6. Focused energy. The 1.5-MW Maricopa Solar power plant is
the first to use Stirling Energy Systems’ Stirling dish technology, which
will be deployed at 1,500-MW plants in California and Texas. Courtesy:
Stirling Energy Systems
manufactured by SES. The facility uses 60 SunCatcher Stirling
dishes. Each 25-kW SunCatcher consists of a 38-foot mirrored
parabolic dish combined with an automatic tracking system to
collect and focus the sun’s energy onto a Stirling engine to convert the solar thermal energy into electricity.
SES says that SunCatcher has a number of advantages, includ-
ing the highest solar-to-grid electric efficiency, zero water use
for power production, a modular and scalable design, low capital
cost, and minimal land disturbance.
The technology was designed and developed in the U.S. through a
public-private partnership with the Department of Energy. The Sun-
Catchers used at Maricopa Solar were manufactured and assembled
in North America, mostly in Michigan by automotive suppliers.
POWER Digest
Siemens Hands Over 870-MW Dutch Gas Plant. Siemens Energy on Feb. 12 handed over the 870-MW Sloecentrale combined-cycle power plant to the joint venture of Dutch company Delta
Energy and Electricité de France. The natural gas–fired plant in
the Dutch town of Vlissingen-Oost reportedly has an efficiency
of 59% and uses a state-of-the-art burner technology to keep
nitrogen oxide emissions below 15 ppm. The plant is designed for
250 starts per year and is capable of supplying power to the grid
within 30 to 40 minutes, Siemens said.
Sloecentrale comprises two single-shaft plants, in which the
main components are arranged on a single line of shafting.
Siemens built the plant as a turnkey project and supplied the
main components—two SGT5-4000F gas turbines, two SST5-
5000 steam turbines, two hydrogen-cooled generators, and all
the electrical and instrumentation and control equipment. The
company also signed a long-term service agreement for the
main components.
Norway Pledges Funds to Develop World’s Largest Wind
Turbine. Enova, an entity owned by Norway’s petroleum and oil
industry ministry, on Feb. 12 announced it would provide Bergen-based company Sway AS with NOK 137 million (US$23 million) to
demonstrate what it called “the world’s largest” turbine by 2011.
Standing 162.5 meters tall, the 10-MW turbine will have a rotor
diameter of 145 meters. The turbine’s concept was developed by
Sway in cooperation with Norwegian technology firm
Smartmo-tor AS, and it involves reducing turbine weight and the number
of moving parts, as well as the use of a gearless generator system.
The prototype will be tested on land in Øygarden, southwestern
Norway, for two years before being installation the North Sea as
part of a Sway project that involves floating turbines.
eSolar and Ferrostaal to Deploy Solar Tower Projects in
Spain, UAE, and South Africa. California-based solar thermal
power technology maker eSolar and Ferrostaal on Feb. 18 said
they had struck a deal to jointly deploy turnkey solar power projects in Spain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and South Africa.
Under the agreement, eSolar will provide solar field and receiver
technology, while Ferrostaal will provide the power block as well
as manage the overall realization as general contractor, including financing activities. The companies will use eSolar’s Sierra
Sun Tower, a 5-MW commercial-scale solar power plant that uses
mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a tower.
B&W Pilot Test of RSAT Carbon Capture Technology Successful. Babcock and Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W
PGG) on Feb. 1 said that researchers had successfully captured
CO2 emissions from a pilot-scale, coal-fired boiler using advanced
solvents and a proprietary CO2-capture process developed at the
company’s research center in Barberton, Ohio. During the demonstration on flue gas from a coal-fired boiler at the company’s
Regenerable Solvent Absorption Technology (RSAT) Pilot Plant,
researchers were able to continuously remove more than 90% of
the CO2 from the Small Boiler Simulator II’s flue gas stream using
a fully integrated RSAT process.
The RSAT process uses a liquid solvent in an absorber vessel to
remove CO2 from a plant’s flue gas stream. B&W PGG researchers
are now evaluating proprietary solvents and characterizing their
performance at this scale, the company said. Pilot-scale testing
of solvents began at the B&W Research Center in June 2009 and
will continue throughout 2010.
MAN Diesel Wins Major Equipment Contract for Brazil Diesel
Plants. MAN Diesel, the Augsburg-based manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines, in early February said it had won a contract
worth €300 million from Brazilian company Grupo Bertin to
supply electromechanical equipment for six diesel power plants.
These components include 120 large-bore diesel engines and
generators, which together will form the heart of the plants.
Wärtsilä Wins Contract for 119-MW Heavy Fuel Oil Plant in
Greece. Wärtsilä in December won a contract to supply equipment and engineering for the 119-MW South Rhodes Power Station proposed for the island of Rhodes in Greece. The plant,
expected to become fully operational during the second half of
2011, will generate electricity for the island’s grid from seven
Wärtsilä 18V46 engines running on heavy fuel oil. The order was
placed by Terna S.A., which has been awarded the overall project
contract by Public Power Corp. S.A., the national electricity utility of Greece.
Foster Wheeler to Design, Supply Equipment for 1,200-MW
Vietnamese Coal Plant. Foster Wheeler AG announced on Feb.
9 that a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has been awarded
a contract by Lilama Corp., a Vietnamese EPC contractor, to
design and supply two steam surface condensers and auxiliary
equipment for the Vung Ang Thermal Power Plant in Vietnam.
The two-unit 1,200-MW coal-fired power plant will be located
in Ha Tinh province on the north central coast of Vietnam. The
project is being built by investments from the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group as part of the government’s National
Power Development Plan for the 2006–2015 period. Commercial
operation of the first unit is scheduled for the second quarter
of 2012. The second unit is expected to come online in the first
quarter of 2013. ■
—By Senior Writer Sonal Patel and Managing Editor Gail Reitenbach.
