India is the third-largest producer and the second-largest consumer of electricity in the world. Against a backdrop of rising demand and the need to decarbonise, it has set an ambitious aspiration of becoming energy independent by 2047.

Achieving this aim requires energy sector transformation, improving efficiency, reliability, digitalisation, and sustainability.

Essentially, to be truly energy independent, India needs to produce more energy and generate it through sustainable methods as well as minimise losses during transmission, distribution, and consumption.

Over the last few decades, the demand for electricity in India has increased exponentially, driven by industrialisation, digitisation, and technological advancements.

This need has been partly met by growth in renewable energy – from 2010 to 2022, India’s generation capacity, including renewables, has grown by 85%.

India is now the fourth-largest global producer of windpower and the fifth largest in generator of solar power.

However, the country is not energy independent, currently spending $160 billion annually on energy imports.

India has therefore set ambitious targets to become energy independent by 2047, as well as further expanding its use of non-fossil fuel generation to reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

Achieving these goals requires transformational change across the sector, focusing on ten imperatives grouped around three themes – sustainability in power generation, making national power transmission networks future-ready, and increasing the profitability of players in the distribution sector.

Ways to energy independence

1. Become self-sustaining in power generation

It is increasingly difficult to meet rapidly growing energy demand with current power resources, particularly given the rising price of coal.

At the same time achieving net zero targets requires a substantial reduction in carbon emissions from power generation,

The industry therefore needs to focus on the following three key imperatives:

Scale up the contribution of green energy

To ensure an affordable and cleaner energy mix there needs to be a dramatic increase in the use of renewable energy sources.

The potential is there – the Indian Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimates that the country has a renewable energy potential of around 1700 GW from commercially exploitable sources. However, unlocking the investment needed to deliver renewable growth requires reforms to:

• Improve investor confidence
• Remove entry barriers such as difficulty in land acquisition
• Boost domestic manufacturing of photovoltaic (PV) cells and wind equipment
• Incentives to increase the adoption of rooftop solar.

Alongside this the industry should increase the emphasis on baseload technologies such as offshore wind and nuclear generation, increasing nuclear energy production by establishing scalable small modular reactors (SMRs), utilising locally available thorium, and building a regulatory environment conducive to these alternatives.

Promote green hydrogen as a carbon-neutral energy storage solution

Leveraging renewable energy sources to meet total electricity demand is not possible without developing additional energy storage solutions.

Green hydrogen is emerging as the go-to option in areas that require high power density storage and have space/weight constraints.

Read more: India rubber-stamps $2bn Green Hydrogen Mission

Increasing its use requires the introduction of financial incentives for stakeholders and ensuring self-sufficiency in electrolyser production.

With this in place, readily available biomass can be used to generate green hydrogen as long as robust logistics are in place to transport it to production facilities.

Accelerate Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)

To meet its net zero emission target, India should also look at CCUS technology. This can complement and supplement nature-based carbon removal solutions, such as afforestation and reforestation.

India’s carbon storage potential varies from 5 to 400 billion tons of CO2, located mainly in geological formations such as coal fields, oil and gas fields, sedimentary basins, and saline aquifers.

Listen now: Podcast – Weighing the true cost of carbon capture

Greater uptake of CCUS for decarbonisation can be driven by introducing financing channels for CCUS implementers, investing in R&D to identify cost-effective mechanisms, establishing a start-to-end governance framework for CCUS management, and participating in global forums to leverage recent developments.

2. Make national power transmission future ready

The second key theme relies on transformation of the transmission sector, both to increase current efficiency and to accommodate changing dynamics within the industry.

Mitigating these technical issues relies on four key imperatives:

Enhancing infrastructure development and augmenting capacity

The country should look to improve transmission infrastructure through the deployment of anti-theft and anti-oxidation cables to reduce theft and technical losses, shifting toward high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines for long-distance transmission, imposing stricter penalties for transmission network developers upon default, and expediting development of interstate transmission lines.

Watch: Video interview – Exploring India’s rapid electrification and digitalisation

Securing the future of the national smart grid

India must support the development of a national smart grid by designing and implementing a strategy that emphasises efficient data collection by installing smart meters at nodal points, securing data communications by using narrow broadband technologies, building data concentrator units, and piloting dedicated systems like smart grid control centres (SGCCs) and outage management systems (OMSs).

