Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 1-2/2019
European electricity can be carbon-neutral by 2045
Kristian Ruby
By mid-century, Europe can become a net zero emissions continent thanks to carbon-neutral electricity. This is the message of ‘Decarbonisation Pathways’, a study conducted by Eurelectric with analytical support from McKinsey. The study details how our industry vision of becoming carbon-neutral well before mid century can be turned into reality, while expanding the uptake of electricity in other sectors significantly to help them reduce their carbon footprint.[more...]
Research projects on CCU and sector coupling at RWE Power’s Coal Innovation Centre
Peter Moser, Sandra Schmidt, Knut Stahl and Georg Wiechers
Even a complete termination of the use of lignite, hard coal and natural gas across all sectors and applications in Germany within the next 32 years is insufficient to achieve the CO2 reduction targets according to the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21) and the German Climate Action Plan 2050. In addition, a large part of the CO2 emissions caused by the use of oil would have to be avoided. To meet the climate protection targets it is by far not sufficient to replace conventional fossil-fired power production by renewable energies. Without a strong contribution of all economic sectors this will be impossible. Fossil-fired conventional power plants will be needed for decades to secure the energy transition and cement and steel production and petrochemistry will continue to emit CO2 independent of the electricity sector, opening new opportunities for the separation of CO2 from flue gases and its use as a raw material for the production of base chemicals and fuels with cross-sectoral use. Together with partners, RWE Power has started the four Carbon Capture and Usage (CCU) pilot projects MefCO2, ALIGN-CCUS, OCEAN and Loter.CO2M in the Coal Innovation Centre at Niederaussem, demonstrating the technical feasibility of innovative CO2 utilization processes.
Electricity-to-electricity storage systems at power plant sites
Richard Lindenau and Christoph Guder
As the share of renewable energies in electricity generation increases, the need for balancing energy also rises. For its supply, electricity storage systems are an interesting option. Due to their beneficial infrastructure, power plant sites are suitable for the cost-effective installation of electricity storage systems. These can be both battery storage systems as well as thermal storage systems. STEAG Energy Services (SES) carried out a comparison of battery storage systems (Li-ion; redox-flow, lead-acid and sodium-sulphur) and thermal storage systems (molten salt and bulk material) within the scope of a 240-MWh-electricity storage project at the Duisburg-WaIsum power plant site. With a suitable regulatory framework, electricity storage systems can contribute to the success of the energy turn around.
Sector coupling – Options and opportunities for the energy sector on the example of a power-to-methanol plant
K. Görner, F. Möllenbruck, M. Dierks, E. Demirkol, M. Richter and G. Oeljeklaus
The increasing share of electricity generation from fluctuating renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics results in a highly volatile residual load with temporary electricity surpluses and low or even negative electricity prices. In this context, the sector coupling is a promising approach for the further integration of fluctuating renewable energy sources while maintaining a stable operation of the electrical grid. So called “Power-to-X” concepts cover technologies that aim to convert electrical energy into e.g. synthetic fuels and energy-intensive chemical raw products. In this paper, the coupling of the sectors electricity and industry/mobility is presented based on an exemplarily integration of a methanol synthesis into a gas-fired combined cycle power plant. For this study, stationary simulation models in EBSILON®Professional and Aspen Plus® are developed. The integration of the methanol synthesis leads to an increased load flexibility of the power plant, enabling a minimum load reduction from 57 % to 0 % of net power output. Additionally, the consideration of the operation of the power plant “Lausward F” in the year 2017 shows that the integration of a methanol synthesis is economically beneficial already today, enabling additional business opportunities in periods with low spot market prices.
The final countdown of the IT security catalogue according to § section 11 paragraph 1b EnWG
Stefan Loubichi
With the IT-security catalogue issued in December 2018, the last chapter of implementing and certifying companies in the energy industry has begun. The operators of energy plants have to demonstrate successful certification until March 31, 2021. Not only the IT-security catalogue according to § 11 Ib EnWG must be proven, but also ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27002 and ISO/IEC 27019. Nuclear power plants are only exempt from certification, if they can successfully prove the adaption of the SEWD IT directive. In this essay, we first show who is really affected. Furthermore, we present you a project plan for the implementation of the IT-security catalogue according to § 11 Ib EnWG in a period of 12 to 18 months. All the before mentioned facts lead to the estimation that the implementation of the IT catalog will be a major but manageable challenge.
Battery augmented biomass and waste power plants – A new approach to provide grid services
Konstantin Dinkler and Jürgen Peterseim
Solar photovoltaics (PV), wind, bio- and geothermal energy are a vital part of the future energy system. While renewables, such as bioenergy, hydro energy and geothermal are base-load capable, the predominantly added new capacities are wind and PV, which are intermittent. Without energy storage high wind and PV penetration rates require very flexible power systems to compensate potential shortfalls or peak generation. Currently, flexible capacity is provided by pumped hydro, gas engine/turbine plants, and some battery installations. Of these, large battery systems are least mature but many commercial installations operate successfully and the technology is set to continue its growth path due to production related economies-of-scale, learning curve improvements and further research and development. While the two logical green energy combinations are batteries with wind and PV, biomass and waste to energy plants are of interest too. Such plants can charge/ discharge batteries at any time required to provide grid services, thus expanding their revenue stream beyond fixed base-load power prices.
The role of nuclear power in the world
Ludger Mohrbach
Today, nuclear power plants are operated in 31 countries, since the Fukushima event 2011 five newcomer countries have additionally started to build nuclear units, namely the United Arab Emirates, Belarus, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt. In the same time, only Germany has decided to phase out nuclear (until 2022) at about half of the technical lifetime of 60 years of the plants, whereas originally comparable decisions in Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, South Korea and Sweden have been continuously ex-tended or reversed. We estimate the associated costs for Germany in the range of 200 G€. Furthermore, several other countries follow long-term policies to embark on nuclear programmes, whereas at least 17 of the 31 “nuclear“ countries have declared to expand their nuclear share, mostly for climate protection reasons, but also for energy independence, security of supply or value of domestic investment. New construction has shifted from America and Europe to Russia and East Asia, with completion of a new unit on a worldwide scale about every six to eight weeks.
Process reliability through rental systems for steam and hot water
Reiner Weiß
Rental energy systems for steam and hot water offer process reliability and fast assistance. Depending on requirements, fully equipped container plants can be brought to site and commissioned within a few days; the largest mobile boilers deliver up to 30 MW and require complex special transports. Nevertheless, boiler breakdowns, planned shutdowns and overhauls as well as conversions and new buildings justify their use: production downtimes and the failure to serve customers are usually much more expensive and a danger for operators of boiler plants.
Conference Report: 50th Power Plant Technology Colloquium
Juliane Jentschke, Michael Beckmann and Antonio Hurtado
The „Kraftwerkstechnisches Kolloquium“ (Power Plant Technology Colloquium) – a scientific congress on questions of energy supply, transport, storage and application – has been documenting the development of energy technology for 50 years now. If one reflects on the focal points of the past 50 congresses, not only milestones in technical development can be identified, but also the accompanying socio-political framework conditions.