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Power Restoration Continues After Ida; Storm’s Death Toll Tops 60

September 5, 2021

The post Power Restoration Continues After Ida; Storm’s Death Toll Tops 60 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Power restoration efforts continue along the Gulf Coast and in the U.S. Northeast, as utilities work to bring electricity back to areas in Louisiana hit hard by Hurricane Ida, and around New York City and New England due to heavy rainfall from remnants of the storm.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) in a Sept. 3 update said just more than 900,000 customers remained without power early Friday, with more than 90% of those in Louisiana, most located in the area in and around New Orleans.

Ida made landfall in the early afternoon of Aug. 29 near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as a Category 4 hurricane. Officials have said Ida tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. mainland.

The storm weakened as it moved inland over the next few days, but produced heavy rainfall that resulted in flash flooding in the Northeast on Sept.…

JERA Kicks Off Hydrogen Co-Firing Pilot at LNG Power Plant

August 28, 2021

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JERA has received the Japanese government’s green light for a pilot project to demonstrate 30% hydrogen co-firing at an existing large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) thermal power plant by 2025. The project is Japan’s “first initiative to use a large amount of hydrogen as fuel in a large-scale commercial LNG thermal power plant,” the company said on Aug. 26.

Funding from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s Green Innovation Fund program will allow the company to kick off the project this October. JERA anticipates the five-year pilot will shed key insights on the practical use of hydrogen at existing LNG power plants when it ends in March 2025.

JERA said it will initiate the project with a feasibility study. Based on that study’s results, the company will build hydrogen supply facilities at the LNG thermal power plant. It will also install combustors capable of co-firing hydrogen and LNG in its gas turbines.…

California Will Add Gas-Fired Units to Increase Power Supply

August 22, 2021

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The California Energy Commission (CEC) has approved licenses for gas-fired power units to help the state cope with continued electricity shortages. The move comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier declared a state of emergency for California’s power grid.

The state’s Dept. of Water Resources is procuring what it called five temporary gas-fueled generators, each with generation capacity of 30 MW, to install at existing power plants. The CEC on Aug. 17 approved licenses, good for up to five years, for the generators.

Newsom’s order, issued in July, is designed to free up additional energy capacity in the state. It came during a major heat wave and was partly in response to the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, which threatened the regional power transmission system and California’s power supply. The governor’s order suspends certain permitting requirements, and allows the use of backup power generation, with a goal of alleviating heat-related supply demands on the power grid.…

Gas Exploration and Production Company to Buy Gas-Fired Power Plant in Texas

August 16, 2021

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BKV Corp., a privately held natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, said it will purchase the Temple 1 power plant in Temple, Texas. The deal, valued at $ 430 million and subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

“We’re excited about this acquisition, and the strategic steps we are taking to position BKV as a leading integrated energy company with cleaner, greener energy,” Chris Kalnin, CEO of BKV, said in a statement issued to POWER. “By extending our natural gas business into a power business we are able to deliver to unprecedented grid reliability, while also creating industry leading ESG [environmental, social, and governance] standards because we can directly certify our emissions footprint at each step in the value chain, from underground molecule to burner tip.”

State-of-the-Art Facility

Temple 1 (Figure 1) is a 758-MW combined cycle facility built in 2014.…

Decarbonizing the Power Grid with Hydrogen and Advanced Technology

August 11, 2021

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Many leaders around the world are focused on decarbonizing their countries’ energy supplies. For most, that means adding renewable energy resources to their electricity mix, and developing a path aimed at retiring coal and other fossil-fueled power plants. Yet, these are not the only decarbonization options. Research and development (R&D) efforts are also ongoing to expand the use of hydrogen and energy storage, and advance new technologies, such as carbon capture and artificial intelligence, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.

“I think there is a clear sign right now that the world has made the choice, and the choice is clearly the zero-CO₂ emission,” Karim Amin, executive vice president of Generation with Siemens Energy, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “So, that’s a given, and we are all working towards achieving this target.”

Siemens Energy sees hydrogen as an important piece of the decarbonization puzzle.…

Group Buys Pennsylvania Coal Refuse Plants to Power Bitcoin Mining

August 3, 2021

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A digital mining company has an agreement to purchase a second power plant in Pennsylvania, as the group increases its coal refuse reclamation operations in the state to provide energy for its bitcoin mining operations.

Stronghold Digital Mining, a bitcoin (BTC) miner headquartered in Kennerdell, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 3 said its purchase of the Panther Creek Plant, located on 33 acres in Nesquehoning, in Carbon County, adds 80 MW of generation capacity to its portfolio, which also includes the 85-MW Scrubgrass plant. Scrubgrass is located on 650 acres in Scrubgrass Township, in Venango County.

Stronghold, founded earlier this year, uses the power plants to convert coal refuse into power that is used to mine bitcoin, an energy-intensive process. Coal refuse is classified by Pennsylvania as a Tier II alternative energy resource, akin to large-scale hydropower. Coal refuse over the years has been left in piles near coal operations; today, circulating fluidized bed technology allows for emissions-controlled conversion of coal refuse into energy.…