Asian Power

China’s use of unconventional gas set to rise

MWM’s efficient and eco-friendly systems

Siemens combined cycle power plants

ISSUE 43 | DISPLAY TO 28 February 2011 | www.asian-power.com | A Charlton Media Group publication

US$360 P.A.

Asia: Renewed Asia Renewables Managing Director William Byun speaks of the attraction of biomass and its conversion to energy over the next decade.

WIND POWER IN ASIA

MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS FOR COAL POWER PLANTS

Natural power

gas for India

William Byun Managing Director of Asia Renewables

WATT YOU NEED

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FIRST

Liu as China Wind’s CFO

EDITOR’s NOTE

China Wind Systems appointed Mr. Fernando Liu, CPA, as its Chief Financial Officer, effective January 1, 2011.

by Tim charlton Moving Forward

Last year, the world got back up on its feet. This year, we march ahead.

Fueled by new hope in this new start, we bring you an issue that looks at how the global power industry is moving forward. The second decade of the new millennium begins rich with optimism as companies around the world propel themselves from rebound to drive. To open 2011, Asian Power takes a look at opportunities.

We focus at how China, the world’s fastest-growing economy, is weighing its energy options. Arguably among the largest power consumers, China is laying out long-term plans that slowly wean from dependence on traditional energy sources and maximize the emerging alternatives, from natural gas to renewable energy.

Emerging Southeast Asian economies are taking a similar direction. The Philippines aims to shift to renewable energy in 20 years, batting for 80 percent clean energy use in the coming decade.

Malaysia recently launched a grid and distribution code touted to enhance transparency in the supply chain. At the same time, the Malaysian government is posturing to become the world’s third largest producer of solar cells, joining the league of economic giants China and Germany. We talk to Hyperion Power CEO John Grizz on the prospects of nuclear power and a renewed interest in Asia as the driving force behind the “global nuclear renaissance.”

Constantly keeping track of such developments, Asian Power hopes to bring you an even more comprehensive view of the industry- from coverage of power news and talk from the grapevine- throughout the year.

Happy New Year!

Prior to joining China Wind Systems, Mr. Liu served as China Region President of Barron Partners LP, an investment fund which is primarily focused on the clean energy and China sector.

Barron Partners is an investor in the Company. Previously, Mr. Liu worked at Eos Funds, an investment fund primarily focused on small and mid-sized companies in China. Mr. Liu holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of British Columbia and is a U.S. Certified Public Accountant. He also served for six years in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Mr. Liu replaces Ms. Teresa Zhang, who resigned from her position as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer for personal reasons, effective December 28, 2010. Ms. Zhang’s resignation is not in connection with any disagreement with the Company regarding financial, accounting, or other practices.

“Mr. Liu, a certified public accountant, brings a wealth of expertise in corporate finance, the capital markets, the clean energy sector, and Western and China business practices to China Wind Systems.

“We look forward to benefiting from his contributions as we grow our business and expand our capabilities,” said Mr. Jianhua Wu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Wind Systems. “I am excited to be joining China Wind Systems and helping to accelerate the Company’s expansion in China’s large and fast growing wind industry,” stated Mr. Liu. “I look forward to assisting the Company in fulfilling its strategic and financial goals.

In addition, I plan to contribute to seek

to optimize the Company’s operations and explore additional clean technology opportunities, such as the solar energy market.”

The Company also announced it hired Ms. Ana Liu, Chartered Accountant, as Controller, effective January 1, 2011, to assist the Company in complying with the financial reporting and control requirements of Article 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Ms. Liu is Mr. Liu’s sister. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Liu served as a Senior Accountant at SAP, a provider of business software solutions, and as an auditor at the accounting firm of Wolrige Mahon LLP. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Transportation and Logistics from the University of British Columbia and is a Canadian Chartered Accountant. The Controller is not an executive officer of the Company.

Mr. Wu concluded, “We appreciate Ms. Zhang’s contributions as our Chief Financial Officer. She has been a highly valued member of our team and we wish her all the best today and in her future endeavors.”

CWS supplies the essential components used in the construction of wind turbines.

Otward FDI of china q1-3 2010, sbn Asian Power is a bi-monthly news magazine published by Charlton Media Group Pte Ltd registered in Singapore. Its circulation is to leaders in the Asian power industry and is available on a controlled circulation and paid basis.

Publisher & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Art Director Editorial Artist ADVERTISING CONTACTS

Tim Charlton Niyasuthin Regina Goloy Tim charlton tim@charltonmedia.com Laarni Salazar-Navida lanie@charltonmediamail.com Loren Laylay loren@charltonmediamail.com

CONTACT THE PUBLISHER Charlton Media Group, 15B Stanley Street, Singapore 068734 www.charltonmedia.com, +65 6223 7660 All editorial is copyright and may not be reproduced without consent. Contributions are invited but Asian Power can accept no responsibility for loss.

MICA(P) 129/07/2008

Wind power in China continues to strengthen from 2009 to 2010. If this growth rate is maintained, China could be the largest wind market in the world.

ASIAN POWER 3

FIRST BRIEFS Trina Solar to invest $800M in PV Park Trina Solar intends to invest approximately $800 million over three years in Changzhou Trina PV Park. The investments will be for the purposes of expanding the Company’s manufacturing capacity and research and development facilities.

The announcement was made during a ceremony held at the Changzhou Administration Centre attended by Mr. Zhang Wei Guo, Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province and Mr. Fan Yan Qing, CPC Secretary of Changzhou Municipal Committee.

Kaidi to acquire 3 biomass power plants Wuhan Kaidi Electric Power plans to acquire three biomass power plants from its parent, Wuhan Kaidi Holding Investment.

The three biomass power plants are Suqian Kaidi Green Energy Development, Wanzai Kaidi Green Energy Development, and Wangjiang Kaidi Green Energy Development. The deal will cost US$44.6 million, reports China Securities Journal.

India solar projects subsidies to reach $10M India paid at least US$10 million in subsidies to help rural homes and villages install solar-powered lights in 2010.

A government program promoting the use of lights powered by photovoltaic cells installed 78,408 portable lanterns and 108,599 home-lighting systems, the Ministry of Renewable Energy said in a statement.

The ministry provided a subsidy of US$53 for each solar lantern, which typically runs off batteries, and anywhere from US$55.50 to US$191 for each home-lighting system depending on the model installed and the type of user, it said.

4 ASIAN POWER

IHI Corp. Gas Generating System State Eiji Okuyama San talks about IHI Corporation’s high efficiency, high performance, environmenataly friendly, and cost efficient system. BY SIMON HYETT systems.

Simon: Fantastic! What do you see are the most interesting markets for IHI at the moment? Are you spread across the whole Asian media, or you’re focusing on a particular market? Where’s your customer base?

Eiji: We are now trying to get some orders from the Asian countries and the Oceana market. Especially, for the Thailand project and as well as the Australian project.

Simon: Yes, I see. Now, is there a big difference between those two nations? Because of course Australia is a relatively mature market in the energy sector, whereas Thailand is still emerging. Do you see that as a fundamental difference between those two customer Eiji Okuyama, Manager, Power Systems Operations, IHI Corporation. bases?

HI has been making significant contribution to the sta- Eiji: Yes, as for the Thailand market there is a big demand ble supply of electricity through provision of the main for the SPP program. These are Small Power Producers. For equipment for hydroelectric, thermal and nuclear pow- the customers for such kind of SPP programs, we provide er systems. IHI is one of the three major manufacturers such kind of power generating systems. In case of Australia, in Japan in the field of boiler, which is a core facility in ther- there are some demands, or how can I say, requirement to mal power plants, and has supplied a lot of boilers not only to the mining companies so they need to have their own power domestic utility market but also to Australia, Southeast Asia, generating systems. So, I think that is the difference of these China, Middle East and North America, including ten units markets. of boiler with each capacity of 660,000 kW to Australia.

