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The power sector’s challenge is not as simple as simply providing low-carbon electricity. “In the context of growing global electricity demand, we need to address the energy trilemma of delivering more reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity,” explained Joseph Anis, President and CEO, GE Gas & Power Europe, Middle East and Africa.
As many as 770 million people around the world still do not have access to reliable electricity, and while renewable energy is growing rapidly—and these investments are essential—it is not growing fast enough.
Renewable energy is still expected to provide less than half of global electricity supply by 2040. In addition, high penetration of renewable energy can lead to fluctuations in power supply, which cannot be addressed by today’s battery storage solutions.
“In this context, accelerated deployment of renewables and natural gas power generation can now achieve substantial reductions in emissions at scale, while continuing to advance technologies for low- or near-zero-carbon power generation,” Anis said.
Access to reliable, flexible natural gas generation can increase investment in renewable energy without fear of disruption to power supply. It provides flexible, reliable capacity that can be quickly ramped up or down regardless of the time of day, season or weather. It also has the benefit of the lowest carbon emissions of fossil fuel power generation. In addition, existing and future gas-fired power plants can avoid CO2 lock-in by using low-carbon fuels combined with carbon capture technologies.
Given this vital role of natural gas power generation today and for the foreseeable future, and with billions of dollars of investment in gas turbines in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and around the world, understand how the installed base can be decarbonized in the near and long term .
“When looking at the electricity sector, decarbonization can be thought of as the reduction of carbon emissions per kilowatt-hour. Everything we do to reduce carbon intensity contributes to the climate effort. In fact, I recently attended COP27 in Egypt , one of the recurring questions in various conversations is what we can do to help reduce the emissions intensity of the existing installed generation fleet,” Anis said.
Upgrade: Instant Solution
This is where upgrades can be made. “Upgrade solutions available today can simultaneously increase gas turbine efficiency, output, flexibility and availability while reducing fuel consumption per kWh of electricity generated. These solutions pay for themselves and can be implemented in just a few months, ” explains Steven Kessinger, Vice President, Contract Services, GE Gas & Electric.
“I recently visited the MENA region, where our teams have implemented various upgrades with excellent results for our clients and the community.”
In Qatar, GE is delivering its Advanced Gas Path (AGP) upgrade to be installed on four 9F gas turbines at the smelter. The technology has been installed on more than 400 devices across five continents, and this is the first deployment in Qatar. The four units are expected to increase generation by 96.7 MW while improving plant efficiency; increase gas turbine availability and reduce operating expenses by increasing the interval between planned maintenance intervals from 24,000 factor combustion hours (FFH) to as high as 32,000 FFH ; At the same power output, up to 67,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions can be saved annually – equivalent to taking up to 14,000 cars off Qatar’s roads. In this way, the upgrade contributes to greater operational sustainability and contributes to the economic development and environmental goals of Qatar’s National Vision 2030.
“Another example is our MXL2 upgrade,” Kessinger said. “This solution enables operators of GT13E2 gas turbines to increase combined cycle efficiency by 1.5 percent and extend inspection intervals to 48,000 Equivalent Operating Hours (EOH). It combines GE’s latest technological developments with over 10 million hours of GT13E2 Fleet experience.”
In the United Arab Emirates, GE Gas Power is implementing a project in 2020 to improve the efficiency and performance of its GT13E2 gas turbines by installing an MXL2 upgrade. The move follows the successful completion of similar upgrades at two other gas turbines in Abu Dhabi. The project was completed in six months despite major challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic at the time. The technology upgrade increased the total output of the turbines by 10.7 megawatts, using the same amount of fuel.
the way of the future
Of note are other options that could support deeper decarbonization of the gas-fired power installed base. Simple cycle power plants can be converted to combined cycle to support generating 50% more electricity using the same amount of fuel in just 24 months. In the longer term, low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, and other technologies such as carbon capture solutions are also expected to become more widespread and affordable.
MENA has many of the ingredients needed to produce blue and green hydrogen and to use resources for various purposes such as power generation, transportation, etc.: large amounts of land for renewable energy projects; access to sunlight and sea water; depleted oil and gas reservoirs to safely store CO2; and large natural gas reserves. The MENA region also has a high concentration of energy-intensive industries such as smelters, oil and gas, and cement. Carbon capture solutions can be effectively deployed in these industrial clusters. These are proven solutions that are already deployed today.
For example, more than 100 GE gas turbines run on hydrogen-containing fuels, with more than 8 million cumulative operating hours worldwide. Most recently, during COP27, a GE LM6000 aeroderivative unit operated in Egypt for the first time on the African continent using a hydrogen blend. Carbon capture solutions have also been used in the oil and gas industries in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Going forward, as these solutions scale up and become more economical, they offer potential avenues for gas turbine technology to help resolve the energy trilemma and become a target technology for the transition to net-zero carbon emissions, GE said. trade arab news agency
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