorber slurry is present as three species
in equilibrium within the aqueous phase:
dissolved gas (Cl
2
), hypochlorous acid, and
ionic hypochlorite:
Within the typical WFGD operating range,
equilibrium favors HOCl. The formation of
H
+
ions associated with this chemical reac-
tion will cause a decrease in pH as halogen-
containing species are liberated from the
scrubber. In WFGD systems that are oper-
ating in pH control mode, the reagent feed
controls will respond to the lower pH by add-
ing more reagent. In systems with high ORP
levels, gypsum formation may occur without
the addition of oxidation air when sulfite re-
acts with strong oxygen containing oxidizing
agents. Higher gypsum purity can result as
excess limestone, normally an impurity with-
in the gypsum product, is reacted to buffer
the system from dropping pH.
Due to the electro-reactive nature of mer-
cury, ORP levels are a main driver in control-
ling reemission, dissolution into the slurry,
and solid phase retention. Higher ORP values
in the ART are favored in order to maintain
dissolved mercury. ORP levels above 500 mV
often favor an increase in the dissolved mer-
cury, with constant total mercury content in
the slurry. A decrease in the ORP in an ART
is an indication of a less-oxidizing environ-
ment, leading to elemental mercury forma-
tion and potentially release (or reemission).
A possible chemical pathway for mercury
reemission to occur is shown in Equation 3:
Swings in ORP value may also cause mer-
cury to enter the elemental state and be re-
emitted from a WFGD tower.
Staying in Compliance
WWT systems are tuned to control metals
present in influents and to produce effluents
within a certain concentration range. Changes
in the influx of these metals to WWT may
disrupt performance if controls and opera-
tional parameters cannot respond quickly. As
swings in WFGD and/or WWT process occur,
ORP may ultimately produce changes in the
dominant state of regulated metals, thus per-
mitting the WFGD effluent flow rate to affect
the mass flux of each species. In this situation,
detrimental fluctuations in ORP may result in
minimal removal of some metals and poten-
tially result in out-of-compliance operation.
Controlling process ORP can lead to im-
proved efficiency of WWT systems related
to selenium removal. WFGD effluent ORP
controls the precipitation of many regulated
metals, particularly selenium. At low ORP, se-
lenium exists mainly as selenite (SeO
3
-2
) and
can be removed by many WWT methods in-
cluding chemical precipitation. At higher ORP
levels (greater than about 300 mV,) selenium
will predominantly occur as selenate (SeO
4
-2
),
which passes through many WWT systems.
The combined effects of over 1,000 ppm of
total oxidizers and low pH potentially associ-
ated with high-ORP WFGD effluent streams
can result in damage to bioreactor stock and/
or increased reagent costs in WWT systems.
Strong oxidizers present within WFGD effluent
have the potential to upset biological processes.
During high-ORP conditions, the WFGD would
essentially be feeding bleach (hypochlorite),
peroxide, and stronger oxidizers to downstream
systems; such oxidizers can damage microbial
health when fed to biological treatment units.
Furthermore, high ORP in a WFGD effluent
can result in low pH of WWT influent. As de-
scribed earlier, oxidizers will continue to react
with halide ions in solution, thereby liberating
a hydronium ion and thus lowering pH. When
excess carbonate is available, it may buffer such
impacts. Once unreacted limestone is removed
from the slurry filtrate during dewatering, the
pH buffering capacity of the system rapidly de-
creases while oxidizer and halide ion concentra-
tions remain and are fed to WWT.
Materials Must Resist Corrosion
Materials coming into contact with WFGD
slurry and effluent should be selected with care-
ful consideration to the corrosive potential of
high-ORP slurries containing ionic manganese.
Strong oxidative content is present in high-ORP
slurry leaving the scrubber, and very low pH
levels may be seen downstream in conjunction
with high ORP. While industry focus has been
given to WFGD ART corrosion, the potential
exists for similar corrosion to occur in process
pumps, dewatering operations, vacuum systems
for gypsum production, as well as in process
piping and WWT equipment.
Alloy 2205 duplex stainless steel (UNS
S32205) is proving susceptible to accelerated
corrosion from slurries that contain precipi-
Dominant forms of mercury, selenium, and manganese for approximate
ORP levels. Source: Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc.
ORP Level Mercury Selenium Manganese
<0 (mV) Vapor Selenite Aqueous ion
0-300 mV Aqueous ion, with the solids Selenite Aqueous ion
300-500 mV Aqueous ion, with the solids Selenate Aqueous ion
>500 mV Aqueous ion, with the solids Selenate MnO
2
solid
|
July 2013 42
WATER TREATMENT
tated, or non-solubilized, manganese species
and/or high ORP levels. Within the WFGD
absorber, the majority of the corrosive attack
is observed below the slurry level in the ART.
Under high-ORP conditions, the rate of cor-
rosion can accelerate. When the ORP of op-
erating WFGD slurries is pushed above about
500 mV, manganese normally soluble as ionic
Mn
+2
will oxidize and precipitate out as MnO
2
.
When this precipitate contacts metal as part of
a deposit, it serves as a galvanic cathode to ex-
acerbate the fluoride and chloride driven un-
der-deposit corrosion mechanism. Corrosion
thus accelerated by manganese precipitation
can be rapid and severe.
In many applications ceramic tile and lin-
ings are considered as alternatives to alloy.
Wall-papering with UNS N10276 (Hastelloy
C-276) has been performed in some installa-
tions. Some plastics and resins may also be
susceptible to attack from high ORP levels.
Strong oxidizers within the slurry effluent
may react with and thereby degrade some
polymer bonds, because high-ORP filtrate
samples were observed to weaken and dis-
color HDPE bottles in a laboratory setting.
Within substances such as fiberglass-rein-
forced plastic, such a reaction with resins
could potentially cause some dissolution of
the resin and/or lead to fiber delamination.
Plantwide Impact
The WFGD ART ORP and the WWT influent
process ORP both need to be controlled. Cur-
rently, studies are being performed to define
techniques to maintain steady ORP and to allow
for greater fuel flexibility. Such control would
afford utilities the option to obtain the most
cost-effective fuel, maintain a constant effluent
for wastewater, and provide a better treatment
scheme. Coal yard and boiler operators will
need to work in conjunction with the plants
continuous emission monitoring systems, the
WFGD system, and WWT plant operators to
implement improvements that integrate the en-
tire process. Learning how a parameter change
upstream affects the WFGD and WWT systems
is quickly becoming crucial. With full control
of the AQCS process train and dewatering sys-
tems, control of WWT influent is expected.
The effects of blending coals, staging com-
bustion, and swinging load can create issues
with AQCS equipment, especially in environ-
ments where WFGD units are employed. The
WFGD system serves as the catch basin for
all flue gas byproducts as well as any fine ash
not captured in an electrostatic precipitator or
pulse jet fabric filter. Undesired ORP levels,
or undesired fluctuations therein, can cause
problems ranging from mercury reemission to
increased corrosion and improper treatment of
WFGD effluent. Adjustments to combustion
processes may affect operating parameters of
the WFGD environment as well as the WWT
systems. Combustion systems need tuning to
allow for efficient power generation, compli-
ance with existing regulations, and flexibility
to comply with anticipated, tighter water and
solid discharge regulations.
Due to the potential for aggressive or ac-
celerated corrosion of some alloy material in
high-ORP environments, care should be taken
on selection of alloys or materials in the WFGD
slurry and filtrate contact zones. Constituents of
the WFGD slurry will include limestone, gyp-
sum, halide ions, and metals from the burned
coal as well as silica from the ash and other
up-stream constituents. The ORP levels in the
tank can cause the metals to undergo phase
partitioning or to change their solubility due to
changes in their oxidation state.
S.R. Brown (srbrown@babcock.com) is
AQCS engineer, R.F. DeVault (rfdevault@
babcock.com) is research chemist, and
D.B. Johnson (dbjohnson@babcock.com)
is field service engineer for Babcock &
Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc.
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reduce the escape of fugitive materials.
Martin has been very responsive... throughout our
on-going relationship, giving us competitive pricing,
standing behind their product and ensuring that
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|
July 2013 44
PLANT DESIGN
The Case for Utility Boiler Fuel
Delivery System Upgrades
A vital part of any coal-fired unit is its fuel delivery system (FDS). A newly
formed subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy, En-
vironment, and Waste has investigated potential FDS upgrades on three
typical 500-MW wall-, tangential-, and cyclone-fired boilers. The subcom-
mittee has produced a series of suggested upgrades that have a simple
payback of no more than two years.
By Robert E. Sommerlad, Consultant; Donald B. Pearson, PRB Coal Users Group; Grant E. Grothen, Burns & McDonnell; and
Steven McCaffrey, Greenbank Energy Solutions Inc.
T
he American Society of Mechanical En-
gineers Research Committee on Ener-
gy, Environment, and Waste (RC EEW)
was formed more than 40 years ago with a
focus on industrial and municipal solid waste.
The Fuel Delivery System Subcommittee was
recently formed to expand the RC EEWs
original charter to include all fuels, including
the energy and environmental aspects of those
fuels. The first project undertaken by this sub-
committee, begun in September 2011, was a
feasibility and economic analysis of potential
upgrades to Powder River Basin (PRB) coal-
fired power plants. A summary of results of
the subcommittees work to date follows.
Identify Plant Categories
The first step in the subcommittees analysis
of fuel delivery systems (FDS) was to identify
the family of plants of interest. A recent article
(Predicting U.S. Coal Plant Retirements, May
2011, available in the POWER archives at pow-
ermag.com) noted that the U.S. coal-fired fleet
consisted of 1,105 units with a total nameplate
capacity of 342 GW at the time the article was
published. A majority of those plants were be-
tween 20 and 85 years old; only 35 new plants
had been added over the past 15 years.
As a group, the units 50 years and older con-
stitute about 53 GW or 20% of the total fleet
capacity and 40% of all coal-fired unitsmany
of which may be retired due to either normal
business decisions or the cost of mandated retro-
fits of new air quality control systems (AQCSs).
The next age group, the 30- to 45-year-old units,
represent 216 GW and 63% of the current coal-
fired fleet. Many of these were built during the
1960s and are much more likely to invite invest-
ment in plant upgrades (Figure 1).
The boilers of the 30- to 45-year-old
units are mainly of opposed wall-, cy-
clone-, and tangential-fired configuration
with average capacity factors ranging from
61.8% to 73.3%, as shown in Figure 2. In
C
o
a
l

f
l
e
e
t

a
v
e
r
a
g
e

u
n
i
t

n
a
m
e
p
l
a
t
e

r
a
t
i
n
g

(
M
W
)
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
494
297
326
210
326
521
518
567
371
230
173
124
76
57
40
0
6
Unit age (years)
1. Coal fleet average unit nameplate rating. The average unit rating was calcu-
lated by averaging the rating all of the units within each age category. Data are from early 2011.
Source: POWER and Burns & McDonnell
Unit age (years)
C
o
a
l