As for fuel, IHI has the technologies and experiences to use Simon: Are there significant challenges with your customers a wide variety of fuels, including fuel produced from waste and your client base in certain emerging markets? I undermaterials, such as petroleum coke, residual oil and organic stand you also do a little bit of work in Indonesia and some residues, and biomass in addition to coal, petroleum and other markets like that, in Thailand of course you have sponatural gas. In addition, IHI provides a wide series of com- ken about that today, are they challenges like in implementapact and packaged boilers which are used as heat and steam tion?

Eiji: So far, we don’t see any significant market such in Indosource in various factories. nesia, or somewhere in Asian market. We are now concenSimon Hyatt: I’m here today with Okuyama-san from IHI trating on the Thailand and Australian market.

Corporation from Japan. We’re gonna be speaking about the corporation’s gas generating systems today. Thank you very Simon: I see, and are there challenges with your customers in Thailand, implementation? much for your time Okuyama-san.

Eiji: Yes. Eiji Okuyama-san: Thank you very much.

I

Simon: Okuyama-san, I’d like to talk about the IHI’s gas generating systems today. I understand, they’re very energyefficient, and also cost efficient, and very importantly they’re environmentally friendly as well. Would you like to make some comments on those facts?

Eiji: Yes, our products power generating systems can provide high efficiency, high performance and as well as environmental friendly systems. So we can provide such kind of services to our customers. We believe that our customers can enjoy the benefits for such kind of environmental efficiency, high performance, and something like that. So, we hope we can support our customer’s business in giving power supplies

Simon: Are there challenges and difficulties?

Eiji: Yes. We have to inform our capabilities to our customers, based on our equipment. They need to have some power generating systems, but we need to explain our systems specifications so we can provide high performance and high quality systems. We need to establish our conditions. That is challenging for us.

Simon: Thank you very much for your time, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you today. I’m with Okuyama–san from IHI Corporation from Japan and we’ve been speaking about fabulous gas generating systems. Thank you.

FEATURE

HK’s largest solar power gets commisioned Hong Kong Electric Company, one of the longest-established power companies in the world, provides efficient and reliable electricity supply to Lamma Island customers at a reasonable and affordable price.

T

he largest solar power system in Hong Kong has been commissioned by HK Electric.

Located on Lamma Island, the system is expected to generate 620,000 units of electricity annually.

It has a capacity of 550 kilowatts, comprising 5,500 thin-film photovoltaic modules each with peak output of 100 watts. The PV panels are erected on rooftops of the Main Station Building inside Lamma Power Station, covering a total area of 8,470 square metres. To maximize power output, all panels face south and are inclined at 22 degrees to the ground.

Apart from being the largest in Hong Kong, the system is also the first large scale project applying amorphous silicon thin-film technology. Compared with conventional crystalline silicon modules, amorphous silicon modules consume less silicon in the production process and are more environmentally friendly.

Another advantage of amorphous silicon module is that it performs better under high temperatures and low irradiance, hence, more suitable for applications in tropical environment.

The system, with investments totalling $23 million, will help reduce 520 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission, 2.9 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and 1.4 tonnes of nitrogen oxides every year, further improving Hong Kong’s air quality. The Company will review system effectiveness before considering extending it to other parts of the station.

The Company has since 2006 brought wind energy to the city by building and operating the only commercial scale wind power station -- at Tai Ling on Lamma.

“The development of RE is of paramount importance as resources such as solar and wind energy are derived from natural processes that are inexhaustible and can be replenished constantly. RE is also emissionfree, bringing a cleaner environment and a better living,” said Hong Kong’s Secretary for the Environment, Mr. Edward Yau. Managing Director of HK Electric, Mr. Tso Kai-sum, said that around 80,000 units of electricity have been produced since testing began in July and described the result as satisfactory. He thanked the Environment Bureau and Du Pont for their support and assistance enabling the system to be completed in about a year’s time, from feasibility study through to approval and commissioning.

“The commissioning of the system represents another important step for HK Electric in the wider application of RE in Hong Kong. We introduced wind energy to Hong Kong residents four years ago and now we will harness solar energy on a large scale,” said Mr. Tso. “We hope to contribute positively to efforts in combating climate change and improving local air quality through our active and pragmatic pursuit of RE projects,” he added.

Retrofitting a major solar installation in an existing power plant posed three major challenges to HK Electric engineers – one was locating large flat areas without any shade to set up all the 5,500 PV modules.

“We hope to contribute positively to efforts in combating climate change through active programs.”

After deciding to erect the modules on rooftops, engineers had another hurdle to jump – mounting the panels firmly at the selected sites without damaging waterproofing layers on rooftops. Instead of anchoring panels with bolts, engineers built concrete blocks strong enough to hold down the panels even in strong winds.

Delivering heavy construction materials and equipment to top floors was another major challenge. Careful and detailed planning ensured site and staff safety, while minimising interruptions to plant operations.

While embarking on the solar project, Mr. Tso said the Company also achieved good progress in its offshore wind farm project.

“Environmental permit for the project has been granted and we will soon start wind monitoring work at the site, which is expected to last 12 months,” he said.

All PV modules were supplied by Du Pont Apollo which shares HK Electric’s commitment to sustainable development and protecting the environment through the use of RE. The company believes this effort will accelerate the applications of PV in Hong Kong for the long term benefits of the city and its residents.

Hong Kong Electric Holdings Limited, a member of the Cheung Kong Group, is known to be the holding company of several electronic groups, some of which are The Hong Kong Electronic Company Limited (HEC); Hong Kong Electric International Limited (HEI); Associated Technical Services Limited (ATS); and other number of subsidiaries.

Its main operating company is The Hong Kong Electronic Company, Limited (HEC), founded in 1889.

HEC is responsible for the generation, transmission and distribution of power to the Hong Kong and Lamma Islands. Since 1997, it has served more than 560,000 consumers in Lamma Island, with a total installed capacity of 3,737MW and supply reliability rating of 99.999%.

In 1997, Hong Kong Electric International Limited (HEI) was established as Hong Kong Electric Holdings Limited’s (HEH) international investment arm.

It is through HEI that HEH was able to hold investments in power-related businesses in Australia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mainland China and New Zealand.

ASIAN POWER 5

opinion

John Goss China’s use of unconventional gas set to rise

W

ith China relying on coal for some 70 percent of its energy use it is switching the focus to gas and we will see rapid growth in the usage of unconventional gases including coal-bed methane (CBM), shale gas and flammable gas during the next decade. The country’s consumption of coal-bed methane is expected to be as much as 23 billion cubic meters (cu m) in 2020, which would account for 0.7 percent of China’s energy mix by then. As for the development of the shale gas, the country’s annual use is expected to be something like 15 billion cu m by 2020, which is 0.45 percent of total energy consumption.

China’s energy companies have also recently commenced the exploration and development of flammable gas both onshore and offshore.

The country is currently at the preliminary stage in the use of these unconventional gases but these clean alternative energy resources will eventually become “effective substitutes” for the popular natural gas. Recent figures show that production of CBM is now estimated to be 1 billion cu m annually in China, compared with 70 billion cu m in the US. The nation’s energy companies have just started the development of shale gas as the development of unconventional gas, together with natural gas, is in line with China’s moves towards the use of more clean energy to fuel its economy.

The consumption of natural gas has seen an average annual growth of 16 percent from 2000 to 2009 and the utilization of natural gas now accounts for 3.8 percent of China’s total energy consumption, according to published figures with natural gas expected to account for some 9 percent of the nation’s total energy mix by 2020.