Deploying microgrids effectively

The objective across the sector should be to achieve flexibility and scale by deploying microgrids in coordination with local operators. At the same time, this strategy should be future proofed by retaining the possibility of complete integration into the national grid in the future.

Establishing world-class grid congestion management

With an increasing share of renewable energy, more efficient use of available network capacity will become a necessity. Unnecessary grid investments and ineffective grid operations must be avoided through the deployment of direct control methods (e.g., peak shaving), market-based methods, or a combination of both.

3. Driving greater profitability for distribution companies (DISCOMs)

The distribution of power is the most troubled sector across the Indian value chain. State DISCOMs, who make up 93% of distribution companies have been characterised by negative net worth (-$4.49 billion), high debt ($62.87 billion), and operational inefficiencies.

This highlights an urgent need for transformation, leveraging the following three key imperatives:

Harnessing the digital potential of power distribution through smart meters

Distribution companies need to successfully digitize by developing digital infrastructure such as smart meters.

This will allow them to transform energy distribution through consumer-centric engagement strategies, the phasing in of nationwide deployment with constant feedback collection, and by investing in a multilevel data security system.

Pushing for increased private player participation

Currently 7% of DISCOMs are privately held, though the presence of major private players has increased significantly over the last few years.

This trend should be accelerated through the help of supporting regulatory frameworks as well as providing financial support in terms of subsidies and rebates for private entities.

Scaling up adoption of power exchanges

While the Indian power exchange market is still in its infancy, now is the time to implement and experiment with reforms to create a solution targeted to local needs.

These should include the introduction of a market-coupling operator to discover a common market clearing price (MCP) across exchanges, initiating energy derivative markets with regulatory frameworks that support fair price determination and shorter credit lines, and considering a market-based economic dispatch model to prevent complete replacement of power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Energy independence is of growing importance to leading nations. India could fast-track its self-reliance goals by leveraging these ten key imperatives toward strategy-driven reform.

With some directed momentum, India can achieve its aspiration of becoming an energy independent nation, while at the same time meeting net zero targets.

Barnik Chitran Maitra is a partner at Arthur D. Little.

Recap: The ten ways to energy independence

1.Scale up the contribution of green energy

2. Promote green hydrogen as a carbon-neutral energy storage solution

3. Accelerate Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)

4. Enhancing infrastructure development and augmenting capacity

5. Securing the future of the national smart grid

6. Deploying microgrids effectively

7. Establishing world-class grid congestion management

8. Harnessing the digital potential of power distribution through smart meters

9. Pushing for increased private player participation

10. Scaling up adoption of power exchanges

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04h00 New York | 08h00 GMT | 09h00 London | 10h00 Amsterdam | 10h00 Johannesburg | 12h00 Dubai | 13h30 New Delhi | 16h00 Singapore

60-minute session

The energy landscape is changing rapidly with a clear focus on reduced emissions, decarbonized energy, and increased efficiency. Sustainability is an important prerequisite for remaining qualified for existing business relationships and developing new customers and markets.

To anticipate these trends, Rolls-Royce with its product brand mtu has approved most of its generator sets for use with paraffinic diesel fuels EN15940, including HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil).

To support the customer’s journey towards sustainability, Rolls-Royce established the foundation for a strategic partnership with Neste, a worldwide leading HVO upstream player.

Working with Neste, we will promote the contribution of internal combustion engine technology towards sustainability—a transition from fossil fuel to renewable fuel, thus underlining and demonstrating the openness of this technology. Our common goal is to transfer existing technology to a greener century.

Join this live webinar that aims to bring transparency to alternative fuel solutions, focusing on HVO and how its use can be applied to our mtu power generation applications.

What you will learn:

• Insights into mtu Rolls-Royce net zero roadmap focused on Power Generation
• Background on European emission legislation
• Categorize and explain the range of paraffinic fuels as alternatives to fossil fuels
• HVO as today’s available solution
• HVO testing results
• Characteristics positively impacting genset performance

Our partner Neste enriches this webinar by adding information about NESTE MY Renewable Diesel, global availability, and pricing mechanisms.