f
l
e
e
t

a
v
e
r
a
g
e

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

f
a
c
t
o
r

(
%
)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85
75 est.
72.7 72.1
77.3
74.6
73.3
71.9
67.3
61.8 61.8
57.2
54.9
31.8
23.3
19.1
0
18.0
2. Coal fleet average capacity factor. The average unit capacity factor was calculated
by averaging the reported capacity factor of all the units within each age category. Many of the
units in the five years or less category did not have data available. A 75% capacity factor was
estimated. In all categories, if capacity factor data was not available, that unit was omitted from
the average. Data are from early 2011. Source: POWER and Burns & McDonnell
July 2013
|
PLANT DESIGN
this age group, there were about 226 op-
posed wall-fired, 143 tangential-fired, and
about 15 cyclone-fired boilers in operation
in the U.S. in 2011.
These unitsthe backbone of the base-
load coal-fired fleetwill bear the burden
of ensuring that the usual high standards of
electrical grid performance, availability, and
reliability are met in the future. Though most
of these units have high-grade AQCSs, they
will require upgrades to comply with maxi-
mum achievable control technology, but the
cost is not forecast to adversely impact unit
competitiveness in terms of generation cost.
However, the additional AQCS upgrades re-
quired for environmental compliance will
add additional complexity to plants now
straining to maintain unit availability and
capacity factor.
A vital part of any coal-fired unit is its
fuel delivery system, as shown in Figure
3. For the purposes of the subcommittees
analysis, the FDS consists of the feeders,
pulverizers (mills), classifiers, coal piping,
and burners. These systems are vital for
efficient and reliable plant operations but
also require substantial maintenance due to
the abrasive nature of coal.
Identify Possible Fuel System
Upgrades
In recent years, improvements in monitor-
ing equipment have led to significant per-
formance improvements in FDS equipment
and therefore the availability and reliabil-
ity of a plant. Many of these have been in
flow-measuring devices for enhanced con-
trol of fuel (such as feeder coal flow and
pulverized coal flow in coal pipes) and
airflow (including primary and secondary
air, pulverizer preheated air, coal pipe air,
wind box air, and individual burner air
both secondary and tertiary).
In a properly instrumented system, the
amount of coal and air sent to individual
burners so vital for low-NO
x
and CO op-
eration can be measured and monitored,
ensuring that good combustion takes place.
Please note that cyclone boilers utilize
a different FDS that consists of feeders,
crushers, and cyclone burners. These dif-
ferences will be addressed in the project
economics section of this article.
Upgrades to the FDS to improve plant
operating economics are numerous and
often site- and boiler-specific (Table 1).
Each FDS component upgrade can have
benefits, most of which can be quantified.
An example is the retrofit of a dynamic
classifier, which improves coal fineness
and virtually eliminates the coarse coal
particles (>50 mesh). Coarse particles are
a main cause of fouling and deposition in
the furnace and the convection sections of
the boiler. They also impede good low-
NO
x
burner performance. Improving fine-
ness also reduces unburned carbon in the
fly ash, thus improving combustion and
boiler efficiency.
Additional Assumptions
Members of the subcommittee decided that
three boiler types, representative of the 35-
to 50-year-old fleet, would be selected:
opposed wall-, tangential-, and cyclone-
fired boilers. The group also decided that
representative boiler systems would form
the basis of the upgrade analyses, although
the plant itself would remain anonymous.
A common factor shared among boilers
of this vintage is that they were normally
designed to burn eastern or Illinois Basin
coal and have been or are being considered
for conversion to a subbituminous PRB
coal for emissions reduction. Most boilers
have had some burner modifications over
their operational life, and new modifica-
tions would be considered more for per-
formance improvement than for emissions
reduction. In focusing on the FDS, it was
further assumed that air pollution retrofits
would not be part of the FDS upgrades.
It was also assumed that any FDS up-
grade would not increase the heat input
over its original design rating and that there
would be no increase in emissions, to avoid
the need for a New Source Review. In ad-
dition, emissions would be less than 100
tons/year for individual pollutants, thus
not triggering the Prevention of Significant
Deterioration process. It was assumed that
the opposed wall and cyclone boilers had
selective catalytic reduction (SCR) sys-
tems installed for NO
x
control, but that the
tangential-fired unit did not yet require in-
3. The typical coal plant fuel delivery system. Source: Babcock & Wilcox Power
Generation Group Inc.
Raw coal bunker
Furnace wall
Burner
Bin gate
Coal feeder
Damper
Secondary air Pulverized fuel and air piping
Isolation valves
Seal air
fans
Hot air
damper
Tight
shutoff
damper
B&W roll wheel pulverizer
Tempering air damper
Tempering
air
Hot primary air
Air heater
Primary air fan
Component Upgrade Benefit
Feeders Metering Flow control
Pulverizers Dynamic classifier Fineness/capacity
Coal pipes Coal-air flow metering Flow and air-fuel ratio
Burners Metering Improved combustion
Boiler control system Neural networks Improved performance
Table 1. A comparison of possible fuel delivery system upgrades and
their benefits. Source: The Fuel Delivery Subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee
on Energy, Environment, and Waste
|
July 2013 46
PLANT DESIGN
stallation of an SCR due to the inherently
low NO
x
emission characteristics of that
boiler design.
The analyses further assumed the plant
capacity factor for this study is 80% (7,008
hours/year). In the current low natural gas
price environment, this 80% capacity fac-
tor is likely higher than many units are cur-
rently operating at. A sensitivity analysis
was performed using a range of lower ca-
pacity factors. The subcommittee believes
that higher capacity factors will likely re-
turn as natural gas prices slowly but steadi-
ly rise in the future.
Determine Upgrades, Benefits,
and Costs
For each case study, the FDS components
were identified and upgrades were pro-
posed. Next, the potential benefits of the
upgrades were discussed and evaluated.
The list of proposed upgrades was the
source of spirited discussion among sub-
committee members, although a consensus
was always reached that reflected the col-
lective expertise and diverse experience of
the members.
For each case study, the upgrades scope
was defined in sufficient detail so that re-
liable estimated costs could be prepared.
Fortunately, the various suppliers and
consulting engineers on the subcommittee
were able to provide estimates of the in-
stalled costs for each upgrade considered
based on prior experience.
Assessing the savings produced by the
upgrades was also reached by consensus
over the course of several subcommittee
meetings. Difficulties arose when the eco-
nomic benefit of upgrading one component
alone was not possible because some up-
grades were contingent on other upgrades.
Also, there were interactions between the
upgrades that were difficult to quantify. The
savings that accrue are not always merely
the sum of the individual upgrades. For
example, an evaluation of the economics
of using neural networks within the boiler
control system produces improved boiler
performance, but much of the performance
improvement came from the burner modifi-
cations required by the neural net system.
Three Case Studies
The subcommittee believed that each case
study 500-MW boiler must be representa-
tive of the boiler design class. Selection of
the case studies was based in large mea-
sure on the spectrum of boiler types that
currently constitute the U.S. utility boiler
fleet, as shown in Figure 4. In considering
the ~500-MW units in the 35- to 45-year
age range, the vertical- and front wallfired
boiler were eliminated on the basis that few,
if any, would be 500-MW-size boilers.
Cyclone boilers provide an interesting
opportunity for evaluation in this study. Cy-
clone boilers lost favor in the 1980s when
they were characterized as high NO
x
emit-
ters and not amenable to combustion modi-
fications. Supposedly, they were also not
amenable to burning PRB coal. Today there
are approximately 60 cyclone-fired boilers
still in operation, of which 10 are in the 400-
to 600-MW size range and four are greater
than 600 MW. Many of these boilers have
been successfully converted to burn PRB
coal, usually with retrofitted overfire air
(OFA) ports installed to aid combustion tun-
ing for reduced NO
x
production.
The subcommittee decided to include
a cyclone-fired unit as a separate case
study. However, the FDS boundary was
expanded beyond the individual cyclone
feeder to beyond the coal conveyors, to
the crusher-feeder island, usually located
some distance from the boiler. It was felt
that the crusher, more than any other de-
vice, controlled particle sizing, and the
upgraded feeder provided a more uniform
flow of coal to the crusher, improving
overall crusher performance.
Case Study 1: The Opposed Wall
Fired Boiler
The candidate opposed wallfired, natural
circulation boiler was originally designed
for eastern coal and now burns a PRB coal.
It has a retrofit SCR and the original elec-
trostatic precipitator; plans are in place to
retrofit a wet scrubber. The proposed FDS
components for upgrade include replace-
ment of original feeders, retrofit dynamic
classifiers on vertical shaft pulverizers, coal
pipe flow-metering devices, burner mod-
ernization, retrofit OFA, airflow metering
devices, and retrofit boiler control system
(BCS) with a neural network. Several of the
suggested upgrades are described below and
summarized in Table 2.
Fuel Feeders. The original, roughly
40-year-old volumetric feeders were re-
placed with new gravimetric feeders with
improved metering. They also provide some
increased capacity, because PRB, with its
lower heating value, requires more material
throughput than the original eastern bitumi-
nous coal. Six new feeders were each esti-
mated at $75,000 x 2 (cost of installation)
= $900,000. Benefits were included with
those of dynamic classifiers (DCs), below.
Pulverizers. DCs are used to increase
coal fineness at a given coal throughput. In
so doing, DCs also reduce the coarse grind,
T-fired 37%
Front 20%
Opposed 19%
Other 7%
Cyclone 7%
Unknown 6%
Fluid bed 3%
Vert-ceiling 2%
4. Coal fleet boiler design. The three
case studies were selected from the three
largest categories of boiler design now used
in the fleet. Fluid bed units were not included
because those fuel systems are unique and
often handle opportunity fuels. Source: POW-
ER and Burns & McDonnell
Component Upgrade Cost ($ x 1,000) Savings ($ x 1,000/year)
Feeder New feeders $900 Combine with dynamic classifiers
Pulverizer Dynamic classifiers $3,600 5% performance recovery savings, $8,760;
two days' operation, $960.
Coal pipes Coal-air flow $700 Combine with boiler control system.
Burner modernization LNBs & OFA $5,400 Some NO
x
reduction as NH
3
savings. Other
benefits claimed in BCS. NH
3
savings: $210.
Boiler control system Neural network $300 Efficiency improvements, $596; fan energy
savings, $314; NH
3
savings, $85.
Project management &
engineering services
25% $2,725 NA
Total $13,625 $10,925
Notes: BCS = boiler control system, LNB = low-NO
x
burners, NA = not applicable, OFA = overfire air.
Table 2. Case Study 1: Opposed wallfired boiler FDS upgrades benefits
and costs. The investment breakeven point was 15 months. Source: The Fuel Delivery Sub-
committee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy, Environment, and Waste
July 2013
|
PLANT DESIGN
the 50-mesh material, which is a primary
cause of slagging and fouling. A lesser-
known feature of DCs is that they can also
increase pulverizer capacity (depending on
DC speed), fineness at higher speed, and
throughput at lower speed. Typically, this
is accomplished with little or no increase in
pressure drop.
Because PRB is a volatile coal, there is
little need for an increase in coal fineness,
but there is a need for increased pulverizer
throughput over the original eastern coal
design conditions. DC costs were estimated
as 6 x $300,000 x 2 (cost of installation) =
$3,600,000, acknowledging that $300,000
is on the high side and normal installed
cost is usually less than double the equip-
ment cost.
A switch from eastern to PRB coal and
its associated lower heating value means
that greater quantities of PRB coal passing
through the FDS and the vertical shaft mills
were required to produce the same heat in-
put. In this plant, heat input to the boiler
was reduced due to coal throughput limita-
tions. Thus, the DCs ability to recover lost
pulverizer and boiler capacity, especially
when one or more pulverizers are out of
service for required maintenance work, is
vital. A conservative value of 5% loss in
boiler capacity was used. The reduction of
50-mesh coal particles and improved com-
bustion was estimated to recover two days
of operation at full load. Other benefits in-
cluded improved load response, improved
coal drying, often less vibration, but modest
NO
x
and unburned carbon (UBC) reduction.
The savings from the 5% capacity recovery
was $8,760,000, and two days of full-load
operation at $0.05/kWh was $960,000, for
a total savings of $9,720,000.
Coal Pipes. The subcommittee consid-
ered coal pipe flowmeters because coal
flow measurements may not be exact. The
individual flow meters allow comparison
of coal flow between pipes to ensure more
equal and consistent coal flow to the burn-
ers that will in turn ensure good air to fuel
ratios at each burner.
There was some discussion about re-
placing coal pipes on the basis of increased
pressure drop or fan limitation. It was felt
that coal pipes are seldom replaced, so this
option was discarded. In sum, upgrades
studied included the coal pipe flow modi-
fications, $500,000, and primary airflow
modifications, $200,000, for a total of
$700,000.
It is vital to measure both coal and air as a
precursor to aggressive efficiency improve-
ment. It was also felt that the DCs would
resolve a potential pressure drop issue, and
the pressure drop issue was further clarified,
as shown below in the BCS section.
Burner Modernization. The existing
low-NO
x
burners (LNBs) are a third gen-
eration; a fourth-generation upgrade is
planned that will include burner modern-
ization and airflow-monitoring devices.
Overfire air is also included. NO
x
reduc-
tion with these new LNBs and OFA would
be about 10% (~0.02 lb/10
6
Btu), but they
serve primarily to reduce NH
3
consumption
by the SCR. UBC would not drop, and CO
would be held to <100 ppm.
The combination of retrofit DCs and
LNBs would reduce slagging and fouling,
improve flue gas flow to the SCR and air
heater, provide better combustion, and im-
prove boiler performance. Typically, LNBs
are upgraded every six to eight years due to
new design improvements. Costs were esti-
mated for the LNBs as $75,000 x 24 burners
x 2 (cost of installation) = $3,600,000; OFA
$25,000 x 8 + $50,000 x 8 (cost of instal-
lation) = $600,000; electrical $1,000,000
(cost of installation); and $200,000 for
Rigorously tested for over
60 years for exceptional
performance
Resistant to harsh
chemicals, high
temperatures, and high
pressures
Long service life
Globally
available
|
July 2013 48
PLANT DESIGN
burner management (such as new scanners
and cabinets) for a total of $5,400,000. The
only direct benefit was some NO
x
reduction
that reduced annual NH
3
usage by $210,000.
The other benefits for improved combustion
were improved boiler performance, shown
in the next section.
Boiler Control System. In a detailed
analysis by a Burns & McDonnell team,
all the various upgrades were examined
and critiqued with a review and modifica-
tion of the cost when merited. In the origi-
nal consideration of upgrades to the BCS it
was felt a new BCS would provide benefits
as well as a neural net system. As it turned
out, the Burns & McDonnell team revised
the BCS upgrade to only a neural network
at a cost of $300,000. This applied to pul-
verized coalfired boilers (Case Studies 1
and 2) and provided unexpected benefits.
Two good rules of thumb were useful
in this analysis. First, 10% excess air =
0.5% boiler efficiency and 10% excess
air = 22% fan power. Using these rules of
thumb, the difference is (22.8% 16.1%)
= 6.7% change in excess air, which results
in approximately 0.34% improvement in
boiler efficiency and 15% improvement
(decrease) in fan power.
The savings due to boiler efficiency im-
provements can be estimated as 500 MW
x $0.05/kWh x 7,008 hours/year x 0.0034
= approx. $600,000/year of cost savings.
Assuming 2 x 4,000 horsepower (hp)
fans, 8,000 hp x 0.7457 kW/hp x $0.05/
kWh x 7,008 hours/year x 0.15 = approx.
$314,000/year savings in fan power.
Improving NO
x
from 0.17 lb NO
x
/10
6

Btu to 0.15 lb NO
x
/10
6
Btu will decrease
the amount of ammonia consumed. As-
suming 10,500 Btu/kWh heat rate, $400/
ton anhydrous ammonia, SCR outlet NO
x

of 0.04 lb/10
6
Btu at 80% capacity fac-
tor, the reagent savings are approximately
$85,000/year.
Project Management and Engi-
neering Services. Engineering services,
including commissioning costs, were es-
timated as about 15% plus an additional
10% for project management costs, which
amounted to $2,725,000.
Thus, the total installed cost is estimated
as $13,625,000 and the total savings are es-
timated as $10,925,000a simple payback
of 15 months, as shown in Table 2. It is im-
portant to note that 83% of the cost savings
were the recovery of a presumed 5% unit
derate taken when the unit was converted
from eastern bituminous coal to a western
subbituminous PRB coal.
Case Study 2:
Tangential-Fired Boiler
The 500-MW tangential-fired boiler used
in the analysis is a single furnace with five
levels of burners and five pulverizers, 100
MW per pulverizer. Many boilers of this
size and age do not have SCRs, but they
often have lower NO
x
and UBC than other
boiler designs. The subcommittee consen-
sus was that burner modifications would be
appropriate regardless of whether or not an
SCR was added.
The first improvement was separating
the burner levels to further reduce NO
x

emissions. The benefits of DCs with regard
to recovery of lost capacity apply, but the
need to improve slagging and fouling may
not be as great. Burner modifications would
involve changing buckets and adding sepa-
rate overfire air (SOFA). NO
x
reduction may
be less, but NO
x
emissions are likely to be
low. Neural networks would provide similar
improvements. Several of the suggested up-
grades are described below and summarized
in Table 3.
Feeders. The upgrades were much the
same as in Case Study 1 but with five new
feeders, costing $750,000 installed. The cost
benefits were included with DCs.
Pulverizers. The cost of the upgrade
follows the calculations presented in Case
Study 1, or $3,000,000. The calculation of
benefits likewise followed the methods used
in Case Study 1. Savings from the 5% ca-
pacity recovery were $8,760,000 and two
days of full load was $960,000, for a total
savings of $9,368,000.
Coal Pipes. As in Case Study 1, unit
upgrades chosen were coal pipe flow and
primary airflow measurement at a total of
$584,000.
Burner Modernization. The modern-
izations comprise some bucket replace-
ment and the addition of SOFA ports,
which would require some boiler pressure
part modifications. SOFA was estimated at
$4,800,000. Benefits were some claimed
NO
x
and UBC reductions, but no signifi-
cant savings were estimated.
Boiler Control System. The same up-
grade of a neural network with no new BCS
is estimated to cost $300,000 with the similar
savings forecasted in Case Study 1: boiler ef-
ficiency, $600,000, and fan reduced power
costs of $314,000. There are no NH
3
savings
because there is no SCR. Thus, the total esti-
mated savings are $914,000.
Project Management and Engineer-
ing Services. A consistent 25% of the up-
grade costs was included, which amounts to
$2,359,000.
Total cost of the upgrades is $11,793,000,
with a total savings of $10,630,000. The
breakeven point for the investment is ap-
proximately 13 months, as shown in Table 3.
As before, 82% of the savings are attributable
to recapturing 5% of the unit capacity lost as
part of the initial fuel switch from an eastern
bituminous coal to a lower heat content sub-
bituminous PRB coal.
Case Study 3: Cyclone-Fired Boiler
The cyclone boiler investigated for this
case study was originally designed (in the
late 1960s) to fire Illinois Basin bituminous
coal, but it now burns PRB coal (since the
late 1980s). It has been retrofitted with OFA
(1990s), SCR, dry flue gas scrubber, fabric
filter, induced draft fans (converted from
pressurized to balanced draft), various boil-
er and turbine modifications, and new O
2