As China’s demand for ‘clean’ energy continues to increase, the next few years will be crucial in the development of CBM gas. PetroChina plans to spend more than US$1.5 billion over the next three years to develop 4.5 billion cubic meters of CBM production capacity.

This forecast figure for CBM production capacity is almost double the country’s entire production capacity of CBM gas at the moment. Among the CBM projects are those located in China’s

China’s Junggar Basin is an isolated desert which contains vast resources of coal-bed methane (CBM) gas. The reserve covers an area of 653 square kilometres, and is estimated to hold 1.95 trillion cubic meters of CBM gas which makes this area the third largest deposit of its kind in China.

Up to now 10 wells have been drilled in the region called Liuhuanggou, which is close to the Capital City of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region Urumqi.

The remote region of Xinjiang is familiar with energy discoveries as in the 1950s the first oil field in China called Kelamayi was found in this region. Now the whole region will have to get used the global attention it will be receiving due to these new energy discoveries.

China wants to triple the use of gas to about 10 percent of energy consumption by 2020.

The country’s annual CBM output may reach 20 billion cubic by 2015. China produced 2.5 billion cubic “China wants to triple the use of gas to about 10 percent metres metres of the resource during 2009. CBM and methane gas trapped in shale rock formations known as of energy consumption by 2020.” tight gas is held between rocks and are collectively Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions and the coal- known as unconventional gas resources. Unconventional gas may account for 30 percent of China’s total gas output by 2020. rich Shanxi province.

The China Petroleum Enterprise Association reported that By the end of 2009, the annual production of CBM gas in Qinshui reached 200 million cu m, which is estimated to be one-fifth China may only be able to meet half of its 2010 CBM production target of 10 billion cubic meters, as low returns and difficulty in of its capacity.

With a designed production capacity of 1 billion cu m, the first delivering the gas to users have damped investment in the indusphase of the CBM central processing plant has been built and put try.

A form of shale gas market may emerge as activities speed-up into use, the gas pipelines are not yet completed. The country has substantial reserves of unconventional gas which estimates say in China’s unconventional gas sector which could experience could be supplying as much as 336 million cu m per day by 2030. double-digit growth year-on-year as natural gas will account for It is also estimated that coal-bed methane gas alone could account around 12 percent of China’s primary energy needs over the next decade from the current 3.8 percent. for 14 percent of the domestic gas supply in China by 2030.

6 ASIAN POWER

John goss Managing Director, Ceejay International john.goss@ceejay.com.hk

China wants to triple the use of gas to about 10 percent of energy consumption by 2020.

FEATURE

Chromalloy success in Asia’s turbine market Scott Nicol and Andrew Farrant talk about Chromalloy’s inside operations, and why it is the top choice for Leading Asian Power Companies.

G

lasgow may be a long way from Bangkok, but when it comes to keeping Thailand’s International airport powered up and running, the link is a vital piece in the chain operated by Chromalloy, a world leader in gas turbine engine maintenance and monitoring.

Using the company’s “Tiger” remote monitoring system, the turbines and performance of two power units at the Bangkok International Airport are constantly overseen and any discrepancies that could warn of potential problems are immediately signaled by email and SMS to experts in Chromalloy’s control centre in Scotland. It is an impressive illustration of just one of the many services Chromalloy offers to customers all over the word, and increasingly in Asia, where it has an established presence with a world-class facility in Thailand.

Scott Nicol, General Manager of the Turbine Services division of Chromalloy, outlined the company’s history in Thailand. “In 1999 we did local repairs for heavy industrial operators in the region and now we are a self supporting, fully operational Industrial Gas Turbine (IGT) repair shop.

We have 160 employees specifically for IGT and under one roof can do everything needed on mature and advanced airfoils for users all over the world. Engine types we work on include all mature models of GE, including Frame 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, the Westinghouse models 191, 251 501,

the MHI 701D, and the V94.2. On the last engine we are qualified through Siemens for repairs,” said Nicol. In the power sector, Chromalloy started with the Government Power Producer in Thailand and Independent Power Producers, and now the company also performs work for Japan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“We are now expanding and moving even further afield, and performed MHI 701D work for a company in Argentina.

Being self sufficient from an equipment standpoint, we provide chemical stripping, a full metallurgical lab, X-ray, and HF cleaning capabilities. We just expanded to add another large vacuum heat treat furnace and robotic coating for HVOF and air plasma,” added Nicol. “We can do all welding necessary for rotating blades, and flow testing for blades and fuel nozzles. We provide all advanced capabilities under one roof, carefully control quality, and deliver a high level of service to turbine operators.”

How does Chromalloy help EGAT? “For Thailand we are probably the largest supplier for component repairs. We provide a lot of interaction and offer cost saving solutions for the reparability of turbine components. The operator is very much a part of the process. We are doing more outage work in Southeast Asia,” said Nicol.

Chromalloy also recently finished a Frame 9 unit major overhaul in Malaysia and over the last three years has overall,

“We provide a lot of interaction and offer cost saving solutions for the reparability of turbine components.”

doubled revenue in Asia. Recent investments at the Thailand facility have doubled capacity and from the standpoint of technology in country, Chromalloy plans to optimize the facility to grow into F and G type class engines, making it one of the leaders in component repair in the region.

So what makes Chromalloy such a valuable partner to some of Asia’s leading power companies?

According to Andrew Farrant, Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Chromalloy is the only company that can reverse engineer a part, cast it and can develop the ceramic cores for the casting – which is a comprehensive offering. “We can take the cast component and machine it, drill it, coat it and send it, and with our field service team we can install it.

We have the most state-of-the-art casting facility in the world in which we have recently invested USD $27 million. We make our own tooling and even designed the furnaces. We employ many PhD’s, metallurgists and other technical experts and technicians, and do work specifically in the critical gas path of the turbine engine, whereas other companies work on peripherals of the engine,” said Farrant.

No design unexamined Another advantage Chromalloy provides is because it specialises in turbine repair, it gets to see a lot of similar failure patterns which may come from design issues. In many cases Chromalloy can redesign that aspect of the turbine from scratch to make a better turbine. Nicol said, “We are heavily into the repair aspect of airfoils and see failure patterns in the design so we not only reverse engineer the part but also take into consideration the weak aspects of a design and put that into the new airfoil.

More and more, the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) patent the design attributes. We make design changes to stay clear of the patents and our parts meet or exceed the original part performance.

Castings for the higher firing units for IGT, for example, are no longer just standard castings, they are directionally solidified castings and single crystal castings. Customers can feel comfortable that overall, there is a very robust process behind all we do, as well as advanced technologies and innovation. We have translated these processes into helping turbine engine operators extend the life and performance of these systems,” Nicol said.

ASIAN POWER 7

FEATURE

Natural power gas for India

Natural gas is one of the most preferred fuels in India due to its environmental benefits, higher levels of efficiency and cost effectiveness. BY JOHN GOSS

U

sing energy efficiently has become a necessity across India during last decade due to the country’s rising energy prices, an increasingly competitive market and strong environmental regulations of harmful pollutant emissions which all encourage energy producers and users to utilize efficient and clean ways to produce and use energy.

With natural gas emerging as one of the most preferred fuels in India due to its environmental benefits together with higher levels of efficiency and cost effectiveness, the natural gas sector has gained importance in the country. Natural gas has been used as a fuel stock in Assam and Gujarat since the early 60s with the demand for natural gas increasing sharply in the past two decades.

Using domestic energy resources efficiently has become a goal across most Indian industries over the last decade.

Increasingly across India, rising energy prices, extremely competitive markets and the strong environmental regulations on harmful pollutant emissions have all incited commercial and industrial energy producers and users to search out the most efficient and the cleanest ways to produce power and to use energy.