Speakers

Michael Stipa, Vice President Business Development, Strategy and Product Management Stationary | Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG

Mats Hultmann, Head of OEM Partnerships | Neste

Moderator

Pamela Largue, Senior Content Producer | Power Engineering International

The post Webcast 30 March | HVO fuel for mtu power generation appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Funding of £6 million ($7.3m) has been awarded to 20 research projects to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry in the UK.

The 20 projects are spread across 14 UK research institutions and are all intended to support the UK’s green growth and net zero ambitions by 2050.

The money has come from the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), which is part of the UKRI Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge.

IDRIC launched a call for industrial decarbonisation research projects, offering stakeholders the opportunity to respond to emerging innovation and research needs and complementing its existing programme of projects.

Read now: Decarbonising industries with renewable power and thermal storage

The 20 projects cover technologies including carbon capture and hydrogen, plus issues such as skills development and equality, diversity and inclusion.

The successful bids demonstrated how they would employ active dialogue and collaboration with key industrial stakeholders to ensure that outcomes and impact remain closely tied to industry needs. A full list of successful bids is listed below.

Listen now: Podcast – Lessons from a Danish hydrogen pilot project

Bryony Livesey, director of the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge at UKRI, said the projects “will build evidence on a range of areas from economics and emissions to skilled jobs and wider net zero policy, supporting UK’s green growth and net zero ambitions”. 

IDRIC director Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer said: “We were delighted by the quality and volume of applications received. IDRIC’s programme has demonstrated that we have the tools to transform industry and make it an engine of green growth.”

To 20 successful bids are listed here.

Video: Tangible opportunities to decarbonize industry. Watch here.

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The 30MW capacity turbine will be the core of a new natural gas-fired cogeneration facility at Chang Chun Petrochemical Co.’s Miaoli factory in north-central Taiwan.

The unit, scheduled to begin operating in 2025, will provide power for the company’s factories and steam for manufacturing processes.

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The gas turbine will replace the existing oil and coal-fired boiler facility to reduce emissions in line with Taiwan’s energy policy.

Mitsubishi Power will supply the H-25 gas turbine and auxiliary machinery, and dispatch engineers to provide support for installation and trial operations.

According to Mitsubishi Power, compared to a conventional boiler type cogeneration plant, the H-25 heavy-duty gas turbine contributes to greater plant efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions.

This is the second H-25 gas turbine that Mitsubishi Power will supply to Chang Chun Group, following a unit for a Chang Chun Plastics factory in 2022.

Since 1984, Mitsubishi Power has supplied Chang Chun Group with major equipment for the power and cogeneration facilities at its factories, including nine steam turbines and five boilers.

The H-25 Series gas turbines were developed for utility customers and industrial customers in both 50 Hz and 60 Hz regions. Its first unit came into commercial operation in 1988.

The post Taiwanese petrochemical firm switches to gas in bid to reduce emissions appeared first on Power Engineering International.

H2H Saltend is a 600MW low-carbon hydrogen production plant with carbon capture and is sited at the Saltend Chemicals Park, to the east of Hull in northeast Humber region of England.

The plant is scheduled to be operational by 2027 and will allow for the storage of 890,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

The project will reduce the park’s emissions by up to one third, according to Equinor, by replacing natural gas in several industrial facilities with low-carbon hydrogen.

Gas and hydrogen blends also will be used at Equinor and SSE Thermal’s on-site Saltend Power Station.

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The plant design will use Linde Engineering’s hydrogen and air separation technologies, which will be combined with UK-based Johnson Matthey’s LCH technology. The plant will be operated and maintained by BOC.

Asbjørn Haugsgjerd, Equinor’s project director for the H2H Saltend project, said: “H2H Saltend is a vital first step in creating a low carbon hydrogen economy and achieving net zero in the Humber, safeguarding local industries and creating greater opportunities, whilst helping the UK to tackle climate change.

“With Linde Engineering, BOC and Johnson Matthey on board we are even better positioned to deliver this vision.”