analyzers (2000s). Several of the suggested
upgrades are described below and summa-
rized in Table 4.
Feeder New feeders $750 Combine with dynamic classifiers.
Pulverizer Dynamic classifiers $3,000 5% performance recovery savings, $8,760;
two days' operation, $960.
Coal pipes Coal-air flow $584 Combine with boiler control system.
Burner modernization New burners SOFA,
pressure part mods,
ducts, and dampers
$4,800 Some NO
x
reduction, but no significant sav-
ings: $0.
Boiler control system Neural network $300 Efficiency improvements, $596; fan energy
savings, $314.
25% $2,359 NA
Total $11,793 $10,630
Notes: NA = not applicable, SOFA = secondary overfire air.
Table 3. Case Study 2: Tangential-fired boiler FDS upgrades benefits and
costs. The investment breakeven point was approximately 13 months. Source: The Fuel Deliv-
ery Subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy, Environment, and Waste
July 2013
|
PLANT DESIGN
Fuel Preparation System. The feeder-
crusher island was included in the FDS
boundary, because this equipment is a vital
part of coal sizing necessary for good com-
bustion. It was generally agreed that some
modification would have been made to
the feeder-crusher island when switching
to PRB coal, which would have included
dust control and other safety-related issues.
The same would have been included in all
the coal conveyors, but the coal conveyors
from the feeder-crusher island to the cy-
clone are not part of the FDS.
As part of the FDS upgrade, some up-
grades will be made to the feeder-crusher
island to improve coal grind at a given or
increased throughput, and these costs were
estimated. In discussing the cyclone modi-
fication, it was agreed that the 12 cyclones,
feeders, and burners would have been pre-
viously modified, but that the upgrades to
reduce UBC, which is in some cases 20%
to 30%, would be required. Upgrades in-
clude a new posimetric feeder, fine grind
cage crusher, and motor upgrades at
$1,200,000.
Cyclone Modernization. Cyclones
were upgraded with new split secondary
air dampers and damper actuators. Bene-
fits include reduced NO
x
and UBC by im-
proving combustion (allowing low excess
air operation); more even flue gas distri-
bution in the furnace convection sections,
SCR, and air heater; and reduced slagging.
Upgrades were estimated at $2,800,000.
The benefits were reduced operation at
lower loads with individual cyclones
forced out of service due to cyclone slag
buildups and downtime for boiler deslag-
ging. Longer time is usually required to
cool cyclone furnaces for deslagging and
maintenance work.
The savings estimates are based on an
additional seven full days of operation in
a year by reducing forced outages for cy-
clone cleaning. Modification costs were
calculated at $3,360,000.
It was noted that if the cyclones them-
selves were nearing the end of their use-
ful life and were to be replaced, there are
numerous upgrades that should be incor-
porated in the replacement cyclones to
further enhance PRB coal firing. Howev-
er, if the cyclones were not to be replaced,
these pressure part upgrades would not be
made just to improve PRB coal firing. For
this reason the costs of new cyclones or
cyclone pressure part upgrades were not
addressed by this study. Also not included
was the use of iron oxide additives for im-
proved slag flow.
Boiler Control System. Only an up-
grade to the BCS was requiredno BCS
and neural network additions. This upgrade
provided savings similar to those shown for
Case Study 1, except there was no signifi-
cant NH
3
savings. The savings again related
to efficiency ($298,000) and fan operation
($157,000), for a total of $455,000.
Project Management and Engi-
neering Services. A consistent 25% of
the upgrade costs was included, which is
$1,120,000.
The total upgrade cost is estimated as
$5,600,000, total savings as $3,815,000,
and the breakeven at 18 months, as shown
in Table 4. Again, note that 88% of the cost
savings are attributable to potential recov-
ery of lost generation due to derates or
forced outages caused by convective pass
slagging.
The Effect of Capacity Factor
The case study estimates are all based on
a capacity factor of 80%, as noted ear-
lier. While the study was under way, the
increased use of natural gas reduced coal
plant average capacity factor during 2012
in many regions of the U.S. Rising natu-
ral gas prices have pushed some utilities
to increase coal-fired generation as the
least cost option in early 2013. Table 5 il-
lustrates the analysis results for a range of
capacity factors, assuming the investment
cost remains constant. Even with capacity
factors in the range of 60%, the breakev-
en point for each project is less than two
years.
The subcommittee solicits comments on
the results of the analysis and suggestions
for additional study. Please forward your
comments and suggestions to Subcommit-
tee Chair Robert Sommerlad.
Robert E. Sommerlad (rsommerl@aol
.com) is a consultant and Subcommit-
tee Chair. Donald B. Pearson is sec-
retary of the PRB Coal Users Group.
Grant E. Grothen is principal, Burns &
McDonnell. Steven McCaffrey is with
Greenbank Energy Solutions Inc. Other
members of the Subcommittee were
Robert Chase, Terrasource Global;
Blaz Jurko, Gebr. Pfeiffer Inc.; David J.
Stopek, Consultant, Sargent & Lundy
LLC; Melanie Green, CPS Energy; Rich-
ard Himes, EPRI; Tony Licata, Licata
Engineering Consulting and Chair RC
EEW; and Todd Melick, Vice President,
Promecon USA.
Table 5. Impact of capacity factor on plant retrofit economics. Note the
simple payback for each case study remains less than two years for a capacity factor down to
60%. Source: The Fuel Delivery Subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy,
Environment, and Waste
Case study & boiler type Results
Capacity factor
60% 70% 80%
1: Opposed wall Savings ($ x 1,000) $8,295 $9,096 $10,925
Payback (months) 20 18 15
2: Tangential Savings ($ x 1,000) $7,973 $9,301 $10,630
3: Cyclone Savings ($ x 1,000) $2,861 $3 $3,815
Notes: NA = not applicable, SOFA = secondary overfire air.
Table 4. Case Study 3: Cyclone-fired boiler FDS upgrades benefits and
costs. The investment breakeven point was approximately 18 months. Source: The Fuel Deliv-
ery Subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy, Environment, and Waste
Feeder/crusher island New feeders and
instrumentation
$1,200 Combine with cyclone modernization.
Cyclone modernization Cyclone upgrades
and new "split" air
damper
$2,880 Seven days full-load operation due to elimi-
nation of downtime caused by slagging:
$3,360.
Boiler control system Update boiler con-
trol system
$400 Efficiency improvements, $298; fan energy
savings, $157.
25% $1,120 NA
Total $5,600 $3,815
|
July 2013 50
ASSET MANAGEMENT
EMP: The Biggest Unaddressed
Threat to the Grid
The electricity grid has been characterized as the worlds largest and most com-
plicated machine. The grid, like all machines, requires periodic upgrades
and maintenance to prevent outages during the normal course of business,
and it can be brought down by various outside forces. Solar flares and cy-
ber attacks have temporarily crippled the machine, but an electromagnetic
pulse event would be the ultimate cyber security catastrophe.
By Kennedy Maize
W
hen North Korea last December
successfully launched a satellite
into orbit around the Earth, much
of the chatter in the news media was about
the ability of the rogue nation to reach a U.S.
city on the West Coast with a nuclear war-
head. Many experts in nuclear proliferation,
including U.S. government officials, believe
North Korea has a stockpile of a dozen or so
nuclear weapons and the technology to pro-
duce more.
But for one set of experts, who accept
the calculations about the size of the North
Korean nuclear arsenal, the advances in the
countrys ability to deliver a warhead over
vast distances raised another, possibly more
troubling, prospect. While North Koreas
nuclear and ballistic missile program prob-
ably isnt yet sophisticated enough to put a
warhead onto a specific target thousands of
miles away, the country may be able to get
close enough to explode a warhead some 50
miles somewhere over the U.S. Thats an
easier task.
But the outcome likely would be cata-
strophic and widespread. As defense analyst
Peter Pry has written, North Koreas success-
ful orbit of a satellite demonstrates its ability
to make an EMP attack against the United
Statesright now. Thats a very nasty
thought. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), chair-
man of the House EMP Caucus, told POWER
that such an attack would be a worst case
scenario . . . almost unthinkable.
Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a force
of nature that can wreak havoc with much
of modern electronic infrastructure, as ear-
lier articles in POWERs publications have
discussed in the context of solar storms (see
The Great Solar Storm of 2012? in the Feb-
ruary 2011 issue of POWER). EMP can also
be a manmade force. As Pry, a former staffer
on a congressional EMP commission and
now executive director of the Task Force on
National and Homeland Security, explains,
Any nuclear weapon detonated above an
altitude of 30 kilometers will generate an
electromagnetic pulse that will destroy elec-
tronics and could collapse the electric power
grid and other critical infrastructurescom-
munications, transportation, banking and
finance, food and waterthat sustain mod-
ern civilization and the lives of 300 million
Americans. All could be destroyed by a sin-
gle nuclear weapon making an EMP attack
(Figure 1).
According to Pry, North Korea has been
working on a super-EMP weapon for a de-
cade or more. He says that in 2004, a del-
egation of Russian generals to the first
Congressional EMP Commission revealed
that the Kim dynasty was working on such a
weapon. Nothing since had contradicted that
assessment.
Writer F. Michael Maloof, who spent 23
years at the Pentagon trying to keep critical
technology out of the hands of rogue nations
and groups, told POWER recently that EMP
is the classic asymmetrical weapon for war-
fare by a country far less powerful than the
U.S. Our technology-based society has made
us an economic and industrial world power.
But it has also made us vulnerable in the case
of EMP. Maloofs new book, A Nation For-
saken, lays out the EMP threat and those who
could threaten the U.S. with an EMP attack.
Those nations include not only North Korea
but also Iran and Pakistan. Pakistan in par-
ticular has a large nuclear weapons stockpile,
1. Area affected by an electromagnetic pulse, by height of burst. The
spread of the EMP is caused by gamma rays hitting the atmosphere at an elevation between 12
and 25 miles altitude, causing rejection of electrons that are then deflected sideways by Earths
magnetic field. The result is that the EMP pulse is spread over an enormous area. Not shown
on this diagram is the magnetic signature of Earth that accentuates the EMP effects south of
the pulse and attenuates the effects north. Source: Americas Vulnerability to a Different Nuclear
Threat: Electromagnetic Pulse, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #1272, May 26, 2000
Height of
burst: 300 miles
Height of
burst: 120 miles
Height of
burst: 30 miles
1,470 miles
1,000 miles
480 miles
July 2013
|
ASSET MANAGEMENT
and the country either encouraged or looked
the other way when one of its scientistsnow
a revered national hero, A.Q. Kahndivert-
ed European centrifuge uranium enrichment
technology to Iran and North Korea.
But the EMP threat extends further down
the threat chain than bad state actors in nasty
neighborhoods. While a nuclear weapon det-
onated above a modern country could spread
broad havoc, much smaller devices can use
pulses of radio frequencies to take out spe-
cific targets such as power plants, refineries,
electric substations, and the like, arming ter-
rorist groups, disgruntled employees, or ad-
dled individuals with asymmetrical weapons
that profoundly challenge conventional arms
control and police capabilities.
In his book, Maloof describes a hypo-
thetical attack on Washington, D.C., that
completely disrupts the nations capital
and surrounding areas, including commu-
nications at the Pentagon. The attackers,
he writes, use small, rifle-sized arms that
shoot not bullets but radio frequencies,
weapons that can be built for about $400
with easy-to-obtain parts. Think of one of
those Super Soaker water guns. (The U.S.
military is, not surprisingly, also looking at
the use of electromagnetic forces for weap-
onrysee the sidebar.)
Maloof also describes how a terrorist cell
with a primitive EMP weapon in the back of a
panel truck could easily bring down a passen-
ger airplane landing at Washingtons Reagan
National Airport. At the cost of a few thou-
sand dollars in material and know-how, this
homegrown terror cell kills more than a thou-
sand peopleseveral hundred passengers on
the planes, the rest in the buildings that take
the full impact of the crashing planes.
The visions of Franks, Maloof, Pry, and
others about the possibility of an EMP threat
have critics, although their critique is direct-
ed not directly at the physics of an EMP as-
sault but at the doomsday nature of an attack.
Physicist Yousaf Butt, a Federation of Ameri-
can Scientists consultant, wrote last year in
The Space Review, If terrorists want to do
something serious, theyll use a weapon of
mass destructionnot a weapon of mass dis-
ruption. He said an EMP attack depends on
complicated secondary effects, rendering it
less fearsome and less likely.
Starfish and Other Denizens of
the Deep
U.S. scientists learned of the perverse
effects of an EMP in an Atomic Energy
Commission 1962 test explosion of a 1.4
megaton warhead over the South Pacific.
It was called Starfish Prime, one of sev-
eral tests in the Operation Fishbowl se-
ries. The blast caused an electrical pulse
Electromagnetic Rail Guns
Electromagnetic forces are not only a threat
to U.S. infrastructure but also can be the
motive force for advanced weapons. The
U.S. military has been working for many
years on an electrical rail gun that would
use magnetic forces to suspend a projectile
in a field and propel it forward at enormous
speeds, freed from the friction that limits
conventional guns. Although the Air Force
initially supported rail gun research, the
program has shifted to the Navy, which sees
the weapon as a way to increase its reach
for ships firing at targets beyond what con-
ventional armaments now allow (Figure 2).
According to the Navys research pro-
gram, the rail gun would be a long-
range weapon that fires projectiles using
electricity instead of chemical propel-
lants. Magnetic fields created by high
electrical currents accelerate a sliding
metal conductor, or armature, between
two rails to launch projectiles at 4,500
mph to 5,600 mph.
The key to the rail gun, according to
the Navy, is a pulsed electric power sys-
tem located on the ship. The electrical
system would produce an instantaneous
burst of electrical energy that would push
a projectile down a rail path and toward
a target. The rail gun would be able to
reach enemy targets some 70 miles in the
distance, far beyond conventional chemi-
cal ballistic, ship-fired missiles.
But development of the weapon hasnt
been easy. Popular Science reports, Rail
guns require a massive amount of elec-
tricity that current naval ships cannot
spare if they can generate it at all. The
Navy hopes its rail gun will debut on the
next-generation of high-powered ships,
like the Zumwalt class destroyer (cur-
rently slated to enter service in 2015)
by early in the next decade. The maga-
zine notes that the Navy has spent some
$240 million over seven years and the
technology is still very much restricted
to the lab. Live demonstrations could
come in 2017.
2. Fast and furious. The electromagnetic railgun launcher is a long-range weapon that
fires projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants. Magnetic fields created
by high electrical currents accelerate a sliding metal conductor, or armature, between two
rails to launch projectiles at 4,500 mph to 5,600 mph. Electricity generated by the ship is
stored over several seconds in the pulsed power system. Next, an electric pulse is sent
to the railgun, creating an electromagnetic force accelerating the projectile to Mach 7.5.
Using its extreme speed on impact, the kinetic energy warhead eliminates the hazards of
high explosives in the ship and unexploded ordnance on the battlefield. Source: Office of
Naval Research, U.S. Navy
Above sensible atmosphere
Simplifies deconfliction
Surface
warfare
Direct fire
(horizon in 6 seconds)
Missile defense
Hypervelocity launch/impact
(MACH 57)
Indirect fire
Long range fires
Enhanced company operations
|
July 2013 52
ASSET MANAGEMENT
far beyond what the scientists had calcu-
lated, driving their instruments off scale.
The explosion caused damage as far away
as Hawaii, some 900 miles to the east,
where it blew out streetlights, set off bur-
glar alarms, and fried a telephone com-
pany microwave repeater.
Subsequent atmospheric testsBluegill
Triple Prime and Kingfishfurther estab-
lished the unexpected EMP effects, includ-
ing disrupting the Telstar communications
satellite, alerting researchers to the new
phenomenon. But EMP remained a largely
classified topic for the next 20 years. In
1982, facing a series of challenges on how
to base the next generation of strategic bal-
listic missiles, the MX missile, the Reagan
administration began lifting the veil of se-
crecy around EMP effects. The president
(with Executive Order 12400) appointed a
panel under the direction of General Brent
Scrowcroft to examine issues related to sit-
ing the missiles. Among those was the effect
of EMP on missile communications.
The Scowcroft Commission concluded
that the U.S. missile program was adequate-
ly hardened against EMP effects, and the
issue largely disappeared from view for an-
other few years. Over the years, the military
has spent hundreds of millions of dollars
hardening its own infrastructure against an
EMP attack.
The problem is the civilian grid (upon
which the military also depends for more
than 90% of its operations). In 1989, a so-
lar storm caused widespread disruptions
in the Northeast, raising the issue graphi-
cally, both in terms of solar storms and
an intentional attack. Congress got inter-
ested in the issue, and in 2001 established
a commission to examine the threat of
EMPs. In 2004 that commission conclud-
ed, Our vulnerability is increasing daily
as our use of and dependence on elec-
tronics continues to grow. The impact of
EMP is asymmetric in relation to potential
protagonists who are not as dependent on
modern electronics.
The current vulnerability of our critical
infrastructures can both invite and reward at-
tack if not corrected. Correction is feasible
and well within the Nations means and re-
sources to accomplish.
As is often the case with special govern-
mental commissions, nothing came of the
2004 report. In the meantime, an enormous
blackout that struck most of the Northeast
in 2003 reignited concern about the vul-
nerability of the U.S. grid. Congress re-
established the EMP commission (www
.empcommission.org), which issued another
report in 2008, calling for national action
to address the threat of disruption to criti-
cal U.S. infrastructure. The chairman, Wil-
liam Graham, testified to Congress in April
2008, vulnerability to EMP that gives rise
to potentially large-scale, long-term conse-
quences can be reasonably reduced below
the level of a potentially catastrophic na-
tional problem by coordinated and focused
effort between the private and public sectors
of our country. The cost for such improved
security in the next 3 to 5 years is modest by
any standardand extremely so in relation
to both the war on terror and the value of the
national infrastructures threatened.
Grahams commission estimated the
cost of hardening the grid and other criti-
cal infrastructure at $10 billion to $20 bil-
lion over 20 years. Mitigation involves,
among other tasks, developing backup ca-
pability for grounded transformers, which
would be among the most significant
components of the grid to be damaged by
an EMP attack. This would also protect
against the effects of a large-scale solar
storm hitting the grid.
Again, to date, nothing has been done.
Think Globally, Act Locally?
Peter Pry cries out for a national response,
calling for a presidential executive order,
which the EMP commission has drafted, to
protect the national electric grid and other
critical infrastructures from an EMP attack.
The lack of a federal government re-
sponse, despite what he believes is the clear
nature of the threat, led Michael Maloof to
title his book A Nation Forsaken. He told
POWER, The federal government isnt go-
ing to do anything. The feds, Maloof argues,
are so paralyzed by partisan divisions and
fights over spending cuts that a fully national
response wont work.
The federal government, he says, never
takes preventative action. He gives Congress
credit for creating the two EMP commissions
but adds, they then ignored them. The fed-
eral government has failed, and so the na-
tion is behind the curve. The Department of
Homeland Security should be taking the lead
on this, but isnt.
So Maloof says hes been traveling to U.S.
states to encourage state and local responses.
This is a new states rights issue, he says.
People can take action at the state level. Im
traveling around suggesting people get to-
gether with their local emergency response
agencies and coordinators to plan for an
EMP contingency.
Despite legislative failures in the past,
Franks and his 13-member bipartisan cau-
cus hope to move EMP legislation in the
113th Congress. Two years ago, he said,
we got the Grid Act passed unanimously
in the House. But it failed to pass in the
Senate, largely because of concerns about
the inclusion in the House bill of provi-
sions related to cybersecurity. Now hes
preparing legislation that will separate out
cybersecurity from the EMP issue. Its not
that we dont take cybersecurity seriously,
he said. An EMP event would be the ulti-
mate in a cybersecurity catastrophe. But
as a practical matter, the cyber threat has to
get dealt with on its own.
There is also an artifact of the evolu-
tion of the U.S. electric grid that may also
help the country survive an EMP attack,
whether a result of solar storms or an an-
gry North Korean dictator. Because there
is no national grid, but three separate,
loosely interconnected systems, an EMP
event likely would lead to islanding and
isolating the grids.
Indeed, inside the three major grids
the Eastern and the Western interconnec-
tions and the Electric Reliability Council
of Texasthe interconnections are weak
enough that islanding will also occur. For
many policy experts who have worked
on grid issues for years, eliminating is-
landing is a goal, because it defeats the
concept of economic power dispatch. But
Ben McConnell, a retired Oak Ridge Na-
tional Laboratory scientist, told a Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission meeting
last year, One of the best ways to pro-
tect the grid is to go into islanding mode.
(See The Electric Grid: A Civilizations
Achilles Heel? in the January 2013 issue
of POWER.)
Ultimately, the federal government may
be helping to develop a response to EMP.
Researchers at the Department of En-
ergys Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
are working on ways to increase the resil-
ience of the electric grid. In a briefing pa-
per, INL scientists Craig Rieger and Ray
Grosshans describe how they are working
on resilient control system technologies
that adapt and transform in real time to
both failures and attacks. Truly resilient
