The BioBéarn facility in Mourenx was built by TotalEnergies – the 18^th launched such plant by the company in the country – and has a maximum capacity of 160GWh and is located.

Operating on organic waste, it will produce 69 GWh this year and then is expected to ramp up progressively to keep pace with the rapidly growing demand for biogas.

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The project will convert 220,000 metric tonnes of organic waste into 200,000 metric tonnes per year of digestate, a natural fertilizer, and 160 GWh of biomethane.

“This new plant is part of TotalEnergies’ commitment to promote biogas, a clean gas that strengthens the country’s energy sovereignty and the development of the circular economy,” said Olivier Guerrini, vice-president of the Biogas Business Unit at TotalEnergies.  

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The order includes the conversion of two coal-fired boilers to bubbling fluidized bed combustion to enable the boilers to run mainly on biomass fuel.

Valmet’s scope of delivery includes engineering, erection and commissioning of the main equipment for bubbling fluidized bed combustion including emission reduction equipment.

The order, valued at approximately EUR 25 million ($26.7 million), will see the converted boilers handed over to the customer by the second quarter of 2024.

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György Palkó, chief executive of Veolia Energia Magyarország Zrt, said: “Our company intends to include environmentally conscious solutions in all its investments, targeting a long-term solution for the sustainability of the industry.

“We are gradually converting our existing coal-fired power plants to run on more environmentally friendly and sustainable fuels.”

He added that after the recommissioning, “the Oroszlány power plant will produce more than 600 GWh of renewable electricity, making up about 1.5 percent of today’s electricity consumption in Hungary”.

According to Europe Beyond Coal, in September 2019 the president of Hungary János Áder announced that the country will stop using coal to produce electricity by 2030.

In March 2021, at the Powering Past Coal Alliance’s global summit, Hungary joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, stating that the country would phase out coal at its last remaining lignite power plant (Matra, 884MW) by 2025.

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For too long, industrial production has been considered selectively – the switch to hydrogen in steel production is a very present example. Yet the challenge – and at the same time the opportunity – industry faces is enormous in one area, in particular: two-thirds of industrial energy demand is accounted for by process heat, most of which is still generated using fossil fuels. This is why 25% of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions are produced here, year after year. It’s time for that to change.

Decarbonisation, technology solutions

Due to the great diversity of industrial processes, there is no ‘patent remedy’ for all sectors when looking at decarbonisation technology solutions.

However, a wide range of technologies are already available that can effectively reduce industrial emissions:

Biomass

Sustainably produced biomass can be used as fuel instead of coal, for example in combined heat and power plants. In this way, for example, the Danish energy producer Ørsted already supplies CO2-neutral heat and steam to its industrial customers in Kalundborg, Denmark. The disadvantage: the cultivation of energy crops competes with food production, which remains vital in many places against the background of the global hunger crisis.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Those who must continue to use fossil fuels, for example, due to a lack of available alternatives, can still reduce their emissions with the help of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) solutions, for example in steel production. However, the disadvantages of the technology include long lead times and a significant increase in the costs of industrial processes.

Hydrogen

Especially in industrial processes that require high temperatures, low-emission hydrogen could replace other energy carriers. While industrial applications are seen as a future key market for hydrogen, further investment in the supply chain and optimisation of production processes are necessary until then. In low to medium temperature ranges, electricity-based alternatives are often available, so the still precious (green) hydrogen should rather be used elsewhere.

Electrification

Heat generation in the industry can be electrified using, among other things, large-scale industrial heat pumps. However, this technology is only attractive for industrial applications with lower temperature requirements, as the heat pump models currently available can only provide heat up to about 180°C. Large-scale industrial heat pumps are still They are also not easily scalable and require a lot of space.

Thermal storage

Process heat from originally fossil energy sources can also be electrified with the help of thermal storage. In this way, the technology provides CO2-free heat and steam on demand and enables, for example, the use of solar energy for production processes at night. Storage systems are cost-effective, flexible, reliable, and scalable for a wide range of industrial applications.

Thermal storage has long since ceased to be a research topic. ENERGYNEST is a global pioneer with its market-ready ThermalBattery™; several projects are currently under construction and in commercial use, for example, at the Norwegian fertilizer manufacturer Yara and the Italian energy group Eni.

Thermal storage is also one of the few technologies that simultaneously contributes to all three goals of the energy transition – because it increases supply security, ensures lower energy costs, and effectively reduces CO2 emissions. They, therefore, have a key role to play in the move away from natural gas in industry.

The post The decarbonisation of industrial process heat: ideas and solutions from EnergyNest appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Cottam Development Centre is a 445MW natural gas power station in Nottinghamshire, England.

It undergoes routine maintenance outages every four-to-five years, which requires a secure backup power supply when the plant is disconnected from the main grid, usually involving using diesel generators.

However, this time Uniper used a hydrogen power unit developed by GeoPura to power the plant, which has Siemens Energy as its equipment contractor.

Catch up on the latest hydrogen news here

A unit is housed in a standard 20ft shipping container and built on industrial hydrogen fuel cells. It provides 250kW electrical output, 80kW thermal power and 216kWh battery storage.