H2H Saltend is part of the wider Zero Carbon Humber scheme, which will provide regional infrastructure to transport hydrogen to industrial customers seeking to reduce their emissions, whilst also capturing carbon dioxide for sub-sea storage as part of the East Coast Cluster.

According to Equinor, these projects aim to make the carbon-intensive Humber net-zero by 2040.

The contracts were awarded to Linde Engineering and BOC based on their participation in a design competition to provide proposals for FEED with options for engineering, procurement and construction and operation and maintenance for the first five years.

Linde has installed over 200 hydrogen fuelling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide and BOC has experience in ensuring reliable operation of hydrogen plants in the Humber region.

Reducing Humber’s emissions

The Humber is the most carbon-intensive industrial cluster in the UK and according to Zero Carbon Humber, generates £18 billion ($22.3 billion) of the UK’s economy each year, driven largely by industrial processes.

The Humber and wider Yorkshire region are looking to hydrogen as a low carbon fuel to decarbonise transport and heating, as well as for short term energy storage.

Projects in the area are therefore aimed at developing the necessary infratsurture to create a functional hydrogen economy to drive scale and competitive hydrogen production.

The post Linde wins FEED contract for Equinor’s Saltend hydrogen plant appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Power generation equipment manufacturer Kohler Power Systems has switched from conventional diesel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to run engines at its headquarters and generator manufacturing plant in France.

While HVO had previously been used at the Brest site for small-scale development testing within laboratories, it is now available for all generator testing.

Kohler says the change means that 325,000 litres of conventional diesel that were previously burned at the site each year are now replaced with HVO, reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 750 tonnes.

“Taking into account all sources of carbon emissions, including lighting and heating, the shift to HVO has enabled the Brest plant to reduce its overall CO₂ emissions by up to 50%,” said Lenaik Andrieux, General Manager of Kohler Power Systems for the EMEA region.

Kohler has secured a supply agreement from a major provider which keeps large amounts of HVO at a storage depot near the Brest site.

Typical tests at the Kohler site include a generator running for 24 or 72 hours, which uses significant amounts of fuel.

The company believes that this year, the shift to HVO on the site should create 78% lower emissions than it would have done using fossil diesel.

As well as reducing emissions balance of CO₂, HVO emits less NOx, and fewer particulates than fossil diesel.

HVO is also more stable than fossil diesel, which helps Kohler ensure reliable test results, even if fuel has been in a tank for several months.

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HVO has no sensitivity to oxidation, can be stored long-term and is sourced entirely from waste products.

Kohler said the switch from fossil diesel to HVO was “quick and easy” and no modifications to previously installed generators were required.

Kohler manufactures engines and complete power systems, including generators, switchgear and monitoring controls.

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Keadby 3 in North Lincolnshire has a generating capacity of up to 910MW and is fuelled by natural gas.

In December, it became the first power carbon capture and storage project in the UK to receive planning permission.

When complete, Keadby 3 could become the UK’s first flexible power station equipped with carbon capture technology, capable of capturing up to 1.5 million tonnes of carbon annually.

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With fieldwork underway, Fugro is performing a range of geotechnical assessments as well as in situ testing to deliver a set of ground data at the Keadby 3 site.

Fugro will then provide interpretative reporting for site specific engineering, allowing design and ground engineering specialists to solve or avoid engineering challenges, manage ground related risk and associated project costs.

Matthew Chappell, Fugro’s service line director of site investigation, said in a statement: “We’re proud to play a part in the development of what could be the UK’s first flexible power station.

“CCS plays a key role in realising the UK’s emission reduction targets aligning directly with Fugro’s purpose of working together to create a safe and liveable world. With our Geo-data, ground characteristics and behaviours can be confidently determined, and potential hazards identified, allowing solutions to be modelled and managed.”

The post Geo-data contract awarded for UK’s first power station with carbon capture appeared first on Power Engineering International.

The mixed fuel demonstrations ran throughout COP27 and represents the first time GE’s LM6000 gas turbine was run on a hydrogen fuel blend on the African continent.

The project resulted from a cooperation agreement between Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), GE, Hassan Allam Construction, and Egyptian EPC company PGESCO and forms part of the country’s emergency supply power programme.