systems intelligently route around broken
system components to avoid cascading
failures. Resilient systems draw on re-
serve resources to sustain life-safety sys-
tems. And resilient systems focus human
attention on the problems machines either
cant or shouldnt solve alone.
The development of such technologies
will underpin next-generation designs for
critical infrastructure, including chemical
plants, refineries, nuclear facilities and de-
fense systems, the failure of which causes
even greater risk than the loss of use.
Kennedy Maize is executive editor
of MANAGING POWER and a POWER
contributing editor.
July 2013
|
ENERGY STORAGE
Beacon Power Makes a Comeback
Beacon Power Corp. was founded in 1997 to develop flywheel-based energy
storage technology. By 2007, the 100-kW/25-kWh Gen 4 flywheel system
was commercialized and deployed in several projects. However, market
conditions pushed the company into bankruptcy in late 2011. The company
has since emerged, reinvigorated with new investment and a new name:
Beacon Power LLC.
By Dr. Robert Peltier, PE
F
undamentally, Independent System
Operators (ISOs) are responsible for
the continuous balancing of electric-
ity supply and demand on their regional
grids so that the grid frequency remains as
close as possible to 60 Hz at all times. In
the past, an ISO would send an automatic
generation control (AGC) signal to utility
generators to increase or decrease output to
maintain the supply-demand balance. This
process made maintaining grid frequency
relatively straightforward.
However, integrating large amounts of
intermittent and unpredictable renewable
generation on the grid, particularly wind and
solar, makes maintaining the supply-demand
balance more difficult, particularly when the
response of traditional electricity supply re-
sources is relatively slow compared with the
rapid see-saw output from a photovoltaic sys-
tem on a partly cloudy day.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest Na-
tional Laboratory studied the comparative
value of the relatively slow response of
AGC-controlled resources with fast-response
flywheel-based regulation and reported their
conclusions in a report: Assessing the Val-
ue of Regulation Resources Based on Their
Time Response Characteristics. An impor-
tant conclusion was that 1 MW of fast-re-
sponse energy storagebased regulation has
twice the system regulation value of average
conventional regulation resources.
Why Flywheel Energy Storage?
There are other important advantages to an ISO
of using flywheel-based frequency regulation.
For example, the flywheel energy storage sys-
tem allows the ISO to recapture a portion of the
generation capacity that otherwise would have
been allocated for frequency regulation.
Also, if the flywheel-based system is lo-
cated so that it can inject regulating power on
the transmission system, then transmission
and transformation losses may be reduced,
freeing up transmission line capacity in con-
gested regions. A flywheel system can be
sited so it can inject regulating power at the
distribution level to reduce grid losses, elimi-
nating the need for conventional regulation
plants to use a portion of needed grid capac-
ity for regulation. In addition to grid fre-
quency regulation, once flywheels are fully
charged, they can also be used as a temporary
grid backup and may be suitable for black
start service in certain applications.
Beacon Power Corp. was founded in 1997
to commercialize flywheel technology to
address the rapidly developing fast-response
frequency regulation market and went pub-
lic in 2000. Its first flywheel systems, the
first and second generations of the technol-
ogy, were deployed in North America for
telecommunications backup power applica-
tions. Since 2004, the companys focus has
been development of a system that could
recycle electricity from the grid, absorb-
ing it when demand dropped and injecting it
when demand increased.
The first grid-connected Gen 3 (15 kW/4
kWh) was introduced in 2004, followed
by the familiar Gen 4 (100 kW/25 kWh)
model in 2006 that now has over 3 million
operating hours in commercial service (see
sidebar). During 20052006, Beacon Power
participated in 100-kW demonstration proj-
ects (using multiple Gen 3 modules) in New
York and California. ISO-NE also sponsored
a very successful 3-MW pilot program dur-
ing 20082010.
The culmination of a decade of product
development and testing was the grid-con-
nected 20-MW frequency regulation plant
at Stephentown, N.Y., in 2011, owned
and operated by Beacon Power (as is a
0.5-MW facility in Massachusetts). That
made it the worlds largest commercial
grid-scale flywheel facility when it went
fully commercial in June 2011, supplying
the NYISO market.
1. Power on tap. The Stephentown Plant consists of 200 100-kW modules that provide up
to 20 MW for 15 minutes whenever required by NYISO. The plant has been in service for over
two years, with overall plant reliability approaching 100%. Courtesy: Beacon Power LLC
|
July 2013 54
ENERGY STORAGE
How the Flywheel System Works
Beacons flywheel is a mechanical battery
designed for a minimum 20-year life, with
virtually no maintenance required for the
mechanical portion of the flywheel system
over its lifetime. Of critical importance in
performing frequency regulation with en-
ergy storagebased systems is their cyclic
life capability.
Beacons experience to date in ISO New
England shows that 6,000 or more effective
full charge/discharge cycles per year are re-
quired. The system is capable of more than
100,000 full charge/discharge cycles at a
constant full power charge/discharge rate,
with zero degradation in energy storage ca-
pacity over time. For the frequency regulation
application, flywheel mechanical efficiency
is over 97%, and total system round-trip
charge/discharge efficiency is 85%.
At the heart of Beacons Gen 4 flywheel
is a high-strength carbon fiber compos-
ite rim, supported by a metal hub and
shaft, with a motor/generator on the
shaft. Together, the rim, hub, shaft, and
motor/generator assembly form the rotor.
To nearly eliminate friction, the rotor is
sealed in a strong vacuum chamber and
levitated magnetically. Figures 24 show
the assembly of a flywheel unit.
The rotor spins between 8,000 and
16,000 rpm. When absorbing energy, the
flywheels motor acts like a load and draws
power from the grid to accelerate the ro-
tor to higher speed. When discharging,
the motor switches into generator mode,
and the inertial energy of the rotor drives
the generator, creating electricity that is
injected back into the grid as the rotor
slows down. At 16,000 rpm, a single Gen 4
flywheel can deliver 25 kWh of extractable
energy (100 kW for 15 minutes). Multiple
flywheels are connected in parallel to pro-
vide any desired rating. The Stephentown
Project, rated at 20 MW/5 MWh, consists
of 200 Gen 4 modules.
4. Finish assembly. A worker completes installation of the motor-generator and other
internals in a 100-kW Gen 4 flywheel module. Courtesy: Beacon Power LLC
2. Flywheel cutaway. The 100-kW Gen
4 flywheel uses a magnetic lift system to
suspend the rotating mass within a vacuum
to reduce friction. A motor-generator is used
to spin up the rotating shaft when absorb-
ing power but is used as a generator when
injecting power into the grid. Courtesy: Bea-
con Power LLC
3. Rim install. A composite rim is in-
stalled inside the vacuum chamber in the
companys manufacturing facility located out-
side Boston. Courtesy: Beacon Power LLC
The Stephentown Plant consists of 10
Gen 4 100-kW modules to produce each
1-MW unit. Twenty units are combined
to form the plants 20-MW rated capacity
(Figure 1). Electronic containers are in-
stalled for each group of 10 modules, and
a cooling system is installed between two
1-MW units. Each unit is equipped with
a transformer that increases the voltage
output from 480 V to 13.8 kV. A switch-
yard transformer increases the plant output
voltage from 13.8 kV to the New York grid
115 kV transmission line voltage. Plant re-
liability remains above 99%, and reached
100% during the last quarter of 2012, with
4,000 effective full charge/discharge cycles
per year in response to remotely dispatched
NYISO signals.
The Stephentown Plant is a first responder
to frequency deviations in NYISO, where
under a new tariffresources are dispatched in
order of fastest ramp rates. NYISO requires a
ramp rate of 20 MW within 6 seconds, although
the plant can respond faster, with no limits on
degradation due to cycle, duty, depth of dis-
charge, charging rate, ambient temperature, and
so on. The plants NYISO performance index
July 2013
|
ENERGY STORAGE
average is greater than 95% since inception
better than any competing technologies. In fact,
the plant is capable of providing 35% of NY-
ISOs regulation requirements with only 10%
of the market regulation capacity.
To build the Stephentown facility, in 2009,
Beacon Power received a U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) $43 million loan guaran-
tee (of which the company drew about $39
million). When Beacon Power Corp. filed for
bankruptcy protection on Oct. 30, 2011, as
part of the bankruptcy court proceedings, the
company agreed, on Nov. 18, to sell its Ste-
phentown facility to repay the DOE loan.
On Feb. 6, 2012, private equity firm Rock-
land Capital bought the plant and most of the
company assets. It has since rehired most of
the staff, renamed the company Beacon Pow-
er LLC, and funded construction of a second
20-MW plant in Hazle Township, Pa., that
will provide frequency regulation services to
PJM. That plant, configured like the Stephen-
town Plant, will place the first 4 MW into
commercial service in September 2013 and
the remainder by the second quarter of 2014.
Beacon Power Rebounds
In late April, POWER discussed this remark-
able turnaround with Beacon Power CEO
Barry Brits to explore the underlying cause
of the bankruptcy and how the company ex-
pects to earn revenue and build a business.
Brits shared that in the past, the company
struggled to earn revenue when there was no
market tariff in place that placed a monetary
value on regulation services, particularly
fast-response regulation.
Today, tariff changes are in place in sev-
eral ISO regions that will pay for regulation
services. Other markets are developing,
such as MISO and CAISO. Brits believes
that Beacon Power is well situated to com-
pete in those markets, particularly as the
companys cost/cycle is much lower than
its primary competition, batteries. Brits ex-
pects the remaining ISO markets to follow
suit in time and develop attractive tariff
structures. With an established tariff, Bea-
con can build plants and earn a return on
its investment. This is what Brits described
as the companys short-term plan, over the
next year or so.
In the long term, the company will pursue
global opportunities where fast-responding
grid regulation services have a prescribed
market value, particularly in islanding ap-
plications and in regions with high power
prices and a high percentage of renewables.
Not surprisingly, Brits was in Germany ex-
ploring market opportunities when we made
contact by phone.
Brits noted that the Stephentown plant
has provided grid regulation services (called
ancillary services in other regions) for two
years, earning revenue 24/7 while maintain-
ing high reliability of service. With new
tariffs for these services now available, the
uncertainty that made investors reluctant to
provide financing in the past has been re-
moved. Brits suggests that there is ample
money available from energy private equity
or from hedge funds to construct new proj-
ects without difficulty. The companys new
connection with Rockland Capital has also
opened new networks for project financing,
expected to be in the range of 50% to 60%
debt-to-equity.
As a taxpayer, it was very good to hear
that Beacon Power has committed to the re-
payment of at least 70% of the DOE loan,
unlike other firms that have walked away
from loan repayments. Beacons repayment
commitment is a good sign that the company
has a strong product and is investing in that
product with a long-term perspective.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is editor-in-chief
of POWER.
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|
July 2013 56
Gas-Electric Integration
Swamps All Other Issues
Panelists at the ELECTRIC POWER 2013 Keynote and Roundtable Discussion in
Chicago in May were consumed by the need to ensure future reliability by
more closely integrating the gas and electricity markets. Acknowledged
less directly were distortions created by renewable energy subsidies and
mandates, onerous regulations affecting coal, and irreversible demand
destruction caused by the success of energy efficiency and demand man-
agement programs. The elephant in the room was the continued demise
of electricity markets.
By Jason Makansi, Pearl Street Inc.
T
en years ago, the observation that a $1/
MMBtu swing in natural gas prices
would lead to a $4/MWh swing in elec-
tricity prices (in PJM in this case) would have
been hailed as market volatility for merchant
generators in robust electricity markets to capi-
talize on. Today, its a measure of unwanted in-
stability in the reliable delivery of electricity to
customers. What a difference a decade makes.
The broad solution for ironing out that insta-
bility is greater integration of gas and electric-
ity markets, the theme that emerged from the
State of the Industry Keynote talks, moderated
by David Wagman, POWERs executive editor
and the events content director, and the Indus-
try Leaders Roundtable, titled Reliability at
What Cost and Who Pays? moderated by Dr.
Robert Peltier, editor-in-chief of POWER. An-
other integration issueintermittent renewable
energycaptured the attention of the panel
and audience. And if integration was the word
of the session, the dis-integration of coal-fired
generation wasnt ignored, nor was the destruc-
tion of electricity load demand.
Unlike past years, no one questioned the
shale gas resource estimates (Figure 1), just
the ability to get it to a power plant when
needed. If the writing on the wall about the
impact of the domestic shale gas bonanza
was visible to these industry leaders before,
in this session it glowed in neon against the
darkened sky of high winds, a fading spark
spread, little if any dark spread to support
new coal, and continuing threats to a critical
zero-carbon option, nuclear power.
The market doesnt value capacity, was
one refrain, and certainly not baseload capacity.
Another critical observation was that a just-in
time (JIT) natural gas delivery system is clash-
ing with the JIT electricity delivery system.
Overlay onto that clash must take highly
intermittent wind- and solar-generated elec-
tricity, plus demand destruction through en-
ergy efficiency, plus demand side programs.
With all that volatility, todays electricity
business should be a free marketers dream.
But that was oh so 1990s.
Gas Prices Rising
David Wagman teed up the keynote talks by
noting that natural gas prices have disadvan-
taged coal, even Powder River Basin Coal
(PRB) so cheap that rail transportation cost
overwhelms its price. However, the com-
petitive advantage has swung back to coal in
recent months, Wagman cautioned, under-
scoring the need for flexibility. The industry
expects 50,000 MW, a mini-boom, of gas-
fired plant construction through 2015.
Mark McCullough, executive VP, genera-
tion, American Electric Power (AEP), then ex-
panded on the gas theme, noting that proven
gas reserves have doubled in recent years, and
potential reserves are incredible. The nations
annual burn is 25 tcf, while the future resource
is 2,700 tcf. McCullough described a ceiling
of $4$6/MMBtu for gas prices. However, it
doesnt take much movement in the gas price
to change things up (Figure 2). A $1/MMBtu
move in [gas] price really affects dispatch, he
said. Then he posed the question: How do you
contract for fuel [in this environment]?
AEPs analyses show that gas will be 50%
of PJMs capacity in 2020, while 5,000 MW
of coal will get retired. With less coal genera-
tion, gas has to do much more. One of Mc-
Culloughs fundamental points was that higher
dispatch of gas plants doesnt square very well
with interruptible gas supply contracts. Less
than 20% of the gas plants in PJM are on
firm gas supply. He explained that the day-
ahead bidding system for electricity requires
1. Gas glut grows. The domestic shale gas resource is incredible, though it is important to
realize potential resources (shown in this slide) are called unproven resources. Courtesy: AEP
July 2013
|
that plants also submit their nominations for
gas supply. Interruptible supply could get
bumped from the queue, he cautioned.
Gas power station owner/operators also have
to adapt their thinking about their role in ensur-
ing reliability, noting, as one example, that the
North American Electric Reliability Corp. re-
quires, among other things, a quarterly check-
list concerning batteries. He then amplified
the capacity-value conundrum. Wind and solar
may be experiencing favorable pricing trends,
but neither brings capacity to the grid, only en-
ergy. Other capacity must be there to support
the renewable energy. Embedding these costs
in the rate base puts more and more pressure on
those favorable renewable energy prices.
McCullough posed the question: Are we
in danger of becoming a one-fuel industry?
Its somewhat of an unreal scenario. Even at
50% gas capacity, there is still fuel diversity in
the grid. No one talked about a one-fuel indus-
try when coal was 50% of the generation. But
its the trajectory McCullough was referring to.
Baseload coal and nuclear are threatened by
their respective risk profiles, he said, we need
to promote balance in the portfolio, and we need
a discussion at the national level about this.
Swamping Other Fuels
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Commissioner Philip Moeller amplified the one-
fuel note, stating that gas is swamping other
fuel options, for five reasons:
Its easier to build and finance a gas plant.
Its easier to add gas capacity near load
than to build transmission.
Gas plant ramping is a solution to inter-
mittent renewable energy. (He called the
ramping in California that takes place
many afternoons amazing.)
Coal faces a regulatory tsunami, with Mer-
cury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) at
the center of it.
Gas prices appear to be relatively stable.
The last bullet point was especially notable
given that only six years ago, gas prices reg-
istered as high as $14/MMBtu at peak times.
However, Moeller noted, shale reserves didnt
even show up seven years ago, and technology
will allow finding and extracting even more.
The resource will still be there even if society
poses additional restrictions on it.
FERC is taking gas-electric integration se-
riously, especially in light of a February 2011
outage in the Southwest when thousands lost
gas and electric supply because of inter-
dependencies. An official proceeding was
opened on the subject and five planned tech-
nical workshops considered regional issues.
Moeller called the situation in New England
acute. Electricity suppliers apparently are
bidding in without knowing whether theyre
going to get gas. Aligning the gas and elec-
tricity trading days is important, he said.
Moeller acknowledged that efforts 10 years
ago to align the trading days failed. Another
challenge is the legal issues surrounding the
two sides talking to each other during times
of stress on the system, he conceded, refer-
ring to gaming the market to unfair advan-
tage. The fact is, though, there isnt a 90-day
supply of coal sitting outside a gas plant. He
described the gas market as not particularly
liquid and as more of a JIT delivery system.
The notion of JIT gas and electric is not quite
accurate. The wholesale side of the gas industry
has significant amounts of storage. However, it is
mostly set up for seasonal, not daily, fluctuations.
The electricity industry also has around 2% of its
capacity in pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS)
and one compressed air energy storage plant,
plus a smattering of small-scale storage dem-
onstration devices that dont register in terms of
capacity. PHS has demonstrated great flexibility
in helping grid operators smooth out hourly and
even several-minute fluctuations between elec-
tricity supply and demand. There are those who
often state that the electricity industry has plenty
of storageits in the gas pipeline and storage
system. But Moellers message was that its the
business side that has to be aligned with electric-
ity, not necessarily the physical.
Gas Swamp Examples
McCullough and Moeller were then joined
by four other industry leaders who offered
prepared introductory remarks (Figure 3).
David Mohre, executive director, Energy &
Power Division, National Rural Electric Co-
operative Association (NRECA) noted that, of
the 56,000 MW of cooperative utility capacity
nationwide, only 26,000 MW is coal, or 46%.
Historically, that figure has been 80%. Since
2007, 15,000 MW of new capacity has been
added, 75% of it natural gas. Mohre did ex-
2. Coal makes a comeback. In the span of one quarter, AEPs coal-to-gas ratio changed
significantly in coals favor, although the change was more dramatic in some AEP regions than
in others. Source: AEP
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
East coal East gas East combined cycle West coal West gas
1Q12 1Q13
47.7%
52.4%
47.8%
30.3%
78.3%
47.8%
69.7%
71.8%
22.1%
15.0%
Cycle
3. Popular industry roundtable. Participants in this years industry roundtable ad-
dressed a full house. Source: POWER
|
July 2013 58
press reservations about gas supply and price
volatility but said the problem was deliverabil-
ity. The resource looks robust.
Mohre also observed that a $1 shift in gas
prices moved the PJM market by $4/MWh.
What happens to price if the country, as some
have forecasted, starts to export up to 5 tcf
annually? Bottom line, according to Mohre:
The industry is not properly valuing long-
term firm capacity, which is necessary to sup-
port power plant and pipeline construction.
Joe Nipper, senior VP, government rela-
tions, American Public Power Association
(APPA), made the same point as Mohre but
in a different way. APPAs members represent
9% to 10% of the countrys generating capac-
ity. The historical 70:30 split between coal
and gas is now flipped. Nipper argued that
gas-electric integration doesnt necessarily re-
quire legislative changes, noting that the Sen-
ate Energy & Natural Resources Committee
was holding hearings on the issue, but it does
need changes from FERC. He called the stor-
age piece for gas critical.
Enter Renewables Advocates
After Nipper concluded, gas issues took a
back seat to renewable energy during the
roundtable. While Mohre noted that his
member utilities own and operate substantial
renewable energy facilities, the really vocal
advocates were yet to come.
Michael Polsky, president & CEO of Inve-
nergy LLC, took a decidedly contrarian tack,
stating that renewables are stable. They may
be subsidized and high cost, but they have to
be judged fairly, which is to say the electric-
ity comes free in the long-term. On that basis,
he argued, even discounting the production
tax credit (PTC)he omitted the investment
tax credit (ITC) and the renewable portfolio
standards (RPS) imposed by the majority of
stateswind energy still imposes the lowest
cost on the system. As an example, he said
Illinois ratepayers have saved $177 million
because of renewable energy. Recognize that
renewables are here to stay, he said.
In a sense, Ron Binz of Public Policy Con-
