American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2019 - 65

SpecialReport: Permian Power

Scalable microgrids with multiple field gas-fired turbine units provide a highly reliable
supply of power at tightly controlled voltage frequencies to eliminate disruptions and
variations that can shut down operations and damage pumps and other critical equipment. The turbines can run on lower-quality gas, including tank vapors and produced
gas with up to 10,000 ppm of H2S, to significantly reduce the need for flaring and VOC
and NOx emissions.

the leading Permian operators making
strategic investments to improve power
distribution. Noble Energy, for example,
has constructed its own power distribution
system and plans to expand by adding
two substations early this year.
While fuel is not scarce in the basin,
the conventional generators used to provide
field power typically run on either diesel
or higher-quality natural gas with restricted
Btu content and no hydrogen sulfide or
other contaminants. Expensive downtime
for Permian operators poses a very real
risk when they must rely on an unstable
utility grid or externally fueled remote
power sources.
As activity in North American shale
plays expands, these fuels become less
available. Fuel supply demand has increased and transporting field generator
fuel over longer distances has added cost
while compromising reliability. Growing
Permian activity also has bottlenecked
local transportation infrastructures, causing
obstacles and increasing expense for external fuel delivery for on-site power solutions. Moreover, stringent emissions
and flaring regulations also pose obstacles
to the provision of field power. Operators
must find reliable power that does not ex-

ceed local government emissions limits.
With increasingly unreliable local utility
grids and the escalating expense of moving

diesel to remote well locations, it is not
hard to make a business case for turbine
"microgrids" fueled 100 percent with field
gas. This is particularly the case for tight
oil plays in the Permian, where associated
natural gas production is rising rapidly,
pipeline take-away capacity to move gas
to market is constrained, and flaring is
becoming more restricted. Using turbinebased microgrids capable of running on
locally produced gas gives operators an
economically viable, environmentally
friendly and grid-independent solution to
wellsite power requirements.
The microgrid approach was developed
specifically in response to the electrification needs of unconventional resource
plays. By integrating multiple gas turbine
generators, microgrids are highly scalable
and modular. The turbines have a high
fuel tolerance, making them capable of
running on untreated associated gas production and captured tank vapors to provide reliable and clean power at a competitive cost. The turbines provide excellent
energy efficiency, strong reliability on

FIGURE 2
Example Permian Microgrid Installation (11-Pad Development)
Pad #10
(1) Rod Pump

Pad #11
(2) ESP

Pad #8
(1) Rod Pump

Pad #9
Central Tank Battery #2

Pad #7
(1) Rod Pump

Pad #6
(1) Rod Pump
(2) ESP

Pad #4
Central Tank Baterry #1

Pad #5
(3) ESP

Pad #2
(1) Rod Pump

Pad #3
(1) Rod Pump
(2) ESP

Pad #1

Electric Out

(2) ESP
Turbine Packaged Skid

Transformer #1

Transformer #

Switchgear

Switchgear

Fuel Train with
Auto Drain

Flex Turbines

Site Gas Supply

Utility Cut

Insulated, Heat
Traced Scrubber
with Auto Drain
Flex Turbines

Wellhead Gas at 8002,500 Btu/cf
with up to 1 percent H2S

Flex Turbines

MARCH 2019 65
American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2019