Another key factor in the future of the global power industry which has already started to influence the structure of India’s ‘energy mix’ is the increased demands of ‘public opinion’ to minimize the so-called ecological footprint of the nation’s emissions. This procedure compares human

8 ASIAN POWER

consumption of natural resources with the earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate them. In this respect, the utilization of natural gas represents a practical and ideal method of power generation.

There was a major increase in production and usage of natural gas in India during the late 70s as its Bombay high fields were developed and again the late 80s when the South Bassein gas field in the Western Offshore fields went into production. Also, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is now being imported into India and natural gas pipelines are being discussed and planned between neighbouring countries and India.

Natural gas is increasingly being used for power generation purposes as the power equipment companies develop their technologies to enable engines to burn gas efficiently. An application that is becoming popular is Combined Heat & Power (CHP) in which the waste heat from an engine is utilised to generate more electricity or to produce heating or chilling which can be used for production processes or for climate control.

A global power company that has been supplying these highly efficient and cost effective gas fired power generation solutions to India and Asia since early in 2001 is MWM. In India, to date, the power equipment company has supplied 285 MWe of installed power capacity in 125 gas fired power projects that use different gas types with the rest running on natural gas.

Since 2008 the majority of the power projects installed by the company in In-

“Natural gas is increasingly being used for power generation purposes as the power equipment companies develop their technologies.”

dia have been CHP projects for industry and commercial establishments. This major swing towards CHP projects is a clear indicator that the country has realised the benefits of energy efficient power generation for their businesses and the country’s environmental footprint.

A recent example of this energy efficient power technology in India is an energy project for Dehli Land Finance (DLF) in which MWM installed a ‘Tri-generation System’ to supply power, heating and chilling for four of DLF’s buildings. The waste heat from the power generation system is utilized to heat water for heating purposes and the exhaust gas heat is used in absorption chillers for cooling purposes.

With tri-generation the system’s overall efficiency could be up to 85 percent and the system’s overall energy consumption could be decreased by 60 percent when compared with the conventional thermal power from coal.

In another recent example of high efficiency and cost effectiveness the company supplied a natural gas fired ‘Cogeneration System’ to The Gujarat Glass Ltd company to support the company’s increasing levels of production. These efficient systems use the waste heat from the primary generating system to supply energy to a secondary power generating system which serves to improve the system’s dual level of efficiency. With an electrical power output of 3,904 kW the system has a high electrical efficiency with maximum profit for the customer.

A natural gas fired cogeneration power plant has been installed by MWM for the Indian textile company Ginni Filaments, India which features five generating units and has a total output of 6,800 kWe. Also, each unit provides 550 kW of thermal output in the form of thermal fluid. Beyond this, 1055 kW is gained from the waste heat of the engines. The extra energy provided by this cogeneration plant it is capable of supplying more than 100,000 residents with electricity all year round. Another cogeneration system in the American Embassy School in New Delhi provides peak power and has improved the school centre’s air conditioning system. With a total efficiency of nearly 90 percent the system is a success. Recent regulations and public pressure have encouraged the Indian power sector to come up with new methods of generating power and energy. New gas firing technologies are allowing natural gas to play an increasing vital role in the clean generation of electricity in India.

ASIAN POWER 9

FEATURE

Measurement solutions for coal power plants Modern coal power plants must be maintained carefully by paying attention to the operating conditions to give an impressive efficiency and reliability.

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he impressive safety and efficiency of modern coal power plants can only be maintained through careful attention to the operating conditions in all stages of the process.

Instruments and systems are available for monitoring coal transport, storage and preparation maximizing efficiency of coalfired furnaces and boilers, and ensuring emissions compliance.

Coal Preparation, Storage and Transport A 600 MW baseload station requires several thousand tons of coal per day.

From coal stockpile through to boiler pulverizers, there are many transfer points and storage areas that must be monitored for the onset of spontaneous combustion.

If these areas are not properly monitored, the plant could risk unexpected physical and monetary losses along with possible shutdown.

To reduce sulfur emissions, there has been a move in recent years from more traditional bituminous coal to sub bituminous coal, such as Powder River Basin (PRB) coal. PRB coal has a tendency to react with oxygen in the air and a selfheating nature. This has resulted in fires at facilities that previously had excellent safety records.

Many facilities that have transitioned to PRB coal are finding that increased monitoring is required to assure safe and continuous operations.

Hot inclusions on coal or coke conveyors can go undetected before causing

substantial damage. Traditional methods such as visual inspection or single-point pyrometers often are unable to detect hot spots on a moving conveyor. A highspeed infrared scanning system provides the most reliable and accurate method for continuous monitoring of emerging hot spots. This effectively reduces downtime and eliminates costly conveyor belt repairs.

A high-speed scanning system samples thousands of temperature points every second. Temperature measurements are sent continually to a dedicated processor that can trigger an alarm or signal the conveyor operator to take corrective action. At the heart of the system is a compact, high-speed line scanner that has a minimized depth and base “footprint” for installation in restricted spaces. A durable sapphire window provides reliable protection for the system’s optics.

There are three places where a scanner can be used: 1) Above the belt carrying the coal that will detect hot inclusions on or close the surface 2) Looking at the curtain of coal that falls at the end of one section of belt to another. The curtain of falling coal is more transparent to allow a scanner to see deeper into the coal and detect hot inclusions 3) Under a belt just after a transfer point.

The freshly uncovered belt will have a thermal fingerprint of any hot items that were just resting on its surface.

These systems are small enough to be positioned under a belt just beyond

“Infrared scanning system provides the most reliable and accurate method for continous monitoring of emerging hot spots.”

the point where the material has been transferred. They will measure the entire belt surface and alarm if any areas are above a safe temperature. Alarms can be used to trigger water sprays or suppression systems. Alternatively, they can be positioned above the conveyor to monitor the material to determine hot spots and prevent hot items from being loaded and transported.

Coal storage piles can be monitored by infrared thermal cameras that are typically mounted above and to the sides of storage piles and frequently are operated by pan and tilt motorized mounts.

Inside pulverizing coal mills and silos, carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring provides earlier detection of combustion to prevent mill fires. These detection systems are specifically designed to continuously monitor the atmosphere inside pulverizing mills and silos. They respond quickly to any significant increase in CO levels and take preventative action before there is damage to a plant or injury to personnel.

The detection systems extract sample gases from the mill (often the mill outlet) or silo and continuously monitor the CO level. Alarm threshold levels can be set to best suit the plant’s individual operating conditions. The settings can compensate for externally introduced CO, where mills use recycled combustion gases for coal feed heating. Oxygen measurement also is an option for fire prevention in oxygenlimited silos and for plants that use recycled flue gas and need to continuously monitor oxygen levels.

Combustion Process Maintaining safe and efficient combustion requires many monitoring functions in the boiler. The dynamic nature of the process requires that the key products of combustion are monitored and controlled on a real-time basis. Parameters such as furnace exit gas temperature, oxygen and combustibles (CO2, hydrocarbons, etc.) are key indicators of boiler efficiency, slagging and NOx production.

Oxygen and combustibles analyzers are ideal for combustion control and NOx reduction. A side-by-side comparison of these analyzers has demonstrated their improved reliability and better response versus conventional oxygen-only insitu probes. In addition, the hot-wire catalytic detector used by Thermox displays reduced drift and increased sensitivity to low-level CO changes, while better

10 ASIAN POWER

FEATURE >> resisting the poisoning effects of SO2.

Infrared technology provides a proven non-contact method for furnace exit gas temperature measurement. This can be used as a tool in reducing NOx emissions and indicating possible boiler slagging conditions. Thermal imaging inside hightemperature, refractory-lined furnaces and boilers often requires large openings in the refractory wall to view critical areas.