sulting and former chair, Colorado Public Utili-
ties Commission (PUC), split the difference
between gas and renewables. The only panelist
to claim that the primary industry driver will
be carbon regulation, not gas prices, he called
wind energy a fuel hedge with probably no
equal. He also proposed that building a wind
farm and a gas plant is better than building a
wind plant alone. Colorado has 16% renewable
energy, and its dominant utility, Xcel Energy,
has become expert in balancing the system.
The Value of Long-Term Planning
In a moment of irony, Polsky, who referenced
his time at the University of Chicagoknown
for its unwavering and unapologetic defense
of free market principlessaid it flat out:
The free market does not work for long-term
planning; electricity is not an open market. If
you dont have policy decisions, you gamble
every day, he said. One could argue that the
free market is risk-informed gambling.
It is also true, as Mohre pointed out, that
just because the government mandates some-
thing, it doesnt mean it will stick. Mohre
cited the Fuel Use Act, passed in 1979 and
repealed in 1987, which barred the burning
of natural gas in power plants. In that con-
text, and to illustrate the paradox of govern-
ment policy, it is also worth mentioning that
the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act
(PURPA), passed in the same year, allowed
natural gas firing for cogeneration, but be-
cause the requirement for thermal output was
minimal, many gas-fired power plants came
to be known as PURPA machines.
Many of the questions from Dr. Peltier and
the audience had to do with long-term plan-
ning. Peltier asked about the utility business
model, the strategy, for the next two decades.
McCullough again repeated that renewable en-
ergy doesnt bring capacity, and so how do we
recover the cost of the capacity? Technical ad-
vancement in storage is one route, he said, but
he noted that AEPs experiments in home and
community storage have not gone so well.
Mohre also alluded to the discrepancy
over renewable energy costs: We [coopera-
tives] know a lot about the cost and opera-
tional issues with wind. Later, Polsky tossed
out the number $25/MWh as the typical cost
for wind. Mohre shot back, We know what
wind costs, and it is not $25/MWh!
Polsky continued to bait the utility leaders,
saying, utilities fight everything, but its a los-
ing game; theyre in denial. Binz called the
utility of the future an orchestra conductor,
referring to the need to balance the variations of
supply and demand. Utilities have always had
to conduct, but Binz appeared to refer to the
need to do this with ever-greater variations on
shorter and shorter time scales. Binz also cited
the need to think beyond the five years of low
natural gas pricing and return to long-term gas
supply contracting, while Mohre stressed the
need to value long-term firm resources.
Innovation is often part of a long-term busi-
ness strategy. Peltier noted the collapse of the
venture capital market for cleantech, which he
said dropped 54% last year. What is the pros-
pect for long-term return? he asked.
Polsky insisted that the cleantech venture
capital sector did not understand the industry.
High tech is not like electricity, he said. It
takes much more capital to commercialize, and
its difficult to scale to the needs of this indus-
try. He and Binz agreed that utilities will likely
innovate on the customer side of the meter.
Utilities are looking to get into the rooftop PV
business, Binz said. Moeller mentioned stor-
age, but that FERC is limited by jurisdiction on
what it can do with new technologies.
What Value Coal?
Most of the panelists addressed coal-fired re-
sources indirectly by lumping them into the
need for a balanced resource mix. But in re-
sponse to a direct question from the audience,
What is the ongoing model for coal to stay in
the business? Polsky said coal faces extinc-
tion. Binz referred to cap and innovate, im-
plying that capping carbon dioxide emissions
will force innovation in carbon capture and
storage (CCS), which he said is key to coals
future. McCullough, based on AEPs direct ex-
perience with CCS demonstration, agreed with
Binz but added the caveat, at what cost? The
parasitic load for a 1,300-MW unit with CCS is
300 MW. Polsky countered that coal with CCS
will not be the low-cost option.
Mohre offered the issue that everyone was
happy to ignore. McCullough noted that the
coal industry is exporting lots of coal, mak-
ing up for lower consumption in the U.S.
Mohre later asked, How right is it to ship
100 million tons of coal and burn it in other
countries? That lower consumption is oc-
curring because, stressed McCullough, 60
to 70 GW of coal will be retired because of
MATS. Much of that coal capacity, he added,
is providing ancillary services, in part to ad-
dress renewable energy integration.
The Real Enemy?
Its always easy to skewer the option that isnt
represented at the table. Rooftop photovolta-
ics (PV) certainly took some hits. At the top,
Wagman noted that DG [distributed genera-
tion] and microgrids are disrupting the indus-
try, while Peltier referenced one utility CEO
who said that companies installing solar pan-
els are going directly to the customers and an-
other utility CEO who considers this a threat
to the utility business model. Polsky advised,
utilities should deal with the real threat,
which is rooftop PV. CHP [combined heat
and power] and rooftop PV will grow signifi-
cantly, Binz echoed, adding that utilities need
to be compensated and share in the rooftop PV
revenues. Moeller called the $30,000 solar tax
credit to install rooftop PV poor ratepayers
subsidizing affluent ratepayers.
Polsky called the solar tax credit unfair.
For a CEO of a company developing wind
farms with a $23/MWh PTC (along with
ITCs), that was an interesting characteriza-
tion, to say the least. Binz added that the wind
PTC is roughly equivalent to a carbon value
of $30/ton. No one ventured an estimate of
the value of a state-level RPS to a wind farm
developer.
July 2013
|
Rooftop PV is only one component of
the real enemy of the utility business model
going forward, which is weak electric-
ity demand. McCullough showed graphs of
dropping industrial load in AEPs consider-
able service territories (Figure 4). On the
bright side, he also acknowledged that shale
gas processing and delivery needs electric-
ity to run pumps, compressors, and other
machinery. He said load is probably not go-
ing to grow substantially because of demand
side technologies and behaviors. Energy
efficiency is real.
How real was underscored by other panel-
ists. A 1% rise in gross domestic product used
to lead to a 1.6% rise in electricity demand,
he said. Today, the associated demand figure
is 0.3%. Light bulb replacements and appli-
ance efficiency standards, to name two fac-
tors, have reduced cooperative utility load.
Nipper also stressed the importance of
utility-customer partnerships in imple-
menting energy efficiency improvements.
Lots of projections show demand going
down, echoed Moeller, so customer relation-
ships with utilities will be very different. In
this context, Polsky was more conciliatory:
Customers still need the utility as a backup.
Binz gave the example of a state-of-the-
art refrigerator that uses less electricity than a
75-watt light bulb! Ten years ago, the same
refrigerator would have consumed four to five
times that wattage. But efficient appliances
are only part of the story. Binz observed that
no panelist had yet used the phrase smart
grid, adding that the smart grid is a digital
mesh that will provide services in the back-
ground. He noted that in the UK, the standard
rate of return is no longer the benchmark
for setting electricity rates. PUCs need to
incorporate more concepts of risk. This loss
of load is irreversible, he concluded.
Lowest cost is not necessarily the solu-
tion, Polsky said. An option selected may not
be the least cost today but will be over time.
One audience member said, Diversity
comes from long-term resource planning.
Then he asked, Do we need to re-introduce
long-term strategic planning, central plan-
ning, for public infrastructure? In different
ways, the panelists answered yes, even if
they undoubtedly had different ideas of the
percentage of each resource that would con-
stitute diversity.
In closing, think about this. Global petro-
chemical and manufacturing companies are
making decisions whether to invest in multi-
billion-dollar facilities to take advantage of
domestic shale gas. The investment horizon
is similar to that of a power plant. They
will have to contract for raw materials for
the front end and compete on price for their
products. They will have to meet as many, if
not more, environmental and product qual-
ity and safety regulations. There will not be
a regulated rate of return on that investment.
Nor will there be a PTC, ITC, RPS, carve-
out, or other subsidy.
Jason Makansi (jmakansi@ pearlstreet-
inc.com) is president of Pearl Street Inc., a
technology deployment services firm.
4. Load loss continues. Industrial load growth has declined for three quarters in a row in
AEPs service territory. Source: AEP
2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Mar-06
Primary metal manufacturing Chemical manufacturing Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
Mining (except oil and gas) Paper manufacturing
G
W
h
Mar-07 Mar-08 Mar-09 Mar-10 Mar-11 Mar-12 Mar-13
Structural Bolting 102:
T R A I N I N G F I E L D S U P P O R T T E C H N I C A L E X P E R T I S E
info@appliedbolting.com www.appliedbolting.com 1 800 552 1999
Squirter DTIs
Torque is twist.
Tension is tight.
confirms bolt tension!
USAs only Quenched and
Tempered DTIs
the best way to bolt!
abt. power feb 13:Layout 1 5/31/13 3:56 PM Page 1
13_PWR_070113_EP_Keynote_p56-59.indd 59 6/13/13 12:19:44 PM
|
July 2013 60
Is Gas Getting Too Hot to Handle?
With ever-increasing demands for fast ramping and flexibility, natural gasfired
plants are grabbing a bigger share of the generation pie. But uncertainty
about future prices and concerns about overreliance on a single fuel are
dampening enthusiasm during what may be the most exciting time for gas
ever. Natural gas is hotbut will generators and the market get burned?
By Thomas Overton
I
n a series of standing-room-only ses-
sions in Track 2: Gas Turbine/Com-
bined Cycle Power Plants at ELEC-
TRIC POWER 2013, an array of speakers
from generating companies, manufactur-
ers, and service providers reported on best
operation and maintenance practices and
new options in gas-fired power generation,
particularly cycling existing plants and
building distributed and combined heat and
power plants (Figure 1).
The Challenges of Frequent Cycling
With the rapidly expanding role of wind in
the generation mix, the ability to ramp up
and down quickly is a gas-fired plants big-
gest advantage. Rapid cycling, however, can
come with hidden costs, explained Douglas
Hilleman of Intertek. Too often, plant own-
ers make assumptions about these costs
without drilling down into the details, even
though small changes can reap big returns
in more profitable operations. Not know-
ing the true costs of cycling operations can
leave a substantial amount of money on the
table. Its not just fuel, Hilleman said, its
the latent costs.
Hilleman reported on Interteks cycling
analysis for Xcel Energys peaking plant in
Riverside, California. A full understanding
of cycling costs allowed Xcel to tailor its
dispatch plans to the true costs, and do it
without capital investments or hardware
modifications. While a comprehensive
analysis of cycling operations can be cost-
ly, the returns are big enough that it can
pay for itself in a few months. In the case
of the Riverside plant, simply reducing the
ramp rate by 33% saved thousands of dol-
lars in maintenance costs.
When a plant owner needs to shift gears
in a changing market, careful analysis is
key, reported Brian Eskra of Power En-
gineers Collaborative. Eskra described a
study performed for a client in Southern
California that needed to retire its steam
electric plants and replace them with com-
bined cycle plants in order to meet the de-
mands of the CAISO market and changing
regulations in the state. Recognizing that
intermediate and peaking generation of-
fered the best market niche was only the
start, Eskra said. Analysis of the various
options, market demands, and the returns
on investment led to development of a 3 x
1 block configuration utilizing Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries D/E class turbines.
Scott Polemus of LTSA Options described
ways that plant owners can optimize their
long-term service agreements (LTSAs). The
market has changed in the past few years,
and its worth reevaluating and renegotiat-
ing existing LTSAs for cost savings and/or
increased benefits. Owners can restructure
agreements to provide for more cost and risk
sharing, Polemus explained. With the grow-
ing role of and demands on gas-fired plants,
its time to determine if an LTSA is still serv-
ing a plants needs.
Even when a plant is optimized for its
market, however, theres no guarantee its
going to stay that way: Wear and tear from
frequent cycling and ramping, along with
changes in weather and fuel properties, can
reduce a plants operating windows. Thats
why regular tuning is important, explained
Donald Gauthier, senior technical lead for
Power Systems Manufacturing (PSM).
These kinds of changes will increase tur-
bine dynamics, and running with high dy-
namics can be very expensive, whether the
costs result from lean blowouts (LBOs) or
accelerated equipment wear.
While manual tuning will work, auto-
mated tuning systems are preferable because
of faster response and reduced maintenance.
PSMs AutoTune system offers one solution
for 7FA units. AutoTune automatically man-
ages combustion dynamics to reduce the risk
of LBO and improve emission control, while
maximizing power output.
In combined cycle plants, however,
proper tuning extends beyond the turbine.
Rapid cycling also places demands on the
heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), ex-
1. Full house. Attendees in the gas track learned about meeting the challenges of the gas
market. Source: POWER
July 2013
|
plained Tony Thompson, chief technology
officer for Vogt Power Internationaleven
when the HRSG is carefully designed for
it. Operating profitably and efficiently un-
der such conditions requires the ability to
monitor the impact on HRSG component
integrity and knowing whether replacement
or repair is most cost-effective. Vogt offers
an online monitoring system that records
and analyzes operational data to calculate
life cycles for critical components.
Small Power: When Size Matters
The fall in natural gas prices has renewed
interest in distributed generation (DG) and
combined heat and power (CHP) resources.
Small turbines are ideal for these applica-
tions because of their flexibility, efficiency,
and low maintenance requirements, Uwe
Schmiemann, marketing manager for Solar
Turbines, told attendees.
The need for small, decentralized power
plants is likely to rise as the growth in re-
newable generation continues to outstrip
transmission capabilities, Schmiemann
said. Their rapid start and agile load-fol-
lowing capabilities, as well as the ability to
operate with little or no on-site manpower,
can efficiently manage localized grid fluc-
tuations resulting from increased amounts
of behind-the-meter renewables.
DG and CHP also showed their value
last year during Hurricane Sandy, when
facilities with their own generation were
able to keep the lights and heat on when
the grid went down and surrounding areas
were without power for weeks. In addition,
Schmiemann noted, the shift to small gas
turbines from older fuel oil systems offers
substantial emissions benefits for institu-
tions such as universities and hospitals that
have long generated their own power.
CHP is also growing in usage in industry
as lower gas prices offer economic benefits
over grid power, as well as a reduction in
emissions. As an example, Schmiemann
described a facility that was able to cut its
overall CO
2
emissions by 60,000 tons by
installing a 15-MW CHP system.
Daniel Loero of GE Aero Energy de-
scribed DG and CHP applications for GEs
venerable LM series turbines. More than
2,000 are in service worldwide. Loero told
attendees about a new plant at a wind farm
in Kansas that uses three LM units to support
1.2 GW of wind generation. The turbines are
able to even out the wind farms output and
compensate for short-term fluctuations.
Where very rapid response with high
efficiency is necessary, gas-fired engines
can be ideal, said Mark Harrer, business
development manager for Wrtsil North
America. The key advantage of multi-en-
gine plants is that generation output can be
adjusted by turning individual engines on
and off as needed rather than ramping the
plant as a whole up and down. This allows
each engine to operate at peak efficiency
even when the plant is generating only a
portion of its total capacity, Harrer said.
Wrtsils newest engines have simple
cycle efficiencies greater than 46%. In
addition, they can maintain stable output
across wider ranges of ambient tempera-
tures and altitudes than gas turbines. The
engines can reach full power in 5 minutes,
shut down, and be back at full power 10
minutes later.
This offers another benefit, Harrer ex-
plained. In competitive markets, the ability
to respond rapidly to price spikes can be
very lucrative. In one example he showed,
the ability to respond immediately to a
$3,000/MWh price spike returned $895,000
in revenue.
Thomas W. Overton, JD is POWERs gas
technology editor.
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|
July 2013 62
What Does the Market Expect
from Gas Plants?
With the country awash in natural gas and new construction dominated
by gas-fired plants, one would think that integrating these plants into
the grid would be simple. Like politics, integration problems appear
to be local.
By Thomas Overton
I
n a world of conflicting priorities,
uncertain demand, and uncertain fuel
price trajectories, what does the elec-
tric power market need from gas-fired
power?
In a word: Everything.
That was the message from a panel
of industry representatives assembled to
discuss the future of natural gas plants at
ELECTRIC POWER 2013 in Chicago.
Dr. Paul M. Sotkiewicz, chief econo-
mist, markets, for PJM, began by telling
attendees, Our objective is to maintain
reliability and operate fair and efficient
nondiscriminatory markets. Nevertheless,
while PJM is fuel-neutral, he noted that the
ISO is facing 20 GW of impending coal re-
tirements by 2016about 10% of installed
capacitymost of which is likely to be re-
placed with gas-fired power.
Competitive markets value efficiency,
he said: the more efficiently you can run,
the more money you will make. That pro-
vides an incentive for building newer,
more efficient combined cycle plants.
The market also places a premium on
operational flexibility and reliability.
The quicker you can move, the more ac-
curately you can follow dispatch signals,
the more profitable you will be. The mar-
ket will reward those resources that can do
this, he said.
The newest gas-fired plants are capable
of responding more quickly than older as-
sets. That makes gas very competitive,
he noted.
Gas-electric coordination is not the
pressing issue in PJM that it is elsewhere,
he said, in part because of the substantial
existing gas infrastructure. It is important
in winter, though, because of the increased
domestic demand.
Still, Sotkiewicz argued that its not
hard to ensure you have the gas you need
with responsible planning. Its just a
matter of being willing to pay the price
for it.
Environmental Issues Are Also
Important
With increasing attention to emissions, the
market is demanding assets that can meet
regulations efficiently. Modern combined
cycle plants have substantial advantages
over fossil-fuel plants. Its a no-brainer,
he said.
Sheryl Torrey, director of trading ana-
lytics and operations for NV Energy, re-
viewed the laundry list of demands on the
typical gas plant: optionality, flexibility,
efficiency, cycling, load following, and
reduced outages (Figure 1). And of course
all of it, she said, needs to be delivered at
low costs.
David A. Frederick, manager of fuel
procurement for FirstEnergy, noted that
the massive influx of shale gas from the
Marcellus shale play has changed the eco-
nomics of gas-fired power in the PJM re-
gion. Consequently, coal generation has
fallen 33% since 2008, while gas gen-
eration has grown 173%. Both trends are
ahead of national changes, substantially
so for gas.
The result has been to markedly flatten the
supply curve in PJM. While the $50/MWh
point in 2008 was at 112,000 MWh, in 2012,
it had stretched out to 162,000 MWh.
We arent spending as much money for
reliability, he said.
And though PJM is facing a large num-
ber of coal plant retirements, the new ca-
pacity being proposed should be enough
to replace it, particularly since PJM is ar-
guably oversupplied at the moment, with
baseload capacity currently at 90% of load,
leaving peak units in excess. The expected
retirements will leave about 5% of the load
for peaking units.
Consequently, despite the influx of
cheap Marcellus gas, Its going to be hard
for merchant players to enter the market,
at least in the short term. The current eco-
nomics will struggle to support new plant
construction.
The situation for gas power in Califor-
nia, however, is quite different, reported
Clyde Loutan, senior advisor for renew-
able energy integration for California
ISO. The large amount of renewable
1. A wide range of needs. Panel members for the What Does the Market Expect
from Gas Plants? session, left to right: Sheryl Torrey, NV Energy; Mark Harrer, Wrtsil; David
Frederick, FirstEnergy; Paul Sotkiewicz, PJM; and Clyde Loutan, CAISO. Source: POWER
July 2013
|
generation, especially solar, is creating
the potential for large swings in demand
throughout the day.
He showed the session a slide illustrating
projections for 2020 that suggested swings
of up to 13,500 MW were possible as solar
capacity comes on and off the grid during the
day (Figure 2). Combined with traditional
less-flexible resources, the region may be fac-
ing potential over-generation conditions. All
this means a strong demand for fast-ramping
capacity and frequency response.
Asked what might be necessary to better
incentivize construction of fast, flexible gas
plants, the panelists had varying answers.
Sotkiewicz said, bluntly, Nothing,
other than the gas-electric coordination
issue. A system the size of PJM, he said,
has enough diversity and market incen-
tives in place. But size does matter, he
noted, since larger regions have better
ability to balance loads.
The lurking problem is coordinating gas
supplies. Right now, Sotkiewicz said, each
interstate pipeline acts as its own ISO.
For areas of western Pennsylvania and east-
ern Ohio, said Frederick, Its more of an issue
of how do we get all of that gas out of the area,
because we have more than we need.
The panelists also noted that, no matter
what is generating the power, the trans-
mission assets need to be in place to move
it. There, plenty of challenges remain.
As Sotkiewicz noted, Wouldnt it be nice
if we had something like FERC for trans-
mission like we have with pipelines?
Thomas W. Overton, JD is POWERs gas
technology editor.
2. Wide swings in demand with renewables. By 2020, added renewable resourc-
es will create enormous demand for fast-ramping generation in CAISO. Source: CAISO
46,000
44,000
42,000
40,000
38,000
36,000
34,000
32,000
30,000
28,000
26,000
24,000
22,000
20,000
L
o
a
d