EEHC owns and operates the Sharm El Sheikh plant. GE led the conception, planning, and execution of the project, as well as the building of the hydrogen-natural gas blending system.

Hassan Allam supplied the manpower and equipment needed for installation, related civil works, hydrogen needed for testing, and the piping and cabling system that transported hydrogen to the mixing skid and the turbine. PGESCO helped design the project and provided engineering expertise.

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Joseph Anis, president and CEO of GE Gas Power in EMEA, said in a statement: “We were honored to design the overall hydrogen-natural gas demonstration project at Sharm El Sheikh. This is an excellent example of what it means to be together for implementation.”

The project illustrates that while hydrogen does present certain challenges with transportation, storage, and use at site for power generation, those obstacles can be overcome with the right arrangements, training, and precautions.

Also, according to GE, the successful adaptation of an existing installed unit to run on hydrogen-blended fuel also highlights that today’s gas power generation assets can be a destination technology, not just a bridging technology, as the world scales up the production of hydrogen.

This is important for countries that have made considerable investments of billions of dollars in these assets.

Ahmed Ramadan, chief executive of PGESCO said the project was “a milestone in Africa and the region, illuminating how we can use hydrogen-blended fuels for future energy production”.

The LM6000 gas turbine operates in the +40MW space on a wide variety of fuels including natural gas, LPG (propane and butane), isopentane, ethanol, diesel, and coke oven gas.

With around five minutes to ramp up from start-up to full power, the turbine provides a faster frequency control response, according to GE.

The post GE runs gas turbine on hydrogen blend at Sharm El Sheikh plant appeared first on Power Engineering International.

You are invited to access the latest Europe Energy Talks – available online – which was hosted in Frankfurt, Germany, where experts discuss the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition in view of the expanding energy crisis in Europe.

Siemens Energy and Enlit Europe collaborated to host the Europe Energy Talks, where key players including BASF, EnBW, Shell, Uniper, and MVV participated.

Together, the panel explored how we can ensure energy security and affordability – and still accelerate the journey to net zero.

Moderator:
Kelvin Ross, Editor-in-Chief of Enlit Europe

Welcome address:
Ariel Porat, Senior Vice President, Head of Hub Europe, Siemens Energy

Panel:

Marcus Adlon, Managing Director | MVV Green Heat GmbH
Dr. Hannah König, Head of Procurement | EnBW
Dr. Holger Kreetz, COO Asset Management | Uniper
Jens Müller-Belau, Managing Director Energy Transition (Germany) | Shell
Christoph Schuette, Managing Director | Siemens Energy Germany

The energy transformation requires all of us to face some uncomfortable truths.
Join Siemens Energy to talk about them! 

The post On Demand: What is Europe’s role in the energy transition? – Europe Energy Talks appeared first on Power Engineering International.

During two weeks in October, Wisconsin-based WEC said hydrogen and natural gas were tested in blends up to 25/75 percent by volume to power an 18MW Wärtsilä reciprocating engine at the A.J. Mihm plant near Pelkie, Michigan. The plant serves customers of Upper Michigan Energy Resources, a WEC Energy Group subsidiary.

Partners said the project is the first hydrogen power generation test of a utility-scale, grid-connected reciprocating engine generator in the world.

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The reciprocating engine was continually monitored during the test to measure performance, output and emissions data. This particular unit began service in 2019. EPRI plans to release an analysis of the pilot in early 2023.

Wärtsilä, Burns and McDonnell and Certarus also assisted with the project.

Reciprocating engines convert pressure into rotating motion using pistons, while gas or combustion turbines use the pressure from the exploding fuel to turn a turbine.

Each of Wärtsilä’s three engines at A.J. Mihm has its own 65-foot stack and are cooled by 24 radiator fans that reject heat from a closed-loop circulating antifreeze (coolant) system.

Fueled with natural gas, each engine is shaft-coupled to an electric generator. The units are housed inside a building with an exterior resembling a warehouse. The exhaust system is located outside the building and includes silencers, air quality control systems and stacks.

The plant uses selective catalytic reduction with urea injection for control of nitrogen oxides and an oxidation catalyst for control of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants.

Originally published by Kevin Clark on power-eng.com

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