This can result in significant heat loss as well as difficulty keeping the opening free from debris.

Those drawbacks can be eliminated with fixed thermal imaging systems that use a rugged infrared camera to accurately profile furnace temperature through a small opening in the wall. The camera is specifically designed for high-temperature furnaces. Its lens is water cooled and air purged and able to withstand temperatures up to 2192oF. It is designed to provide a wide angle view inside the furnace and is unaffected by hot CO2 and H2O found in most combustion atmospheres.

Typical Applications-Combustion (Refer to Illustration A) Combustion Process 1—Transfer Point Hot Spot Detection, Non-contact infrared thermal imager Combustion Process 2—Coal Mill CO Detection, Continuous carbon monoxide detection system Combustion Process 3—Furnace Exit Gas Temperature, Non-contact infrared imaging system Combustion Process 4—Furnace Exit O2/CO, Combined oxygen and combustibles analyzers Combustion Process 5—Economizer Outlet O2 /CO Economizer Outlet O2 Post–Combustion Emissions Control Devices and Stack Emissions Emission control to meet regulatory constraints is accomplished by a combination of combustion process

control and emission reduction equipment.

Monitoring analyzers provide essential feedback for optimizing the process.

UV-based SO2 analyzers are considered the standard for accuracy in testing for sulfur emissions. A rugged singleor multi-component analyzer can be integrated into a Continuous Emissions Monitoring (CEM) system or used alone.

It can be configured to measure most gas species that absorb in the UV, such as NOx, H2S and SO2.

Highly accurate and reliable noncontact opacity and dust monitors provide continuous monitoring to ensure emissions compliance. These sophisticated systems incorporate a patented “no moving parts” optical technology to ensure the most accurate and reliable stack opacity measurement and dust concentration monitoring available.

Portable sulfuric acid dewpoint monitors have been developed specifically for

“Instruments capture thousands of readings and require onlysimple field maintenace.”

coal-fired systems that require periodic monitoring. This measurement helps maintain boiler efficiency, prevent corrosion and evaluate the effectiveness of fuel additives and changes in combustion conditions.

These lightweight, easy-to-use instruments capture and store thousands of readings and require only simple field maintenance.

They assure coal boiler operators that the optimum operating temperature is maintained—just above the sulfuric acid dewpoint—where no sulfuric acid is being formed and combustion efficiency is maximized.

Typical Applications-Post Combustion (Refer to Illustration B) Post-Combustion 1—SCR Inlet NOx, UV-based multi-component gas analyzer Post-Combustion 2—SCR Outlet NOx, SCR Outlet Acid Dewpoint Temperature, Air Heater Inlet O2, UV-based multicomponent gas analyzer, hydrocarbon dewpoint analyzer, combined oxygen and combustibles insitu analyzer Post-Combustion 3—Air Heater Outlet O2, Combined oxygen and combustibles insitu analyzer Post-Combustion 4—ESP Outlet CO; ESP Outlet Opacity/Dust, UV-based multi-component gas analyzer, Noncontact continuous dust and opacity monitoring system Post-Combustion 5—Stack Compliance Opacity/Dust Concentration; Stack Compliance SO2; Stack CEM Wet/ Dry O2, Non-contact continuous dust and opacity monitoring system, UVbased multi-component gas analyzer, Continuous Emissions Monitoring/ Oxygen Analyzers.

ASIAN POWER 11

CEO INTERVIEW

The power business is brutally simple William Byun, Managing Director of Asia Renewables, took the time to speak to Bryan Camoens on the attraction of biomass. He also discusses the reality of a level playing field for biomass power and the evolution of the biomass energy sector. and workout regularly.

William Byun, Managing Director of Asia Renewables

What are the policies that need to be implemented in order to foster investments in the biomass sector?

On the policy-side, increasingly, more Asian governments are putting in attractive programs for biomass. A wish list would include (i) standard long-term PPAs (standard boilerplate contracts helps since individually negotiating contracts adds significantly to transactions costs), (ii) guaranteed grid connection, (iii) fast-track environmental impact filings for smaller projects (ex. Smaller than 20 MW) and (iv) off-take, maybe some exclusivity zone (ex. 50km radius) for accessing biomass. The last is not as necessary, basically, if the rules of the game are made clear and standardized, that helps tremendously in terms of project predictability. Of course, high tariff price helps too but then again, that always helps.

How realistic is the establishment of a level playing field for biomass power in competition with centralized power generation?

Very realistic. But we need to keep in mind that these are comparing apples and oranges because the size alone ensures different characteristics. For ANY plant, coal or biomass, if it is, say, 10MW, transactions costs like those raised in the wish list above, would make or break them. Equalize for size differences. But then again, if the full costs of large plants are factored in including environmental damage which does have a definable pricetag, then these aren’t so different.

Biomass to biofuels – what are some of the key challenges in developing first and second generation biofuels?

If you are asking about “traditional” biofuels such as biodiesel or bioethanol, the challenge is more structural in that their prices clearly track those of oil (which conceptually in a way is very very old biofuel). Currently, policymakers try to adjust the place on the price curve with subsidies, technology could help on costs, etc., but these do not break the risk on that linkage.

What are some of the latest trends, challenges and best practices that you see being used for biomass conversion?

In some ways, I feel that the challenge is not on the technology or the conversion processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, etc., but on basic “bread and butter” issues like those in the wishlist above. To put a blunt analogy, when someone is trying to lose weight, contrary to late-night TV, it is not the next miracle diet drug or the new super 5 minute exercise machine, but rather, implementation discipline to cut simple calories

What are some of the key factors that need to be taken into account when assessing project viability and how to make a biomass project “bankable”?

The absolute end-all for biomass is ensuring feedstock adequacy. So many projects have withered and died on this factor alone, regardless of technology, carbon financing, government support or any bells and whistles. All other factors could be controlled. The power business is brutally simple – you sell one product with one raw material to one customer… forever. That whole equation lives or dies on that one raw material being there.

What financial derivatives are out there to mitigate your risk exposures to biomass projects?

These are more secondary risk factors and really, are not that important in terms of magnitude. Really, the only notable risk factor would be FX risk but even that is flexibly addressed due to price of EPC, etc. Basically, for “sweet spot” biomass plants (5-15 MW), these projects are just too small to justify the transactions costs for deploying meaningful financial derivatives.

What are some of the advances in bioelectricity generation and renewable power generation from biomass?

Rather than say patentable technology, the advances have been more on processes and process discipline, including a more rigorous streamlining of project buildout. You don’t need a $100 haute cuisine dish, you need a brutally efficient way to churn out multiple cheeseburgers at $5 each.

How do you see the future of biomass to energy

conversion evolving over the next decade?

Two ways – “technology” while more glamorous, will continue to be distracting and continue to result in overpriced and failed projects. However, more “corporatization process discipline”, while not as sexy, will help the continuing evolution of the biomass energy sector to become a more mature business sector operating along the nuts-n-bolts techniques of supply chain control, process discipline, standardization, economies of scale, etc., which ultimately, make better business sense on the bottom line.

Asia Renewables Pte., Ltd., (“AsiaRenewables”) is a growing, clean energy company focusing on investment in, and end-toend development of renewable energy, carbon abatement and sustainable development assets in emerging markets.

Their development and investment activities are focused in the emerging markets of Asia.

William I.Y. Byun is a specialist in renewable energy and climate change project development.

He previously served as Managing Director of Renewables and Climate Change (Asia & Middle East) at AES Corporation, Senior Vice President at Sindicatum Carbon Capital, and Principal of an investment firm specializing in Asia related infrastructure. William was also the first U.S. Fulbright Scholar in residence at the Ministry of Finance in Korea, and has degrees from the University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and University of London, in Economics, Law and Sociology.

