Global Monitor: Npower plans big coal plant in UK

Power, Apr 2007

face= Bold; Ovation for huge new Chinese coal plantface=-Bold;

The 1,000-MW Units 1 and 2 of the new, four-unit Huaneng Yuhan power plant in China have implemented expert control systems from Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com). Emerson, a major supplier of process controls to the electric power, water treatment, and wastewater industries, won the $7 million contract for the systems in April 2005.

The 4,000-MW plant, owned by Huaneng Power International, is the first to implement 1,000-MW ultrasupercritical technology in China. Emerson reports that Unit 1 completed its 168-hour performance test last November, and that Unit 2 was synchronized to the grid the following month. An Ovation expert system (Figure 9) monitors and controls the units' data acquisition system, modulating control system, sequence control system, furnace safeguard supervisory system, and major energy converters such as the boiler, turbine, and generator.

Emerson says its Ovation control system was designed specifically for the power generation business and has been used in thousands of installations. According to the company, the Chinese ultrasupercritical units at Yuhan "are currently the cleanest, most efficient, and most advanced in the world." Their reported 45% thermal efficiency compares favorably with the 30% to 38% efficiency of plants operating at subcritical temperatures and pressures.

face= Bold; PG&E dips toe into wave powerface=-Bold;

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) two preliminary permit applications for wave energy projects to be sited off the California coast.

"The waters west of Humboldt and Mendocino counties have excellent wave power potential," said Fong Wan, PG&E's vice president of energy procurement. "The development of this new type of energy resource, which generates electricity from the movement of water near the surface of the ocean, is one of the many sources of clean, non-polluting, renewable energy that PG&E is aggressively pursuing."

Most of the wave energy conversion (WEC) devices that PG&E is considering for its "WaveConnect" program float on the ocean surface and generate electricity from the movement of waves. As lead developer, PG&E says it will be responsible for site permitting and "will encourage the participation of multiple WEC device manufacturers in the projects."

According to PG&E, its WaveConnect program would be the first in North America "to allow multiple WEC device manufacturers to demonstrate their devices on a common site, which could help accelerate the development of wave energy technology." The timing of the program could not be better. This February, FERC issued a notice asking for comments on how the agency should process applications for ocean-based generating technologies. FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said, "These emerging new hydroelectric technologies have significant potential. However, [they] present some challenges relating to reliability, environmental and safety implications, and commercial viability."