POWER August 2012 - 14

EU Backs Construction of Lithuanian Nuclear Plant. The Euro6.
A flexible technology platform. NET Power, The Shaw
Group, Exelon Corp., and Toshiba Corp. have partnered to develop a
new gas-fired power generation technology that they say produces
pipeline-ready carbon dioxide for sequestration or use in enhanced oil
recovery and are looking to put into operation a small-scale 25-MW
plant by mid-2014. The technology is called the " Allam Cycle, " after inventor
Rodney Allam. Courtesy: NET Power
Air
Air separation unit
CO2 turbine
Combustor
Natural
gas
Heat exchanger
Water
separator
Compressor
EOR
later this year; Phase 3, to be completed in mid-2014, involves construction
and commissioning of a small-scale 25-MW natural gas plant
(at an undisclosed location) that will capture all emissions and generate
revenue from the sale of electricity, and carbon dioxide for EOR.
Development of the first full-scale commercial 250-MW natural gas
plant is expected to begin thereafter, in late 2014 or early 2015.
NET Power, which developed the system and calls it the " Allam
Cycle " (Figure 6), after lead inventor Rodney Allam, is expected
to be responsible for overall project development and systems
engineering of the pilot project; Toshiba will design, test, and
manufacture a combustor and turbine for it; Shaw will provide
engineering, procurement, and construction services; and Exelon
is expected to support development and operation of the 25-MW
plant by selecting the site, obtaining permits, and commissioning
the facility. Early in June, Shaw said it would provide up
to $50.4 million in cash and in-kind services to the effort and
acquire up to 50% of NET Power as certain milestones are completed
during the four phases of the project.
The technology has " transformative applications " and can be
integrated into a variety of industrial processes, such as liquefied
natural gas, enhanced oil recovery fields, and concentrated solar
plants. " Although the initial system will utilize natural gas, future
applications of NET Power will use coal, integrating with current
gasifiers, and biomass, " the company said in a statement in June.
POWER Digest
FP&L to Increase Output at Turkey Point. Florida Power &
Light (FP&L) on June 19 received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to increase the power generating capacity of
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Units 3 and 4 by 15%. The power
uprate for the pressurized water reactors will increase each unit's
capacity from approximately 700 MWe to 823 MWe.
ThermoEnergy, ITEA Partner on Pressurized Oxy-Combustion
Technology. Massachusetts-based ThermoEnergy
Corp. and Italian company ITEA SpA on June 14 said they would
collaborate to promote, finance, design, and construct a 50-MW
pilot plant and a 320-MW commercial facility in the U.S. using
a clean coal technology called pressurized oxy-combustion. The
technology could enable utilities to continue burning inexpensive
and abundant coal while virtually eliminating both the traditional
pollution (such as sulfur dioxide) from coal plants and the
emissions of carbon dioxide, and it can be retrofitted to existing
coal plants, the companies said. The clean coal technology will
be developed and marketed by Unity Power Alliance LLC, a joint
venture of ITEA and ThermoEnergy.
August 2012 | POWER
pean Commission on June 8 issued a favorable opinion for the construction
of the Visaginas nuclear power plant in Lithuania, saying it
could fulfill the country's goal to be energy independent. However,
it stressed that the plant should seek to remain economically viable
even though two new reactors could be built in the vicinity in
the near future. If built, the Visaginas plant will be the first nuclear
energy project in the EU's Baltic region. Neighboring Belarus is planning
to build a nuclear plant with Russian technology, and Russia
has begun building a nuclear plant in Kaliningrad, which also borders
Lithuania. According to Rosatom, the Russian nuclear energy state
corporation, 49% of the shares of the Kaliningrad plant will be offered
to EU companies, making it the first Russian nuclear power
plant with foreign participation.
The €5 billion (US$6.2 billion) Visaginas plant will be built
at the site of the Soviet-era Ignalina nuclear station that was
shut down in 2009. The Visaginas plant will be equipped with a
Hitachi-GE advanced boiling water reactor. Construction is expected
to start in 2015, and commercial operation is expected
between 2020 and 2022.
Black & Veatch Wins Series of Advanced Gas Turbine Projects
in China. Black & Veatch was in June selected by China's Harbin
Electric Co. Ltd. to help deliver three combined cycle power plants
in China. Located in Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, and the
Beijing region, the plants will deploy advanced gas turbine technology.
Together, the three plants will produce approximately 3,000 MW
of gas-fired electricity and alleviate industrial power and steam supply
shortages. The three plants will feature heavy-duty combustion
turbines. " The Gaojing combined cycle power plant will deploy a level
of combustion turbine technology that has yet to feature in mainland
China, " said Dr. Suqing Wang, senior project manager for Black &
Veatch's global energy business.
Synthesis Completes Testing of Turkish Lignite Coals. Synthesis
Energy Systems on June 29 said it had completed testing
of three Turkish lignite coals and obtained positive data. The lignite
coal projects are being developed for clean coal-based power generation
projects and are being developed by independent power project
development company TUTEN for an undisclosed local utility company.
Synthesis Energy undertook the coal tests using its fluidized
bed gasification technology and indicated that each coal achieved
single-pass carbon conversions of between 96% and 99.5%. The test
results will be used by TUTEN's project sponsor to proceed with its
project development activities using local, low-grade, low-cost lignite
that is unsuitable for conventional power generation.
Synthesis Energy has teamed with TUTEN and Slovakia-based
Istroenergo Group to build a conceptual-level design application
for 50-MW and 100-MW size power generation modules for
the lignite fuel project. The plant design employs coal gasification
and aeroderivative power generation, integrating Synthesis
Energy's technology for synthesis gas production and would support
a General Electric (GE) LM2500+G4 aeroderivative gas turbine
in combined cycle for 50 MW to 100 MW power capacity.
Iraq Commissions New Gas Plant. The Iraq Ministry of
Electricity (MOE) has commissioned the new 160-MW Taji power
plant featuring GE technology northeast of Baghdad. The plant
comprises four Frame 6B gas turbines delivered by GE, which is
also supplying similar equipment for two other new power plants
in Hilla and Karbala that are slated to be operational in 2012.
The company will also provide the MOE with an estimated 56 gas
turbines for projects across Iraq that are expected to enter service
beginning in 2012, adding more than 7,000 MW of electricity
to support the country's energy infrastructure. ■
-Sonal Patel is POWER's senior writer.
www.powermag.com
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POWER August 2012

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