With over 10 professionals in 3 main offices, AsiaRenewables engages in end-to-end renewable power, carbon and energy development and investment, and Mr. William Byun is one of the lead contacts of the company.

ASIAN POWER 13

Got something to say about the Power sector in Asia? We want you !

The Asian Power website, asian-power.com, is the online site for the power generation, transmission and distribution industry in the AsiaPacific region and we are accepting article contributions. So if you have something to say, say it through us.

Contributed article guidelines.

1. All articles contributed should range from 300 words to a maximum of 1,200 words.

2. We reserve the right to edit for space.

3. We are looking for insightful commentary, so think of a trend or issue that is on your mind and tell us what is happening and why it matters to the energy sector.

4. We ask that you do not mention your company or your product in your article, but you may talk about industry trends or issues.

5. Please include a photograph of yourself as author as well as contact details.

6. Email your article to ap@charltonmedia.com and if selected it will be on the website.

CO-PUBLISHED corporate profile

S&C Power Quality Solutions of the Smart Grid: Integration of renewable energy sources, such as wind and tidal power generation.

It allows these renewable energy sources to meet utility interconnection requirements and the power factor, voltage output, and low-voltage ride-through requirements of various worldwide grid codes. PureWave DSTATCOM has been applied on a number of utility systems and wind farms since the late 1990s, meeting or exceeding all specifications.

Islanding helps diminish power outages in remote areas.

A

UPS might be the right answer for your power quality problem. Or it might not. No two installations have the same power quality needs. That’s why S&C Electric Company offers a family of products that provides solutions to your power quality problems.

PureWave UPS™ Systems S&C’s PureWave UPS™ System provides enhanced service continuity to facilities served by a single utility source. The PureWave UPS System protects power-sensitive equipment from the detrimental effects of disturbances such as voltage sags, momentary disruptions, and complete outages.

This unique Smart Grid solution supports the entire load with clean power for up to 60 seconds, eliminating 99% of all power quality problems and supports reduced loads for up to 180 seconds.

A high-efficiency static switch provides a 2- to 4-millisecond response.

The PureWave UPS System can be coordinated with a backup generator set, assuring seamless service through extended outages. Ride-through time can be tailored to permit start-up, then “soft” load transfer to the backup generator, for 100% protection through extended outages. No costly utility paralleling switchgear is needed. The backup generator can be sized up to 35% smaller than with conventional UPS systems. The system features a reliable off-line design which utilizes maintenancefree batteries with non-prorated 5-year warranty, increasing battery life and reducing maintenance.

Installable outdoors, the system is completely selfcontained in a NEMA 3R (IP 53) enclosure, with an exceptionally small footprint. This also increases

savings due to reduced interior air-conditioning load. The PureWave UPS System can provide power protection for an entire facility and is available in a wide range of capacities: low-voltage models from 313 kVA up to 2500 kVA, and medium-voltage models from 2.5 MVA to 20 MVA for 5- to 25-kV applications. As the critical load grows, additional 313-kVA modules can be added at any time to the capacity required for your present critical load. As many as eight 2.5-MVA containers can be paralleled to protect medium-voltage loads up to 20 MVA. PureWave DSTATCOM® Distributed Static Compensator S&C’s PureWave DSTATCOM Distributed Static Compensator is a fast-compensating reactive power source that’s applied on the transmission or distribution system to reduce voltage variations such as sags and flicker, along with instability caused by rapidly varying reactive power demand.

It can provide quick recovery for the transmission system after contingency events such as loss of part of the system and provides ultra-fast voltage control by providing leading and lagging reactive power for utility applications.

It protects the distribution system from voltage flicker caused by the rapidly varying current draw of large non-linear reactive loads up to 60 MVA. PureWave DSTATCOM is well suited to a major goal

“The PureWave UPS System can provide power protection for an entire facility and is available in a wide range of capacities.”

Smart Grid SMS™ Storage Management System The Smart Grid SMS Storage Management System is suitable for a wide range of applications, including peak shaving at the point of common connection to the grid, frequency or power factor regulation, energy arbitrage, and power for black-start situations. The stored energy can be used to reduce substation loading or can be applied in a net-metering arrangement with onsite generation. It can also be applied to improve local power quality and reliability for a feeder or a specific customer. A few applications where this system can be utilized: • UPS for Data Centers. The SMS is the largestcapacity static inverter pack available in the UPS industry. Its high capacity, and ability to function at medium voltage, gives data center designers greater flexibility than ever before. Its robust design is capable of powering complete data center loads, including air conditioning chiller systems. Single bus systems up to 24,000 kW are possible with the SMS. •SMS for Renewable Energy. Solar and wind energy are intermittent power sources that the grid must accept whenever available. The SMS can store the power when it’s produced, and then use that energy for generation ramp-rate control, output-smoothing, or time-shifting eliminating the need for replacement power.

• Grid-Scale Energy Storage. The SMS can deliver up to 2 MW of stored energy to the grid from any type of battery storage system.

• Islanding. When applied with S&C’s IntelliTeam SG™ Automatic Restoration System, the SMS can be used in remote areas, during power outages.

Upon loss of utility power, IntelliTEAM SG reconfigures the distribution system and uses the stored energy to serve local customers for as long as 7 hours.

•Peak Shaving. During high demand periods, the SMS can provide full output for up to 7 hours which reduces the system peak, deferring the need for capacity additions on the distribution or transmission system.

CONTACT S&C Electric Company 6601 N. Ridge Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60626-3997 USA Tel: +1 773-338-1000 Fax: 773-338-5102 www.sandc.com email: international@sandc.com

FEATURE

Siemens combined cycle power plants Asian Power Magazine recognizes the works and services of Siemens’ cycle power plant, as discussed

by Thomas Hagedorn, Siemens’ Sales Director for Asia “The mature markets are more looking into efficiency, environmental friendliness, as well as plant flexibility.”

A

Thomas Hagedorn, Sales Director Asia, Siemens

sian Power Magazine Interview with Thomas Hagedorn Simon Hyatt: I’d like to talk a little bit about Siemens combined cycle power plants. I understand that they’re quite environmentally friendly and also they’re energy efficient. Would you like to care to say something on these power plants?

Thomas: Yes, indeed! Our power plants are environment friendly because they have very high efficiency. That’s our FClass machines and there’s our newly developed H-Class, so we are going to breakthrough to 60% efficiency which is going to be demonstrated next year. Besides this pure, combined cycle efficiency we

are also looking in co-generation and just recently in this year we could inaugurate together with Power Seraya to Seraya 30 and 40, which as a tells the combination of electricity production and steam production, we have high plant utilization.

Simon: And what would you say your most viable and your most interesting market are in this region?

Thomas: In this region we see a lot of activities in Vietnam, of course, in Thailand.

Singapore there is always something going on and Korea is also one of the countries where we as energy solutions sellers or provider of turnkey power islands are very active.

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Simon: Is there a difference between your customers and your clients in mature markets like Singapore and Korea as compared to the developing ones such as you mentioned Thailand and Vietnam? What would be the difference there?

Thomas: The mature markets are more looking into efficiency, environmental friendliness as well as plant flexibility. In the countries like Vietnam, reliability is more important.

Simon: I see, I see. And are there any particular challenges that your customers and your clients are bringing to you particularly in the emerging markets that you’re going into?

Thomas: In the emerging markets where there is a high demand for electricity, quick implementation of the power plants, on time delivery of the power plants and then also, as I said already, high plant’s reliability, availability are most important.

Simon: I’d like to talk about what Siemens in this region is going to do for its customers and clients and its reputable service then?

Thomas: Of course, service after we have built the plant is of utmost importance and for this reason we have here in Kuala Lumpur our hub for services which we’re carrying out in the region.