&

n
e
t

l
o
a
d

(
M
W
)
Net load = loadwindsolar
0:00 1:30 3:00 4:30 6:00 7:30 9:00 10:30 12:00 13:30 15:00 16:30 18:00 19:30 21:00 22:30 0:00
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
W
i
n
d

&

s
o
l
a
r

(
M
W
)
Load Net load Wind Solar
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July 2013 64
The Beguiling Promise of the HTGR
Its easy to see why technologists fall in love with high-temperature gas-cooled
reactors (HTGRs). These nuclear machines are remarkable inventions, at
least on paper. But few have actually seen the real world for any length of
time, and their real-world experience has been mixed.
By Kennedy Maize
T
he claims of high-temperature gas-
cooled reactor (HTGR) advocates are
impressive and persuasive. They say
the reactors are versatile, scalable, and largely
goof-proof. Because of their high tempera-
tures, HTGRs are ideally suited for double
duty in industrial cogeneration applications,
which is why chemical companies and other
users of process steam pine for their develop-
ment. They dont use water as coolant, nuclear
moderator, or in managing spent fuel. They
are even better than conventional light-water
reactors (LWRs) in displacing carbon dioxide,
as they can not only generate electricity but
also back out industrial use of oil and natural
gas burned to raise either low- or high-pres-
sure steam. They can easily follow load.
The nuclear buzz of late has been all
about small modular reactors, which are
aiming for development in the next 10 years
or sothe mPower, NuScale, and Westing-
house machines. These are aimed at supple-
menting the big Gen III machines such as
the 1,000-MW Westinghouse AP1000s now
under construction in Georgia and South
Carolina. But the next, next generation of
nuclear plant could be the HTGR, aimed at
the 2030s timeframe.
Thats the heart of the case that two repre-
sentatives from the Next Generation Nuclear
Plant Ltd. (NGNP) Industry AllianceEn-
tergys John Mahoney and Fred Moore, a
consultant who has retired from chemical gi-
ant Dowmade in the ELECTRIC POWER
2013 nuclear track in Chicago in May. The
partnership (www.ngnpalliance.org) consists
of a host of companies interested in the prom-
ise of the HTGR, including, among others in
addition to Entergy and Dow, Areva, West-
inghouse, ConocoPhillips, and SGL Group.
The current conceptual design is for a re-
actor that produces 625 MWth (300 MWe)
of energy, which Moore noted is about the
same size as todays gas-fired combined
cycle generators. The core outlet temperature
of the helium coolant to a steam generator is
750C, compared with 300C for a convention-
al LWR. The reactor core is Arevas Antares
prismatic block concept, which consists of
TRISO (tristructural-isotropic) fuel spheres
packed into tubes that are then assembled
into hexagonal fuel blocks (Figure 1).
The design, Mahoney and Moore empha-
sized, minimizes the need for developing ad-
vanced materials and is based on current fuel
programs. Each tiny fuel particle is strong,
fully encapsulated, and constitutes its own
containment, able to withstand pressures of
1,000 atmospheres.
The safety features begin with the fact that
the reactor has a strong negative void coefficient
of reactivity, according to its advocates. If the
reactor loses coolant, the reaction shuts down.
The core has low power density, a safety plus.
The helium is gaseous under all reactor condi-
tions and is both chemically and radioactively
inert. In a loss-of-coolant accident, there is no
need for operators to shut down the machine;
it shuts itself off. There is no requirement for
backup power. Spent fuel doesnt require cool-
ing pools before it can go into above-ground,
dry storage. HTGRs, according to its promot-
ers, are beyond passive; they are essentially in-
ert under accident conditions.
Whats needed to deploy these elegant
machines? Some materials research remains,
which is under way at the Department of En-
ergys Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL
notes that while graphite has been used in
past research and commercial HTGRs, his-
torical nuclear grades no long exist. New
grades must be fabricated, characterized, and
irradiated to demonstrate acceptable non-
irradiated and irradiated properties.
This leads to a regulatory challenge.
HTGRs are so different from convention-
al nuclear reactors that they will have to
undergo a ground-up review at the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Ma-
honey and Moore note that one commer-
cial HTGR operated in the U.S., the Fort
St. Vrain plant in Colorado, from 1976 to
1989. The Atomic Energy Commission
(and later the NRC) allowed it to operate
under an exception to its licensing rules,
and the plant experienced serious opera-
tional problems. Convincing the regulators
to licensing a new HTGR will be smack-
dab on the critical path to deployment.
1. Another nuclear option. The HTGR nuclear heat supply system (NHSS) comprises
three major components: a helium-cooled nuclear reactor, a heat transport system, and a cross
vessel that routes the helium between the reactor and the heat transport system. The NHSS
supplies energy in the form of steam and/or high-temperature fluid that can be used for the
generation of high-efficiency electricity and to support a wide range of industrial processes.
Source: NGNP Industry Alliance
July 2013
|
A
combination of relatively low natural
gas prices and efforts to roll back or end
renewable portfolio standards (RPS) in
several states is placing pressure on renewable
energy in the U.S. At the same time, however,
developers remain mindful of the need to be-
gin construction this year on large-scale wind
power projects to take advantage of a produc-
tion tax credit (PTC) extension approved by
Congress earlier this year.
Those were key themes discussed during a
session at ELECTRIC POWER 2013 on market
forces impacting renewable energy finance and
development. Much of the discussion focused
on large-scale wind projects.
With the PTC extension in place, Mid-
American Energy Co. said in early May that it
plans to add up to 1,050 MW of wind genera-
tion capacity in Iowa, representing as many as
656 wind turbines, by the end of 2015. The
proposed new capacity needs state regulatory
approval. MidAmerican estimated that by Jan-
uary 2016 it may be able to generate almost
40% of its January retail output from wind,
including the proposed additions.
Capturing the PTC is important, said
David Streicker, an attorney with Polsinelli
Shugart and conference session moderator. He
said it is unlikely for wind projects not under
construction by the end of the year to move
forward since PTC eligibility is linked to con-
struction. He said that last year, more than 13
GW of wind capacity was brought online, rep-
resenting a capital investment of $25 billion. A
report in mid-May from SNL Energy said that
around 8 GW of new capacity was brought
online in the fourth quarter alone. By contrast,
SNL said the first-quarter 2013 wind capacity
addition was the wind industrys worst since
2006. Around 384 MW of capacity was in-
stalled, down from more than 1,900 MW in
the same quarter a year ago.
Boom-Bust Industry
The boom-and-bust nature of the wind indus-
try helps illustrate the important role played
by the PTC and the industrys continuing
vulnerability to changes in public policy such
as renewable portfolio standards, the ELEC-
TRIC POWER audience was told.
The Achilles heel of RPS is that its a
mandate, said Mark Pruitt, principal with
the Illinois Community Choice Aggregation
Network and former director of the Illinois
Power Agency. It is always going to be tenu-
ous to count on an RPS.
Bill Smith, executive director of MISO
States, said regional operating rules allow
negative market prices as a way to signal gen-
erators to cut production. Smith said its dif-
ficult, however, for a baseload nuclear power
plant to cut its output in the face of negative
pricing. In those instances, nuclear operators
pay because they cant shut. Wind genera-
tors, by contrast, can still afford to pay nega-
tive prices and remain connected to the grid
as long as the payment they make is less than
what they earn through PTC payments.
Pruitt said challenges to state RPS policies
stem in part from the fact that lower natural gas
prices and reduced electricity demand have hit
wholesale electric power prices and kept them
low. This in turn has widened the gap between
market prices and the cost of renewable energy,
rendering long-term power purchase agreements
economically unattractive in some instances. At
the same time, questions are arising over renew-
able energys ability to fill gaps left by retiring
fossil-fueled generating units, particularly given
how flexible and relatively low cost natural gas
fired generation can be.
Whats best, low carbon or no carbon?
Pruitt asked, saying that renewable energy
sources intermittency adds to that evaluation.
In its favor, wind energy can act as a price hedge
against natural gas because the renewable re-
source has a zero fuel cost over its lifetime.
Pruitt outlined four ways that RPSs can
be modified to protect them from challenge.
First, standards can promote uniform and mar-
ketwide participation with a common set of
rules. Second, they can promote cost-based
competition. Third, RPS standards can adopt
a big tent approach and eliminate set-asides
that benefit specific technologies. And fourth,
RPS designs can be designed better. He cited
the current Illinois RPS as being so complex it
could bankrupt some companies and said the
standard is divorced from the reality of the
market. He said the Iowa RPS, by contrast, is
more successful because it is less complicated
and sets more readily achievable goals.
David Wagman is POWERs
executive editor.
Wind Resources Face Market and
Policy Headwinds
Natural gas prices and low wholesale electricity prices are creating headwinds
for large-scale renewable projects such as wind.
By David Wagman
Source: NREL, Warren Gretz
|
July 2013 66
Fighting Transformer Fires
Transformer fires are fearsome events, perhaps the most dangerous common
threats to human lifeboth onsite and beyond the boundaries of a power
plantthat can hit an electric utility.
By Kennedy Maize
F
ire in an electric station is a destruc-
tive, demoralizing, disastrous event un-
der most circumstances. Transformers
fireswhether at large equipment in major
switchgear centers or at smaller distribution
centers that serve homes and businesses
are particularly fearsome. They involve fire,
explosion, high-voltage electrical arcs, oil
ignition and dispersion, and potential inju-
ries or death to community firefighters who
may not have a clue how to deal with a fire
in electrical switchgear. Transformers fires
arent on the scale of the Fukushima nucle-
ar power catastrophe that struck Japan in
March 2011, but they are much more likely
and frequent. They are the nightmares of
electrical system operators.
So when lightning strikes (peeling the
high-voltage transformer open like a can of
sardines) and hits your grid, or transformer
insulation fails, or a kid with a high-pow-
ered rifle and a penchant for mischief shoots
into a transformer, who do you call? Try An-
thony Natale.
Natale, who gave a gripping presenta-
tion at ELECTRIC POWER 2013 in Chi-
cago this May, may be the worlds expert in
fighting transformer fires. Hes New York
Citys doyen of transformer fires, as a key
employee in Consolidated Edisons emer-
gency management response group and a
professor at the Fire Department of New
Yorks (FDNY) Fire Academy, where he
has changed the FDNY approach to fight-
ing transformers fires.
Natale, a short, stocky Italian-American
who talks with his hands as much as his
voice, is the claxon of caution to fire depart-
ments that are summoned by fire alarms and
citizens to transformer fires. Hes so ener-
getic he could probably be hooked into the
grid. And he can intimidate the brashest of
firefighters into caution in the face of electri-
cal fires (Figure 1).
Making New Rules
Natale and his coworkers have established
iron-clad rules that FDNY must follow when
called to a fire at an electric transmission or
distribution substation or even a transform-
er fire on a local distribution pole. These
are specialized fires. The utility workers,
far more than the firefighters who arrive in
trucks with lights spinning and sirens squeal-
ing, understand the intricate dangers. Lives,
far more than millions of dollars of on- and
off-site damages, are at stake.
Some of the lessons firefighters must
heed are surprisingly simple to those who
understand electric generation and distribu-
tion. Wires, which may be on the ground in a
substation, are not insulated, unlike the wires
from a lamp or to a TV in the home. They are
energized and can kill, and firefighters need
to understand that threat.
Other threats are more substantial. Trans-
formers contain copious amounts of oil, used
as insulation. The oil can ignite at 300F.
Transformers can not only ignite but, as Na-
tale showed in a series of YouTube videos
(frequently shot by clueless amateurs), they
can explode.
Most firefighters are aggressive when it
comes to fighting fires, noted Natale. They
want to go toward the blaze and attack it.
But the key to fighting transformer fires is
to curb this tendency, as the utility knows
the hazards of electrical firesincluding
energized systems, the threat of arcing
voltage, and the potential of explosive oil
firesfar better than firefighters arriving
on the scene.
ConEd and FDNY have developed a se-
ries of operating conventions to ensure that
the utility takes control of the fire scene in a
transformer fire. Among the most important
is an unconditional STOP sign at the utility
gate. Its crucial, Natale said, that off-site fire-
fighters dont bull their way into the fire scene
and get themselves and others into trouble.
A utility workera white hatted util-
ity incident commanderwill meet the fire
department crew at the gate, Natale said,
to talk about a plan for fighting the fire
and marshaling people and equipment. In-
side the gate is a lock box for the FDNY
responders to use. It contains a book that
includes a site map, overhead photos of the
site, information about the distribution of
PCBs on the site, and the location of im-
portant equipment, including water sourc-
es, pumps, and the like. This information,
along with the utility incident commander,
provide the guidance for fighting what are
often the most difficult and dangerous fires
that can strike an electric utility system.
1. Powerful personality. Consolidated Edisons Anthony Natale showed several videos to
describe his unique expertise: putting out transformer fires. Source: POWER
July 2013
|
NUCLEAR POWER
Too Dumb to Meter, Epilogue
As the book title Too Dumb to Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends, and Duds
on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy implies, nuclear power has traveled a
rough road. For the conclusion of POWERs exclusive serialization of the
book, we offer the Epilogue: Some Dumb Ideas Never Die. The first 12
installments are available in the POWER online archives.
By Kennedy Maize
T
he Manhattan Project was a marvel-
ous engineering success, but only on
a limited front. It successfully cap-
tured the power of the atom for the purpose
of war and mass destruction. Its success
blinded postwar policymakers in the mid-
twentieth century, who came to believe that
big science melded to big government was
the path to scientific progress.
The Manhattan Project proved to be a false
god. As this book argues, the big-science ap-
proach to public science and engineering
the very model of what has come to be known
as industrial policy and mimicked around the
worldled to feckless, wasteful, needless
dead-ends. We poured our wealth into bomb-
ers that could never fly, construction projects
that could never work, mining and stockpil-
ing fuel that we didnt need, technologies that
never delivered, and waste disposal projects
that gave unintended demonstrations of the
meaning of the word waste. Around it all,
we developed an administrative and bureau-
cratic edifice that distorted our politics and
misled our leaders and our people.
The folks who brought us these follies and
failures werent malefactors by any sensible
definition (including the popular villain Ed-
ward Teller). With good motives, exceptional
educations, broad experience, and true public
spirit, they were mostly brilliant. But they
were often blinded by their success and pride
in their accomplishments. On top of that,
there was a pervasive attitude that money
didnt matter in the pursuit of atomic energy.
British Energy minister Charles Hendry, in
late 2011, summarized things well. Speaking
to Britains Royal Society, he said that in the
postwar period, government energy agencies
operated like an expense account dinner:
everybody ordering the most expensive items
on the menu, because someone else was pay-
ing the bill.
While we should laud the virtues and
many of the fruits of the labor of the leaders
of the past, we should also see clearly where
they failed and, as best we can discern, why.
Economist Lawrence Summers, adviser
to Democrats from Carter to Obama, said
recently, in the context of the Obama ad-
ministrations failed investment in a dodgy
solar energy project, that the government is
a crappy venture capitalist. That has been
true for a very long time.
The spirit, concepts, and hubris flowing
from the Manhattan Project have remained
with us up to today. Hardly a month has
passed without figures in policy and politi-
cal circles proclaiming loudly, with nary a
hint of doubt, that what America or the world
needs is a new Manhattan Project to revital-
ize the economy, save the environment, or
stretch our reach into outer space.
Thats just what we dont need, but some
dumb ideas never die.
Fly It
In 2008, a collaboration among the UK aero-
space industry, two British universities, and
the British governmentknown as the Ome-
ga Projectfloated the idea of resurrecting
nuclear-powered airplanes.
The need for flying nukes, explained Ian
Poll, a professor of aerospace engineering at
Cranfield University, flows from the spec-
ter of man-made global warming. In a 2008
interview with the Times of London, Poll, a
distinguished engineer for many years, said,
We need a design which is not kerosene-
powered, and I think nuclear-powered aero-
planes are the answer beyond 2050. The idea
was proved fifty years ago, but I accept it
would take about thirty years to persuade the
public of the need to fly on them.
Polls grasp of history may have been a
bit uncertain, given that the idea was never