At the Cottam plant, it was used to power the outage village, including welfare facilities and EV charging for all electric vehicles on site.

Uniper said using the unit saved 94 tonnes of carbon dioxide during the three-month outage.

The green hydrogen is produced locally by GeoPura using renewable energy from a biomass facility approximately eight miles away.

Tom Kavanagh, Plant Manager for Cottam Development Centre, said that Uniper “will share the lessons learned from using this technology across our fleet of UK power stations”.  

Siemens Energy is working in collaboration with GeoPura to scale up the production of the units and accelerate their deployment.

Missed our exclusive Siemens Energy series? Read all the articles here

Darren Davidson, Managing Director of Siemens Energy Gas Services UK, said that initially the hydrogen unit “was primarily being used to power the contactor cabins and provide EV charging, however, once established and the technology was proven to be reliable on site, its use was extended to replace an additional two diesel generators”.

“Due to increased flexibility the system offers, the HPU was more than capable of supporting this additional load and provided even greater savings than originally planned.”

You can meet experts from Uniper and Siemens Energy at Enlit Europe in Frankfurt. Details here.

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The carbon-negative plant being developed by Pennsylvanian coal producer Consol Energy would run on waste coal and biomass, with the potential for demonstration in 5–10 years and commercialisation by 2030. Consol is evaluating carbon capture technologies as part of National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)’s 21st Century Power Plants initiative.

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The proposed plant would have four pressurized fluid bed boiler combustors, each with CO2 emission capture targets of approximately 781,000 metric tons per year. B&W’s post-combustion SolveBright scrubbing system absorbs CO2 directly from the plant’s flue gas using a regenerable solvent that is then recycled for re-use.

This project will also include Honeywell’s advanced solvent carbon capture process technology, B&W said in a release. This point source CO2 removal technology can be retrofitted within existing plants or included as part of a new installation.

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“We are excited that B&W and Honeywell UOP have been selected for this study to determine how our advanced carbon capture technologies can be utilized on this ground-breaking clean energy project,” said B&W executive vice president and COO Jimmy Morgan. “B&W’s proven SolveBright technology, which includes our experience with the design and construction of large field-erected absorbers, scrubbing systems and our development history of amine-based solvent systems, combined with Honeywell UOP’s amine-based solvent system experience and their ASCC technology, give us the ability to deliver a truly innovative decarbonization solution.”

Originally published by Kevin Clark on power-eng.com

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Doosan Škoda Power will supply two 30MW industrial turbines with 2 inlets and controlled extractions, gearboxes and generators to French power producer Albioma.

The equipment will be used to convert the coal boilers to biomass, allowing Albioma to burn waste from the production of sugar cane. The process will produce energy, while simultaneously producing steam for production.

This will help meet the high energy demand of continuous production while reducing the impact on the island’s isolated grid. Furthermore, the fossil fuel-to-biomass project will help reduce emissions while increasing energy efficiency of the plant.

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According to Doosan Škoda Power, La Reunion is a hub for sugar production. Seasonal harvesting can put a strain on the grid, which needs to remain stable throughout peak demands of sugar production.

Michal Sarpong, area sales director in Doosan Škoda Power, said in a statement: “This is an important project for Doosan Škoda Power, where we have to implement 2 sets of turbines into an existing machine hall. There is a limited time to change the old turbines for the new ones with necessity of minimum modifications to the existing building. This is a challenge we needed to solve and provide a reliable, flexible and efficient solution of steam turbine sets. But also manage the workflow of necessary works to fit the given time window.”

Doosan Škoda Power suggests that industrial applications such as this are key market drivers for the use of turbines for power production and to support production technology.

La Reunion is a French island located in the Indian Ocean approximately 950 km (590 miles) east of the island of Madagascar and 175 km (109 miles) southwest of the island of Mauritius.

Albioma produces 46% of the energy available in the grid by operating two thermal biomass power plants, a bioethanol combustion turbine and a large photovoltaic fleet.

Reunion Island aims to achieve energy autonomy and a 100% renewable electricity mix by 2030.

The post Doosan Škoda supplies turbines for La Reunion coal-to-biomass conversion appeared first on Power Engineering International.

The biogas project is part of a $400 million expansion plan at the Booker Noe distillery that will increase capacity by 50%, while reducing the distillery’s greenhouse gas emissions by the same percentage.

The plant will use anaerobic digestors to convert spent stillage into biogas which will be treated to renewable natural gas standards and piped across the street to the Booker Noe facility.

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The digestors will also produce fertilizer, which will be made available to local farmers.

Once completed in 2024, the Booker Noe distillery will be 65% powered by renewable natural gas and 35% by fossil-based natural gas.

Beam Suntory president and CEO Albert Baladi, said in a statement: “This expansion will help ensure we meet future demand for our iconic bourbon in a sustainable way that supports the environment and the local community that has helped build and support Jim Beam.”

According to the company, the project will allow the distillery to invest in high-efficiency gas boilers to maximise use of renewable natural gas, use scrubbing technology to remove carbon dioxide from fermentation tanks and, following a purification process, facilitate the beneficial reuse of more than 100,000 metric tons of high-purity carbon dioxide annually.