We’re doing all the maintenance, measures with the local teams which we are dispatching out of KL for all the outages we have. Just finished one outage on the power plant in Vietnam these days, again, in a very reliable way and extremely quickly. So, we are setting here this team we have in KL as a benchmark for shortest outage duration.

FEATURE

China leads Asia in clean energy China is not only embracing renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels but is also emerging as a clean energy powerhouse.

“The world’s energy needs are growing at a feverish pace.”

S

Workers build a highway near a wind farm in the Gobi desert.

oaring energy needs, volatile oil prices and an increased focus on curbing global warming have spurred investments in clean energy, or “green financing”. Governments, financial institutions, investors and businesses are pouring money into technologies that will help the world address its energy requirements with a minimal impact on the environment.

Green financing: A roller-coaster ride so far Global clean-energy investments surged during 2004-2008 from $33 billion to $173 billion. However, the global financial crisis threw a monkey wrench into the works in the second half of 2008. By the first quarter of 2009, the impact of the meltdown was more visible, with cleanenergy investments more than 50% below the peak reached just over a year ago.

However, the clean-energy industry showed its resilience, highlighting the fact that the global economic crisis could not deflect attention from another crisis-inthe-making, the energy crisis.

Helped by the rapid growth in windenergy installations in China, investments in some big offshore wind farms in markets such as the UK, and a steady revival of the financial markets, the year 2009 ended with total clean-energy investments of $162 billion, a drop of only 6.35% from the record investments in 2008.

Asset financing – funding to build wind

farms, solar projects, biofuels plants and the like – accounted for $100.9 billion of total investments in 2009, with China as the leader with investments of $26.3 billion in wind farms and solar parks.

While many companies canceled their public offerings in view of the tough market conditions, strong IPO activity in late 2009 in China broke the drought.

Globally, equipment manufacturers and technology companies raised $14.1 billion from the public markets and an additional $6.8 billion from venture-capital and private-equity investors.

In addition, governments around the world allocated more than $436 billion in “green stimulus” programs, most of which will flow into the clean energy industry this year and the next.

Another positive factor was the fall in the cost of renewable energy technologies, making the sector more cost-competitive and hence, more attractive to potential investors.

The growing energy challenge At the same time, the world’s energy needs are growing at a feverish pace. According to projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA), in the absence of an overhaul of regulatory policies by governments worldwide, demand for primary energy will increase by 40% between now and 2030.

Non- OECD countries will account for over 90% of this increase, and China and

India together for over half.

As per the Chinese government’s forecasts, the country’s electricity use will grow 10% a year until 2012, while demand for electricity is expected to double by 2020. The IEA estimates that China will overtake the United States around 2025 and become the world’s biggest spender on oil and gas imports to meet its burgeoning energy needs.

Compounding the energy challenge is China’s rapid pace of urbanization.

According to projections by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, China will have 221 cities with more than 1 million residents and 23 cities with more than 5 million by 2025, with its urban population expected to touch the 1 billion mark by 2030.

This rapid growth in China’s urban population requires these cities to invest in energy-efficient infrastructure and tap sustainable and eco-friendly solutions to reach their own climate goals and those of the country, while addressing the needs of their growing populace.

China: Clean energy takes center stage Understanding that the power needs of its growing economy need to be met without endangering the environment, China is not only embracing renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels but is also fast emerging as a clean-energy powerhouse.

In 2009, its investments of $34.6 billion helped it replace the United States and emerge as the leader in clean energy finance and investments for the first time. Last year, the country passed Germany to become the world’s second-largest producer of wind power behind the United States.

It is already the world’s leading renewable energy producer in absolute numbers, with an installed capacity of 152 gigawatts (GW). In 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission announced a new plan with the targets of renewable energy accounting for 10 percent of primary energy consumption by 2010 and 15 percent by 2020.

China has also recently amended its Renewable Energy Law to require power grids to purchase a set percentage of renewable power each year and created a streamlined mechanism to fund these incentive programs. In addition, the country has also set ambitious goals for developing sustainable infrastructure such as green buildings.

ASIAN POWER 17

FEATURE

Wind power in China China has identified wind power as a key growth component of the country’s economy, making the country the third largest wind energy provider worldwide.

W

ith rising demands on renewable energy, there is going to be increasing focus on the wind power sector. In the last couple of years wind has become the preferred source of renewable power. While low capacity factor and power quality issues continue to be a challenge for operators, wind has become more competitive getting them a step closer to be commercially viable without incentives.

This is mainly driven by huge growth in volume and entry of new OEMs, especially from China.

At the end of 2009 there were close to 80 wind turbine OEMs in China with a capacity much more than what the market can absorb leading to overcapacity and significant fall in turbine prices. A quick analysis of some of the recent contracts awarded in China (to local Chinese OEMs) indicates that prices have dropped to as low as Yuan 4,700/KW. This is about 21% less than the prices that was prevailing about 13 months ago making it difficult for any foreign OEM to win contracts in China. Most of the Chinese OEMs are increasingly looking for export opportunities as their home base is getting crowded.

United States will be their main target market and their expansion strategy hinges on price backed up by attractive financing.

Excluding the above macro-economic forces, the three key trends likely to influence wind turbine technology are harsh

weather conditions for new wind farms, strict grid code requirements and overall efficiency & availability.

Location challenges It is estimated that new wind farms, both onshore and offshore, will increasingly be located in areas with harsh weather conditions and poor access. Offshore wind capacity is growing fast, with 13,500 MW of new capacity expected to be installed globally between 2010 and 2014. The current generation of offshore wind turbines are already faced with strong wind conditions and waves one meter high or more.

As the number of offshore wind farms grows, they are likely to be located in deeper waters and further from shore.

A similar trend will apply to onshore wind farms, with new wind farms increasingly being located in remote locations with harsh climatic conditions. China, for example, has declared its intention to create seven wind power bases with a capacity of at least 10 GW each by 2020. Two of these are in Eastern and Western Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is bitterly cold, with long winters during which temperatures can drop as low as -23°C. Blizzards are common in winter and there are frequent sand storms during the short summer.

Impact on Grid Companies have been exploring ways to utilize wind power for base load by smoothing out the ups and downs of wind energy. New innovative techniques such as

“As wind’s share of total power generation rises, satisfaction of grid code requirements will become a key issue for operators.”

using wind power to compress the air and using it later with conventional sources such as gas are currently being researched.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its reference scenario, which assumes that there are no major changes in energy policy, expects the share of wind power to increase from 0.9% in 2007 to 3.7% in 2020 and 4.5% in 2030 of total electricity generated globally.

Under its 450 scenario which assumes that countries take coordinated action to control green-house gas emissions, the share of wind increases to 5.1% in 2020 and 9.3% in 2030. As wind’s share of total power generation rises, satisfaction of grid code requirements will become a key issue for operators.

Increasing Role of Utilities The top 15 wind farm operators accounted for 35% of total wind power capacity in 2008 versus 23% in 2003. 9 of the top 15 operators are utilities. The growing role of utilities is also leading to a greater focus on efficiency & availability.

These trends are likely to change the factors that wind farm operators manage and measure and, therefore, the attributes they look for in the wind turbines they purchase: • The growing size of wind turbines requires increasing capital outlay by wind farm operators and exposes them to greater losses in the event of failure. Hence the primary concern of operators will be turbine reliability & availability.

• The growth in turbine size, offshore installations, and harsh locations will likely increase use of condition monitoring systems.

• Pitch control systems are likely to grow in importance as they can play a role in meeting grid code requirements, improving turbine efficiency & availability, and managing loads as turbines grow larger.

Adoption of individual pitch control is likely to increase for the same reasons.

Addressing these issues, while maintaining rapid growth, will be challenging.