proved, but his vision of the future was firm,
if familiar. In his formulation, the atomic
airplanenot a bomber this time, since the
Cold War ended some twenty years ago, but
a passenger vesselwould fly nonstop from
London to Sidney or Auckland. There would
be zero pollutionunder an unstated as-
sumption of no uncontrolled radioactivity.
What about shielding the crew and pas-
sengers from the local radiation of the en-
gines? Not a big deal, Poll told the Times.
Its done on nuclear submarines and could
be achieved on aircraft by locating the reac-
tors with the engines out on the wings. The
risk of reactors cracking open in a crash
could be reduced by jettisoning them be-
fore impact and bringing them down with
parachutes. Poll called for a large, govern-
ment-funded program to develop the new
generation of atomic-powered flight.
Polls A-plane would have to be large, at
least twice the size of a Boeing 747 by sev-
eral estimates. It would require new airports
with new landing strips, and docking stations
miles from existing terminals. The trip from
the plane to the terminal would seem intermi-
nable to many passengers after a long flight.
Because of the local radiation, pilots
could only fly for a limited time before ex-
ceeding radiation limits. Frequently fliers
might also have to limit their flights on the
A-planes to avoid exceeding radiation lim-
its. Nuclear passenger planes, says Theo-
dore Rockwell, a veteran radiation expert at
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are not
good for anybody.
One of the most remarkable aspects of
Professor Polls paranormal vision is that it
took place years after Arab terrorists crashed
two conventional jet passenger planes into
the World Trade Center in New York, de-
molishing them. In a 2008 article in Scien-
tific American, David Lochbaum, a nuclear
engineer at the U.S.-based Union of Con-
cerned Scientists, scratched his head and
said, Weve been worried since 9/11 about
how to protect against bad guys hijacking
an aircraft and crashing it into a nuclear
power plant upwind of a heavily-populated
area. Lets now put the nuclear reactor in the
plane itself, so they can target cities without
a nuclear plant upwind?
Lochbaum called Polls idea a Christmas
present for the terrorists of the world.
Fortunately, Polls attempt to revive
atomic flight has failedat least for the
time being. The aptly named Omega Project
had UK government funding from 2007 to
|
July 2013 68
NUCLEAR POWER
2009, with a mission of looking at the envi-
ronmental implications of commercial avia-
tion (Poll posed the notion of atomic flight
on his own) and organized by Manchester
Metropolitan University. After a series of
worthy academic tomes, none of which ap-
pear to have had any discernible impact on
any field of inquiry, the group quietly passed
into the mists of history.
Since then, however, there have been
whispers and murmurs about powering the
latest, highest-tech war planesthe re-
motely piloted drones the United States is
using widely in the wilds of Pakistan and
Afghanistanwith small nuclear reactors.
This, of course, gives new meaning to the
term collateral civilian casualties.
Blow It Up
While the United States abandoned its
peaceful nuclear explosions ambitions
over thirty-five years ago, and the Rus-
sian remnants of the Soviet Union seem to
have no interest in rearranging the physical
landscape with hydrogen bombs, China ap-
pears to have big plans for blowing up por-
tions of the Himalayas to reroute a major
river system.
Around 2003, China began publicly dis-
cussing the idea of rerouting the Brahmapu-
tra River and its tributaries, which begin in
Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo River and flow
into India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh,
through territory that is the subject of dispute
between India and China, into the Indian
state of Assam, and then into Bangladesh.
The flood-prone river joins the lower Ganges
and empties into the Bay of Bengal through a
giant delta. It is one of Asias most important,
and least polluted, rivers.
For some twenty years, rumors have cir-
culated that China planned to dam the river
in Tibet, diverting its flow to Chinas desert
regions as well as generating electric power
for Chinas burgeoning industries. China
has already built a dozen dams on the river
in Tibet, without consulting its downstream
neighbors. The rumored concept is that Chi-
na would divert the flow of the Brahmaputra
into Chinas Yellow River basin, watering the
Chinese desert and impoverishing India and
Bangladesh. Many Asian analysts say water
will be the key natural resource in the future,
defining the course of economic development
in the big rivals, China and India.
Indian geopolitical analyst Brahma Chel-
laney at the Center for Policy Research in
New Delhi wrote in 2009 that China is
now pursuing major inter-basin and inter-
river water transfer projects on the Tibetan
plateau, which threatens to diminish inter-
national river flows into India and other
co-riparian states. Chellaney noted, As
its power grows, China seems determined
to choke off Asian competitors, a tendency
reflected in its hardening stance toward In-
diaWater is becoming a key security is-
sue in Sino-Indian relations and a potential
source of enduring discord.
Over the years, China consistently de-
nied that it had any intention of building
new dams on the Brahmaputra in Tibet. But,
faced with satellite photos taken in late 2009
showing construction activities, the Chinese
in October 2010 admitted they are building
dams, including a 510 MW hydro project,
with plans for four more. The Economic
Times of India reported, There have been
reports that these projects are the beginning
of a much bigger plan by China to divert
the waters of the Brahmaputra to feed its
parched northeast, an ambitious and techni-
cally challenging plan, called the Western
Canal, that many Chinese reports say will
be completed by 2050.
While running only some three hundred
kilometers, the Western Canal would pres-
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NUCLEAR POWER
ent daunting technical, geological, and
environmental issues. Building the canal
would require blasting out tunnels and aq-
ueducts at high altitudes and subzero tem-
peratures. A 2006 estimate put the cost of
the Western Canal at some $37.5 billion,
compared to the $25 billion needed to
build the Three Gorges Dam on the Yang-
tze River. China has officially denied plans
to divert the river. In late 2009, China told
the Indian government that reports of the
diversion are not consistent with facts.
Indian foreign minister S.M. Krishna told
Parliament during a questioning period in
April 2010, In November 2009, the for-
eign ministry of China clarified that China
is a responsible country and would never
do anything to undermine any other coun-
trys interests. This statement produced
amusement among China mavens, noting
that China has unilaterally seized Tibet and
taken land from India over the years.
Chinese documents undercut the denials.
A 2005 book, Tibets Waters Will Save Chi-
na, argues in favor of diverting Tibets rivers
from India to China. New Delhis Chellaney
observes, Diversion of the Brahmaputras
water to the parched Yellow River is an
idea that China does not discuss in public,
because the project implies environmental
devastation of Indias northeastern plains and
eastern Bangladesh, and would thus be akin
to a declaration of water war on India and
Bangladesh.
The Chinese apparently believe that nu-
clear geo-engineering would help overcome
the technical obstacles to the Brahmaputra
project. According to Chellaney, Chinese
desire to divert the Brahmaputra by employ-
ing peaceful nuclear explosions to build
an underground tunnel through the Hima-
layas found expression in the international
negotiations in Geneva in the mid-1990s on
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. China
sought unsuccessfully to exempt peaceful
nuclear explosions from the CTBT, a pact
still not in force.
Under its current leadership, China has
emerged as more truculent and triumphalist
in its relations with other countries. George
Washington Universitys China scholar, Da-
vid Shambaugh, has described China as an
increasingly narrow-minded, self-interest-
ed, truculent, hyper-nationalist and power-
ful country.
Leading Chinas ambitious plans to drain
Tibet for the benefit of the ethnic Chinese
regions are party chief and state president
Hu Jintao and prime minister Wen Jiabao.
Hu, who is scheduled to turn power over
to a new generation of Chinese communist
leaders within the next year or so, is particu-
larly identified with the project to use nuclear
bombs to dewater Tibet. [Editor: Hu turned
over his positions as general secretary of
the Communist Party and chairman of the
Central Military Commission to Xi Jinping
on Nov. 15, 2012.] He is a hydro engineer,
long a traditional occupation among Chinese
leaders, and a former governor of what China
calls the Tibetan Autonomous Region, but
which much of the rest of the world regards
as conquered Tibet, brought under Chinese
control in 1949 and strengthened in 1959,
when Tibetan patriots spirited the young Da-
lai Lama out of the country and into India,
where he has led a government in exile.
Wen is a geologist by training, and has a
long association with Chinese government
projects involving geology and hydro devel-
opment, including the Three Gorges Dam.
Will China continue with its still undis-
closed plans to use peaceful nuclear ex-
plosions to divert the Brahmaputra River
system from its not-entirely-friendly neigh-
bors of India and Bangladesh to water arid
Chinese lands? That question is open, and the
emergence of Xi Jinping as the likely succes-
sor to Hu in 2012 could soften Chinese geo-
engineering plans. Fifty-seven-year-old Xi is
a lawyer by education, a Marxist theorist, and
a veteran bureaucrat. Hes often portrayed
as a softer figure than either Hu or Wen, al-
though there is little tangible evidence for
this view. But the persistence of rumors of
a Chinese plan to use nukes to rearrange the
earth verifies the observation that dumb ideas
die hard.
Breed It
Breeder reactor enthusiasts have always been
possessed of a sort of religious fervor. Maybe
its an engineering thing. Engineers seem to
venerate efficiency, even when it isnt eco-
nomically efficient, so the thought of leaving
unused energy behind in spent nuclear fuel
rubs a lot of nuclear power advocates against
the grain.
The notion that conventional nuclear
power might be leaving a lot of energy on the
tableor buried in a desert somewherehas
motivated a significant number of nuclear
advocates to hew to breeder reactors and re-
processing: no matter what. So the death of
the Clinch River Breeder Reactor didnt rep-
resent the interment of the cult of breeders
and plutonium reprocessing.
Not long after the nuclear devastation in
Japan following an enormous earthquake and
tsunami, an official of the World Nuclear As-
sociation in London (the spawn of the ura-
nium cartel) was arguing that the events at
Fukushima made the case for closing the fuel
cycle. Steve Kidds reasoning was that be-
cause the spent fuel pools at Fukushima were
damaged, it would be a good idea to empty
them into plutonium reprocessing facilities.
But, even if reprocessing were in placeas
it is in Japanthose spent fuel pools would
have been full of waste, waiting for repro-
cessing. Never mind.
Kidd even argued, rather astonishingly,
that the Fukushima aftermath demonstrated
that the United States is gradually moving
away, it seems, from a clear preference for
the once through nuclear fuel cycle, with
the termination of the Yucca Mountain re-
pository project. Only a true believer could
see that vision. Rather, the United States is
clearly moving toward permanent, at-reactor
storage in large, dry casks.
The Bush administration, late in its eight-
year run in Washington, tried to revive re-
processing and breeder reactors, through an
ill-designed and ill-fated Global Nuclear En-
ergy Partnership aimed at building a multi-
national program to supply the world with
new reactors fueled with mixed plutonium
and uranium from first-world reactors. It
didnt survive the laugh test.
Salt It Away
With Yucca Mountains waste dump program
shut, those who continue to push for burying
the byproducts of the U.S. nuclear endeavor
were once again looking kindly on salt de-
posits. In particular, they are looking at a site
near Carlsbad, New Mexico, where a small,
test project has been storing wastes from the
nuclear weapons program for over a decade.
Its known as the Waste Isolation Pilot Proj-
ect, or WIPP.
When President Obama pronounced his
death sentence on an already senescent
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project in
2009, he attempted to soften the blow a
bit with a classic Washington ploy. He an-
nounced appointment of a committee of
credentialed and experienced insiders to
advise him where to look next for nuclear
waste disposal. These sorts of actions
political window dressingseldom result
in concrete results, but are popular among
the pols nonetheless.
Out of either navet or a sense of humor,
Obama namedwhat Washington has long-
termed blue ribbon panels, to denote their
putative qualitythe Blue Ribbon Commis-
sion on Americas Nuclear Future. The com-
mission was part of a compromise between
Democratic Senate majority leader Harry
Reid of Nevada, the most dedicated oppo-
nent of Yucca Mountain in Congress, and
the administration. Reid wanted a congres-
sionally-appointed commission to scope out
what should come next in waste disposal,
but the administration wanted more control.
In March 2009, Reid and Energy secretary
Steven Chu agreed to a White Housenamed
|
July 2013 70
NUCLEAR POWER
panel, which the administration announced
in January 2010. The chairman of the panel
was former Democratic congressman Lee
Hamilton of Indiana. Concluding that [a]
new strategy is needed, the commission laid
out its views in July 2011, and was unable
to come up with anything new. Acknowl-
edging that Screw Nevada had failed, the
commission called for new legislation and a
new arrangement of the waste management
deck chairs at the Department of Energy, to
administer a consent-based approach, rather
than the political coercion that characterized
the 1987 law. The commission said the ap-
proach taken to siting the small New Mexico
test for disposing of transuranics could be a
model for the future.
More explicitly, some in DOE have been
focusing on expansion of WIPP for dispos-
ing of used civilian reactor fuel. The trade
newsletter Energy Daily reported in early
2011 that Energy Department officials, as
well as some governors and lawmakers, are
warming to the idea of trying to bury some of
the nations high-level waste at DOEs Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
But there are serious technical obstacles
to turning the much smaller WIPP salt-
based storage site into a final spent fuel
repository. Two Albuquerque, New Mexi-
co, expertsChristopher Timm and Jerry
Foxdiscussed some of the limits to using
WIPP in a September 2011 paper for Nu-
clear Energy International magazine. They
also noted that the original decision to build
the project created a considerable political
uproar, including opposition by the local
congressman, several lawsuits, and a twen-
ty-year delay in the project while it could
be restructured and reduced in size to meet
local political objections.
Despite the failure of the 1986 law, for-
mer journalist Luther Carter, along with
DOE waste program veteran Lake Barrett
and former NRC commissioner Kenneth
Rogers, were pushing for resurrection of the
Nevada site. In a fall 2010 edition of Issues
in Science and Technology, the three lobbied
the Obama commission to spit in the face
of its creators and support continued devel-
opment of Yucca Mountain. They argued,
Surely this is not the time to abandon the
only currently viable option for very long-
term geologic retrievable storage of spent
fuel, and possibly final disposal.
It should come as no surprise that the
commission deliberately refused to take this
action, instead issuing a typically anodyne
report advocating unspecified changes to
make things right. In the meantime, the nu-
clear regulators have repeatedly judged that
it is safe to store spent reactor fuel above
the ground and at the site of the operating
reactor. That will be the default position on
minding the nations used nuclear fuel, and
there appears to be no reason why it wont
continue for as long as anyone can predict.
Note to readers: If you wish to learn about
the sources for this book, please connect to
the web site www.toodumb.org, where you
will find a bibliography and chapter source
notes. The web site also includes a bonus
chapter on the cons and frauds that have
surrounded the quest for fusion energy, a
picture gallery with images of many of the
people, places, and things mentioned in the
book, and the Too Dumb Film Festival, five
YouTube videos related to the five sections
of the book.
Kennedy Maize is a POWER contributing
editor and executive editor of MANAGING
POWER. Too Dumb to Meter is available
from the POWER Bookstore or Amazon.
com and is serialized by permission.
Now Accepting Abstracts!
July 2013
|
NEW PRODUCTS
TO POWER YOUR BUSINESS
Robotic Torches for Single
Arc, Tandem Applications
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products launched
the new Aristo RT line of robotic torches,
designed for single arc or tandem
applications. The Aristo RT range of
robotic torches work with three different
product setups: Standard (external cable),
Hollow Wrist Helix (rotation +/220
o
),
and Hollow Wrist Inniturn (endless rotation). Hollow Wrist Inniturn offers
the highest productivity with shorter programming time, shorter cycle time, less
downtime, and cost savings as a result of the endlessly turning media coupling,
optimization of the welding position, and long life of the cable. The Aristo RT-
42, RT-52, and RT-62 are universal torch necks that are interchangeable with
each other. All three robotic necks are available in gas-cooled (RT-42G, RT-52G,
RT-62G) and water-cooled (RT-42W, RT-52W, RT-62W) models in different swan
neck angles with packages available for KUKA, ABB, Fanuc, and Motoman/
Yaskawa robotic systems. (www.esabna.com)
Crash Cart for Mobile
Remote Nuclear Facility
Monitoring
Rolls-Royce introduced a new line of
fully customizable, heavy duty AV Crash
Carts for mobile remote video, audio, and
teledose monitoring at nuclear facilities.
Truly a self-contained unit, a typical cart
comes equipped with storage space for