Beam Suntory’s investment was first announced in July this year by the state of Kentucky through a series of economic incentive grants designed to increase capacity and create jobs.

The post Jim Beam embraces the spirit of sustainability with biogas project appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Albioma’s 108MW Bois Rouge coal-fired power plant, based on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, will be converted to biomass wood pellets resulting in a CO2 emissions reduction of approximately 640,000 tonnes per year.

“Our aim as a company is to reach almost 100% renewable energies by 2030 at the latest, and the complete discontinuation of coal at our flagship site represents a major milestone in this green revolution,” said Pascal Langeron, chief operating officer, Reunion Island of Albioma.

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The five-month, multi-million dollar project will see Emerson modify two of the three generating units’ distributed control systems for use with biomass feedstock. The control system of the third unit will be completely replaced with a new Ovation system.

According to Emerson, the units will also be modernised with new turbine protection and monitoring systems, as well as upgraded boiler control elements and instrumentation.

Emerson will provide local engineering support and will allow Albioma to access resources and ongoing support via its virtual engineering and testing environment, or Remote Virtual Office.

“Emerson has a vital role to play in the global transition to a sustainable energy future by supporting customers in their conversion projects,” said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson’s power and water business.

“Our automation technologies, software, solutions and biomass project expertise will help Albioma operate Bois Rouge at peak performance, while also benefiting the environment by achieving a very significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.”

The post Réunion Island coal power station converts to biomass to reduce emissions appeared first on Power Engineering International.

ORLEN Południe will produce bioethanol from non-food agricultural feedstocks (mainly cereal straw) sourced mainly from Polish farmers.

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The contract will see Valmet deliver a pretreatment BioTrac system with a capacity to process approximately 400 tons of dry straw per day and a BioPower 48MWth lignin fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant. Both installations will be controlled by a Valmet DNA automation system with embedded information management and cyber security solutions.

The 48MWth plant is scheduled to begin operations in 2024.

Bertel Karlstedt, business line president, pulp and energy, Valmet, said: “…The second-generation bioethanol is a very good example of Valmet utilising the decades of experience in biomass processing for developing solutions that can be used for other applications outside its traditional pulp, paper and energy field.

“We see great potential in this field and are very happy to have been selected by ORLEN Południe S.A. as a key technology partner in this very important project.”

Valmet’s BioPower plant is based on bubbling fluidized bed combustion technology and flue gas cleaning combined with factory manufactured modules, a combination that enables faster project implementation and lower implementation risks, according to Valmet.

The post Valmet to deliver BioPower plant to Polish biofuel company appeared first on Power Engineering International.

The German government through the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has signed a $6.5 million contract with four institutions in Germany and one institution in Ghana comprising three academic institutions, one research and development institution and a medium-scale industrial firm to design and construct a hybrid waste to energy power plant to treat municipal solid waste in Ghana.

The completion of the 48-month project will help to ensure the conversion of waste to energy in Kumasi. The plan is to later extend the concept to other parts of the country as this project could provide a blueprint for further projects.

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The 400-kilowatt production facility, which will be known as the Hybrid-PV-Biogas-Pyrolysis-Plant, will convert 12 tonnes of waste into bio-fertiliser and energy daily and this will help farmers in the area access organic manure for their farms.

The power generated will consist of 200KW from solar, 100KW from biogas and an additional 100KW from the pyrolysis of plastic waste.

When the entire project is completed, it will also serve as a training centre for waste management and solar energy sourcing, provide training for 17 master’s degree students and four PhD students at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), all supporting partners of the project.

President’s comments on the first of its kind power plant

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the new plant at Gyankobaa was a manifestation of the government’s efforts to pursue reliable and sustainable alternatives to hydro and thermal energy generation for the country.

The President said the project, the first of its kind in West Africa, would help close the communal carbon cycle by developing the value chain of the process with the production and utilisation of compost.

“The hybrid waste-to-energy project has come at a time when major cities like Accra and Kumasi are facing dire challenges in finding final dump sites. Indeed, the highlight of this project for me is the utilisation of municipal waste for the generation of power which could be the sustainable alternative for curbing the waste management challenges facing metropolises, municipalities and districts (MMDAs) in Ghana,” he stressed.

Akufo-Addo said the manufacture of compost, which would be sold to farmers to boost agriculture, would help cut down on mineral fertiliser, while improving the soil structure and also contributing to Ghana’s climate change mitigation strategy.

He said Germany would continue to train high-level local experts in waste management and waste treatment technologies.

Background of the waste-to-energy project

The joint effort between the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) of Ghana, led by the University of Rostock in Germany through the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) in Accra which conducted feasibility studies on renewable energy resources in Ghana under the supervision of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-Ghana) before the inception of this project.

The project is funded by The Pilot Hybrid Waste to Energy and is executed by 4 German institutions, led by the University of Rostock; 6 institutions in Ghana, led by WASCAL.

Originally published by Nomvuyo Tena on esi-africa.com

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