Wind turbine builders will need to nurture mutually beneficial relationships with key sub-system suppliers in order to improve performance while increasing production volume and expanding their geographical scope.

With an annual production capacity of approximately ten gigawatts per year, China became the leading wind turbine manufacturer by the end of 2009.

ASIAN POWER 19

FEATURE

MWM’s efficient and eco-friendly systems Ruprecht Latterman, President and CEO of MWM shares with Simon and Asian Power Magazine the corporation’s gas generating systems, its energy and environmental efficiency.

“One of the major challenges is definitely the awareness of taking care of the products.”

Not too much on natural gas, it’s more coming up on the biogas section.

It’s also one of the markets we have here, very much active. And if you are looking beyond South East Asia, we have the biggest application actually of our generator sets, this is the mining industry in China where we have to absorb the methane which is coming out of the mine’s shaft.

So in order to reduce the green house gas emission from the coal mines, it’s better to generate electricity from this coal methane before it’s emitted into the atmosphere or before it’s causing another mine disaster—what we hear frequently also in the news.

SIMON: Absolutely! So in a way you are also doing your part for the environment with this re-generating system?

RUPRECHT: Yes.

Asian Power Magazine interview with Ruprecht Latterman, President and CEO of MWM

S

IMON: Hello, I’m here with Mr. Ruprecht Latterman from MWM and we’re going to be talking today about their corporation’s gas generating systems. Thank you very much for your time, Ruprecht. Now, I understand that your gas generating systems are energy efficient, they’re environmentally friendly and most importantly, they’re also cost efficient. Can you make some comments on that?

RUPRECHT: Yes, sure. Of course, if you look into the market of power generation, and not only power generation, energy generation, then of course you have the most efficient system if you can combine the electricity generation with the heat generation. This is what we are doing in our core business.

We are trying to find customers where they can make use of our products in order to save money with energy efficient solutions for electricity generation and heat generation for process or for air conditioning, and this is one of our major markets not only here in South East Asia, all over the world.

We are very well represented because of our gas generators sets. We are one of the few manufacturers who have concentrated on energy generation with gas generator sets.

We don’t mix too much with diesel engines, gas engines; so we are concentrating on the power generation and energy production with gas generator sets.

SIMON: And within this region, within the Asian region, what do you think are our most interesting and your most rapidly developing markets?

RUPRECHT: So, the most rapidly developing market at the moment is Indonesia. In any case, Indonesia is a growing market, it’s an economy which is exploding.

And in Indonesia, there’s a big requirement for electricity, a huge requirement also for co-generation, and it’s a huge population with a huge domestic demand; so, we see the biggest growth at the moment for Indonesia. But there are other emerging markets; for example, Thailand is also a market which is coming up very rapidly.

SIMON: And your customers and your clients are happy as well. Have you seen any significant challenges when you’ve been implementing your systems into these emerging markets? What have been some challenges that you face with your customers and clients, and how have you overcome those challenges?

RUPRECHT: So one of the major challenges, it definitely is the awareness of taking care about the products. So, these customers of course, they pay a lot of money for purchasing this equipment, but sometimes it’s a lack of understanding that you also have to do some reasonable maintenance in order to keep and take the products in operational status, but we are overcoming these problems that we are entering into service agreements with our customers and then we work hand-inhand together with the customers, teach the customer or advise the customer, not only how to operate the power plant but also how to adapt to operation of the consumers in the factory, for example, to suit best with the power plant, in order to minimize any troubles in the cooperation between the power plant and the consumers in the factory.

To read more Power industries news please log onto www.asian-power.com

20 ASIAN POWER

CO-PUBLISHED corporate profile

Optimum Power from Perkins Engines

Jaz Gill, Perkins Engines’ Asia Pacific Director, presents the new 4016-61TRG diesel engine.

I

ndia welcomes a compact and efficient electrical generator as Perkins launched their latest engine in the 4000 Series Electric Power line-up, the 4016-61TRG diesel engine.

The launching that was held last December 08, 2010 in Mumbai was presented by Jaz Gill who was recently promoted to Asia Pacific Director. At the launch, he discussed the prime power of the new diesel engine which extends to 2250KVA. The 4016-61TRG diesel engine offers power density and compactness that is yet to be matched.

It allows installation into a 40 feet container saving space and reducing installation and freight costs.

This new engine provides the Indian market a cost-effective prime and standby power. It has become the power generation industry’s first choice of power due to its exceptional power to weight ratio and good load acceptance for both prime and standby power, aligned to overall cost of ownership, and reliability characteristics.

The new engine series extends the power range upwards by ten percent compared to the 4016TAG2A and is available as an ElectropaK or Elecrounit specification. This will give the Indian market a greater engine choice.

4016-61TRG utilises direct injection combustion technology; therefore, providing optimum power density for ease of installation through its compact family of three 61 litre air to water charge-cooled engines. This offers tangible benefits to both genset packagers and users. The 4016-61TRG range will be available at both 50 and 60Hz with standby powers from 2000-25000KVA at 1500rpm and 16502000KWe at 1800rpm.

In addition, the engine’s class leading ambient and altitude clearance prevents de-ration at 50 deg

C ambient territories.

“Our customers will undoubtedly benefit from the performance, power and excellent fuel consumption delivered by this new engine range. The introduction of the 4016-61TRG further strengthens Perkins’ presence as a full range supplier to the Electric Power market and represents a cost-effective solution to market requirements,” says Carl Emery, Perkins Engines’ electric power marketing manager, during the launching in China.

As the 4016-61TRG diesel engine made its entry into the Indian EP sector, Perkins continues to work their way to success in the Indian market. Leading Generator set manufacturers and consultants from across India witnessed the launching of the new diesel engine. “We are delighted with our significant entry into the key Indian EP sector and plan to build on this success into 2011 and beyond,“ says Jaz Gill, Asia Pacific Director of Perkins Engines.

The 4000 series range has made its strong foothold in the Indian EP sector through the last 3 years. The continuous utilisation of the Perkins Engines’ products by the Indian market forecasts an increasing demand in 2011 and beyond.

Perkins has previously made a resounding entry in the diesel generator business in India with a contract to supply over 175 4000 series engines to their largest Indian OEM – Sterling generators Pvt. Ltd.

“We are delighted with our significant entry into the key Indian EP sector and plan to build on this success into 2011 and beyond.“

One of the prestigious projects Perkins held is the Delhi Airport Metro Rail Express. It will provide emergency power to the five rail stations that connect the city centre of the New Delhi to the Airport. The project includes SITC of 11 DG sets ranging from 750 to 1250 KVA. Another project that Perkins held is the first phase of the TRIL Infopark. Perkins will provide 1 MW of emergency power with 131.6 MW Sterling DG sets along with Perkins 4016 TAG2A engines.

TRIL Infopark is an IT city that costs around US$770 million. It is a joint venture between the TATA Realty group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.

Furthermore, there is the 25MW power requirement of Amanora City wherein Perkins will supply ten 1010KVA, two 1500KVA and one 1700KVA DG set.

The EP sector is an important sector for Perkins across the globe, particularly in India. This is seen through the excellent sales of the EP range in India.

Perkins Engines assures the Indian market the full Perkins EP range in 2011.

Perkins customises engines precisely to accommodate their customers’ needs and to be able to serve a wide variety of industries. Perkins’ engine solutions are trusted by more than 1000 leading manufacturers in the industrial, construction, agricultural, materials handling and electrical power generation markets.

As seen in India, the company continues to break through the global market, providing cost-effective engines and has an extensive global distributor network to provide product support solutions whenever and wherever needed around the world.

The launching of the engine in Mumbai, India.

CONTACT Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd 7 Tractor Road, Singapore, 627968 T: 6828 7469 W:www.perkins.com