every component needed for quick and
easy system deployment. Housed in the
carts lockable lid are two built-in 22-inch
LCD monitors. The bottom half of the unit
comprises four secure drawers as well as
a lockable 19-inch rack cabinet, which
together can house up to four quick-
mount cameras, wireless headsets and
belt packs, a camera control joystick, and
camera cables. Wireless helmet cameras
have also been included in typical
packages, providing a view of the work
area straight from a eld technicians hard
hat. The system itself can be congured
to run on battery power. Also included are
on-board recording capabilities that can
free the operator from being forced to tie
into a facilitys computer network or AV
system for full system functionality.
(www.rolls-roycenuclear.com)
Energy Efficient Lighting
for Hazardous Areas
Hazlux Induction Lighting Fixtures
from ABB Group member Thomas &
Betts now are equipped with Fulham
induction electronic ballast and lamps,
which deliver more than 100,000
hours of white light, an increase in
service life of 66%. The xtures are
designed to retrot into existing
lighting applications in hazardous or
hard-to-reach places and can save
resources by eliminating the need for
expensive high-intensity discharge
(HID) options, such as quartz auxiliary
lamps or instant re-strike. An extreme
cold-weather option is also available,
which will allow users to re-strike the
induction xture at 58F (50C) and
operate the xture in temperatures as
low as 85F (65C). Hazlux Induction
Lighting Fixtures are suitable for use in
Class 1, Zone 2, Groups IIA, IIB, IIC,
Exn R II T3 (restricted breathing), Div.
2 Groups A, B, C, D areas. They are also
rated for explosion-proof areas, Class I,
Div. 1, Groups C, D and Class II, Div. 1
and 2, Groups E, F, G. (www.tnb.com)
Wireless Phaser
HD Electric Co.s TAG-5000 wireless phaser is designed to perform many of the existing functions
of conventional voltmeter/phaser devices while using state-of-the-art technology that eliminates
the cord and lightens the weight of this important testing device. TAG-5000 can be used for all
overhead and underground phasing applications and is ideal for use at higher voltages where
safety and ease of use are prime considerations. (www.HDElectricCompany.com)
Inclusion in New Products does not imply endorsement by POWER magazine.
|
July 2013 72
Opportunities in Operations and Maintenance,
Project Engineering and Project Management,
Business and Project Development,
First-line Supervision to Executive Level Positions.
Employer pays fee. Send resumes to:
POWER PROFESSIONALS
P.O. Box 87875
Vancouver, WA 98687-7875
email: dwood@powerindustrycareers.com
(360) 260-0979 l (360) 253-5292
www.powerindustrycareers.com
CAREERS IN POWER
NAES Corporation is a leading provider of
3rd party O&M services to the Independent
Power Industry. As we continue to grow, we
have constant needs for power professionals
across the nation.
For more info, log onto:
www.naes.com/careers
READER SERVICE NUMBER 203
NEED CABLE? FROM STOCK
Copper Power to 69KV; Bare ACSR & AAC Conductor
Underground UD-P & URD, Substation Control Shielded
and Non-shielded, Interlock Armor to 35KV, Thermocouple
BASIC WIRE & CABLE
Fax (773) 539-3500 Ph. (800) 227-4292
E-Mail: basicwire@basicwire.com
WEB SITE: www.basicwire.com
Turbine Controls
Woodward, GE, MHC
Parts and Service
TurboGen (610) 631-3480
info@turbogen.net
POWER PLANT BUYERS MART
TUBE PLUGS
Brass, S/S, Alum, Titanium, Alloy20, ChromeMoly, Monel,
CuproNickel, Hastelloy.Buna-N, Fiber, Neoprene, Phenolic, Silicone
John R.Robinson Inc.
Ph# 800-726-1026
www.johnrrobinsoninc.com
|
July 2013 72
READER SERVICE NUMBER 200 READER SERVICE NUMBER 201
CONDENSER OR GENERATOR AIR COOLER TUBE PLUGS
THE CONKLIN SHERMAN COMPANY, INC.
Easy to install, saves time and money.
ADJUSTABLE PLUGS- all rubber with brass insert. Expand it,
install it, reverse action for tight t.
PUSH PULL PLUGS-are all rubber, simply push it in.
Sizes 0.530 O.D. to 2.035 O.D.
Tel: (203) 881-0190 Fax:(203)881-0178
E-mail: Conklin59@aol.com www.conklin-sherman.com
OVER ONE MILLION PLUGS SOLD
George H. Bodman
Pres. / Technical Advisor
Offce 1-800-286-6069
Offce (281) 359-4006
PO Box 5758 E-mail: blrclgdr@aol.com
Kingwood, TX 77325-5758 Fax (281) 359-4225
GEORGE H. BODMAN, INC.
Chemical cleaning advisory services for
boilers and balance of plant systems
BoilerCleaningDoctor.com
Layup Desiccant
Dehumidification
& Filtration Units
for long term layup
of power generation
equipment. Call us.
Tom Haarala
612-202-0765
thaarala@cdims.com
Todd Bradley
810-229-7900
tbradley@cdims.com
www.cdims.com
PRODUCT Showcase
July 2013
|
Model A100
Plug Resistant
Orifice for critical
drain lines
CU Services LLC
725 Parkview Cir,
Elk Grove Vlg, Il 60007
Phone 847-439-2303
rcronfel@cuservices.net
www.cuservices.net
When a plugged
drain line would
mean disaster...
|
July 2013 74
POWER PLANT BUYERS MART
24 / 7 EMERGENCY SERVICE
BOILERS
20,000 - 400,000 #/Hr.
DIESEL & TURBINE GENERATORS
50 - 25,000 KW
GEARS & TURBINES
25 - 4000 HP
WE STOCK LARGE INVENTORIES OF:
Air Pre-Heaters Economizers Deaerators
Pumps Motors Fuel Oil Heating & Pump Sets
Valves Tubes Controls Compressors
Pulverizers Rental Boilers & Generators
847-541-5600 FAX: 847-541-1279
WEB SITE: www.wabashpower.com
FOR SALE/RENT
444 Carpenter Avenue, Wheeling, IL 60090
POWER
EQUIPMENT CO. wabash
GAS TURBINES FOR SALE
LM6000
FRAME 9E
FRAME 5
50/60Hz, nat gas or liq fuel,
installation and service available
Available for Immediate Shipment
Tel: +1 281.227.5687
Fax: +1 281.227.5698
John.clifford@woodgroup.com
Silo and Bin Cleaning
Services and Equipment
Call 800-322-6653 or visit
www.molemaster.com
To Advertise in POWER Classieds
CONTACT: Diane Burleson
PHONE 512-250-9555 FAX 512-213-4855 dianeb@powermag.com
|
July 2013 74
July 2013
|
Technol ogi es f or coal - f i r ed power pl ant s ar e evol vi ng rapi dl y, and
COAL POWER has evol ved t oo. I n i t s l at est onl i ne f or mat you get
ever yt hi ng you val ued i n pr i nt and so much mor e:
Access t o COAL POWER wher ever you can use a br owser.
Techni cal ar t i cl es, coal power news, bl ogs, opi ni on, and i nf or mat i on.
Easy r et r i eval of ar chi ved COAL POWER f eat ur es.
I nst ant access t o our adver t i ser s f or mor e i nf or mat i on about t hei r pr oduct s.
The abi l i t y t o comment on st or i es and shar e your knowl edge wi t h t he
coal - bur ni ng power pl ant communi t y.
J ob boar d.
Subscr i be t oday f or e- mai l al er t s when each new i ssue i s post ed.
e- mai l : subscr i be@coal power mag. com
Then vi si t t he onl i ne home of COAL POWERwww. coal power mag. com
From the edi tors of POWER: The onl i ne magazi ne devoted to
the coal -fi red power generati on i ndustry
POWER
CP ad_7x4.875.indd 1 5/13/10 2:00:00 PM
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Enter reader service numbers on the FREE Product Information Source card in this issue.
Page
Reader
Service
Number Page
Reader
Service
Number
Abresist Kalenborn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . 6
www.abresist.com
A.J. Weller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 3
www.ajweller.com
Applied Bolting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59. . . . . . . . 22
www.appliedbolting.com
Bilfinger Piping Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 2
www.piping.bilfinger.com
Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25. . . . . . . . 15
www.burnsmcd.com
Carboline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . . . . . . . 20
www.carboline.com
Carver Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. . . . . . . . 13
www.carverpump.com
Exxon/Mobil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. . . . . . . . 10
www.exxonmobil.com
Foster Wheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4 . . . . . 24
www.fwc.com
Hach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 4
www.hach.com
Hadek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43. . . . . . . . 25
www.hadek.com
Hawk Measurements America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . 7
www.hawkmeasure.com
Martin Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. . . . . . . . 19
www.martin-eng.com
MTU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
www.mtu-online.com
NAES Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30. . . . . . . . 17
www.naes.com
NatronX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. . . . . . . . 14
www.natronx.com
Nol-Tec Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. . . . . . . . 9
www.nol-tec.com
Process Barron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61. . . . . . . . 23
www.processbarron.com/power
Santee Cooper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . 12
www.santeecooper.com
Siemens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 2 . . . . . 1
www.siemens.com/energy/solutionsets
STF S.p.A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . . . . . . . 21
www.stf.it
TEAM Industrial Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . 5
www.teaminc.com
TerraSource Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17. . . . . . . . 11
www.terrasource.com
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
Pages 72-74. To place a classified ad, contact Diane Burleson,
512-250-9555, dburleson@powermag.com
21_PWR_070113_Classified_p72-75.indd 75 6/13/13 12:45:43 PM
|
July 2013 76
COMMENTARY
Bridging the Gap Between
Company and Community
By John G. Waffenschmidt
I
n communities all across North America, environmental justice
(EJ), which calls for the fair treatment of all people, includ-
ing those of color and the economically deprived, remains
a serious concern. Consequently, community acceptance is an
imperative when building or operating industrial facilities, such
as power plants and energy-from-waste (EfW) plants. Covanta
Energys Chester, Pa., EfW facility is a good example of the value
of a formal approach to community affairs and EJ.
Troubles in Chester
Since 1992, the Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility in
Chester, Pa., has processed municipal solid waste from Delaware
County, Pa., and neighboring communities, generating approx-
imately 80 MW of renewable energy. Chesters many industrial
waste facilities have long been a concern to local residents and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1995, the
EPA found a number of risk factors present for local residents,
such as high blood lead levels, cancerous and noncancerous risks
from pollution sources and air emissions, and potential health
risks from eating contaminated fish. Although the study never
cited unacceptable emissions directly from the EfW facility, many
residents considered the findings to be evidence of its impact.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PaDEP)
took a number of steps to empower local communities to have a voice in
the permitting process going forward, such as seeking public community
meetings upon receipt of a permitting application and demonstration by
the applicants that they had engaged with the community.
Moving Forward and Working Together
Companies interested in acquiring the Chester EfW facility, or
building new ones in the community, dropped or modified their
proposals after a Supreme Court ruling on a suit brought by Ches-
ter residents against the PaDEP, but Covanta Energy did not. The
PaDEP and Covanta were aligned in believing local residents are
important stakeholders.
Prior to acquisition of the Chester facility, Covanta personnel
met with residents and the PaDEP. Covanta realized that in order
to improve the facilitys functionality and ensure it could operate
at capacity, permit modifications pertaining to how the company
received and processed waste were required. Aware of the facilitys
history with the community, Covanta also knew that engaging and
establishing mutually acceptable permit conditionsto the com-
munity, the company, and the PaDEPwould be imperative.
Upon acquisition of the facility and submittal of applications,
the PaDEP facilitated a public meeting to provide community mem-
bers with important information on the scope and nature of the
application. The goal was to provide a fair opportunity for the
community to be involved and to comment on the companys pro-
posal in a timely fashion. The PaDEP solicited input from internal
experts, community residents, academia, and advocacy lawyers.
Covanta quickly recognized the value of being a good neighbor as
an important first step in creating an acceptable presence in Chester.
Efforts were made to address all topics of concern to residents. Topic-
specific placards were developed and presented over a two-day session
to local residents by experts knowledgeable in the issues at hand.
With the communitys concerns in mind, Covanta also con-
ducted an environmental review, resulting in a formal agreement
with the Chester residents.
In April 1997, Covanta assumed ownership of the facility with the
initial permits and in 1999 received modified permits that incorpo-
rated specific elements of Covantas community agreement, which had
been signed earlier. Covanta developed solutions to the communitys
chief concerns while retaining needed operational flexibility. These
solutions included instituting engineered controls to reduce odor at
the facility and reducing emission exceedances by 80%. In addition,
Covanta improved safety at the facility with a 70% reduction in acci-
dents. Covanta also implemented a number of beneficial initiatives to
improve the quality of residential life in Chester, such a city cleanups,
landscaping projects, and a job skills development program.
Covantas efforts earned the community and the company the
2000 Governors Award for Environmental Excellence for bridging
the gap between company and community.
Today, the Delaware Valley Resource Recovery facility is oper-
ating successfully and in concert with the community. The plant
not only provides an effective and environmentally safe solution
to the countys solid waste disposal needs but also generates ap-
proximately 80 MW of renewable electricity for the community.
Implementing a Successful EJ Policy
Covanta remains committed to engaging with and supporting the
communities in which it hasor will havefacilities. To help fulfill
this commitment, the company developed a Community Outreach
and Environmental Justice Policy. The policy is consistent with
the companys sustainability objectives and has been beneficial in
helping Covanta integrate and operate appropriately in potentially
disadvantaged communities. Its main objective is to give residents
early knowledge of specific company actions affecting their com-
munities and the opportunity for meaningful involvement with the
subsequent permit review process.
The dialogue with the community continues with Covanta partici-
pating as an active member of the Chester Environmental Partner-
ship, a grassroots environmental organization led by the Reverend
Dr. Horace Strand. A structured process, leadership, and the desire of
all interested parties to address issues of concern openly and con-
structively have been key success factors in the effectiveness of this
relationship. This approach can work for others as well. Regulators,
companies, and communities that are able to find a way to work
together stand the best chance of co-existing and succeeding.
John G. Waffenschmidt is vice president, Covanta Energy
Environmental Science and Community Affairs.
www. RETECH2013.com
5
Where the Renewable
Energy Industry
Does Business
September 9 - 11, 2013
Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, DC
Join us for RETECH 2013:
The Renewable Energy Technology
Conference & Exhibition
This September, thousands of business
leaders, investors, technology innovators,
federal and state government ocials
and university educators representing
every aspect of the renewable energy
industry will unite for three days in
Washington, DC.
RETECH educates and informs its
international attendee base with a
technical program that addresses
relevant and cutting-edge topics in
renewable energy technologies, power
generation, military and government,
and business.
RETECH provides plenty of
opportunities to connect with
other attendees, speakers and
exhibitors during the conference.
Known as the place to get
business done, RETECH puts you
in touch with the renewable energy experts
you need to get in front of to position your
company for future success.
NETWORK WITH HUNDREDS OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY EXPERTS
As new developments in
renewable energy continue to
grow, its important for experts
like you to stay on top of the
ever-changing innovations in
the industry. RETECHs technical
program addresses todays most pressing issues
and opportunities facing every discipline of the
renewable energy industry: Wind, Solar, Hydro,
Geothermal, Biomass, Biofuels, Waste, Smart Grid,
Transmission, and Storage.
3 DAYS OF IN-DEPTH
WORKSHOPS AND SESSIONS
RETECH attracts leading industry
speakers from the United States
Department of Energy, Biomass
Power Association, BOEM, FERC,
AWEA, National Hydropower
Association IBM, Siemens, GE,
AT&T, SOLON Corporation, and much more!
HEAR FROM MAJOR PLAYERS IN
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Youll have the chance to meet
with solutions providers on the
RETECH exhibit oor and nd the
next generation of renewable
technologies in development.
SPEAK WITH INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
ON THE EXHIBIT FLOOR
Save $100 on the Smart Pass with the
Advance Discount!
Register before August 23.
Use Discount Code: RTJULY1
Reliably captures particulates, acid gases,
Uses the least amount of water, power and space
Uses the least amount of your capital and operating budget
Can be retrofitted to any boiler type
Mercury and Air Toxics Standard
CSAPR Replacement
Regional Haze ...
Whats Next?
With an unpredictable path forward for US air regulation,
flexible compliance strategies are taking on a new meaning.
Foster Wheelers circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) scrubber
technology is about as flexible as you can get:
Reliably captures particulates, acid gases,
heavy metals and organic compounds
Uses the least amount of water, power and space
Uses the least amount of your capital and operating budget
Can be retrofitted to any boiler type
Please visit us at www.fwc.com/GlobalPowerGroup.
CFB Scrubber Technology
by Foster Wheeler
The most flexible pollution control
technology on the market

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Wear Resistant Epoxy

CIRCLE 10 ON READER SERVICE CARD

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