Archive for power generation
Abstract:
An objective, but broadly sympathetic, view has been taken of the future of cogeneration in the UK. Although its current problems, appear to have resulted from the market economy, the basis to these difficulties is structural. These arguments are supported by discussions on the electrical and CHP efficiencies of various prime movers. These include IC engines, gas turbines, large scale power plants, nuclear CHP, and micro CHP systems. The future could be difficult too, with CCGT plants being developed to reach electrical efficiencies in the 70-75% range, natural gas prices going even higher, and energy conservation reducing heat demand to a fraction of that today. Renewable heat is both a challenge and an opportunity. The way cogeneration will need to change varies from country-to-country.
Only Denmark appears to have a well thought out policy, in which fossil fuels will be phased out and biomass will supply a greater fraction of the fuel required for CHP and pure district heating schemes. The UK has a huge natural gas infrastructure which creates serious problems for the advancement of CHP in this country. For other European countries, which have extensive town based district heating systems there is a strong argument for basing these on advanced CCGT-Cogeneration or coal based steam plant with CHP. The biggest concern for CHP is that, because it is fossil fuel based, the long term prospects must be in some doubt.
For full paper see: http://www.claverton-energy.com/?dl_id=405
NOTE – THE PAPER CONTAINS PICTURES WHICH WILL ONLY APPEAR IF YOU OPEN IT IN WORD WITH “WEB VIEW” ENABLED.
Popularity: 3% [?]
KIV – Biomass and waste to energy district heating and power generation plants
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KIV commenced the commissioning a new gasification EfW CHP and district heating scheme in September 2008. The plant has been designed to environmental standards above and beyond the EU Waste Incineration Directive (WID), which also incorporates Best Available Technique (BAT), lodged with the EU BREF documents office. The plant will be an EU ‘showcase’ project, which incorporates a presentation room for coach parties of visitors. Read More→
Popularity: 17% [?]
Critique of Carbon Trust Report – Offshore Wind Power
Posted by: | CommentsCritique
of the
Carbon Trust Report
Offshore Wind Power: big challenge, big opportunity
Maximising the environmental, economic and security benefit Read More→
Popularity: 16% [?]
The link represent DECC’s initial thinking. It is subject to change and may or may not be published.
They give for example the following costs, all in UK Pounds/kWe:
CCGT – 600 – 690
Coal 1250 – 1500
Onshore wind – 1074
Offshore wind – 1429
The table on the link gives a lot more detail.
http://claverton-energy.com/pipermail/claverton-group_claverton-energy.com/2009-January/000351.html
Surprisingly, perhaps (or perhaps not given the historical bias), there is no mention of the capital costs, or the running costs of the cheapest means of cutting CO2 and fuel costs – Combined Heat and Power with District Heating CHPDH for cities, and micro-CHP for suburbs.
If you have any evidence to suggest that any of the assumptions differ from what is attached in the spreadsheet, you may wish to contact Stephen Green, Senior Economist, Energy Strategy, Security and Markets Directorate Department of Energy and Climate Change, at DECC.
Popularity: 14% [?]
How to Turn Standby Generation Into Profit-Making Assets
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By Wayne Boakes
It does not make sense to ignore assets, leaving them idle, collecting dust and slowly degenerating (excuse the pun). Ask yourself why we spend thousands of pounds on standby generation just to have it lying dormant, gathering dust? Surely it makes much more sense to generate a profit from at least some of these assets.
With the continued expansion of wind energy the national grid need to increase their ability to cope with power fluctuations. They are already discussing ways in which they can encourage increased participation in Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR).
What is the solution? One solution is to increase use of embedded generation
What do we expect from a standby generator? To run once in a blue moon, start first time, take the entire load thrown at it and to do this without a cough or splutter. Strangely enough all too frequently the emergency arrives only to find the generator won’t start as the battery is flat or the fuel is not getting through or it fails during the run. It’s not surprising really. If the generator was a person and we expected immediate response at premium performance we would do something more that just sit around like some couch potato. We would join a gym, do regular exercise and have regular checks to make sure we were in tip top condition. Read More→
Popularity: 27% [?]
