Feb 2016

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY FOR THE GLOBAL GENERATION INDUSTRY SINCE 1882
Vol. 160 No. 2 February 2016
New Value Propositions for

Combined Heat & Power
Heat Exchanger Innovations

Nondestructive Examination for
Water Systems
TransAlta Dials Down Coal
CIRCLE 1 ON READER SERVICE CARD
ON THE COVER
Established 1882 Vol. 160 No. 2
February 2016
SPEAKING OF POWER
And Now, a Word from (and to) Our Sponsors
Small-scale combined heat and power,

often relying on modern, efficient reciprocating engines, is growing in part
because of its favorable environmental
footprint. GE supplied this J920 Flextra
gas engine for HanseWerks 10-MW CHP
plant in Hamburg, Germany. It provides
power to the grid and heat to the local
district heating system. Courtesy: GE
GLOBAL MONITOR
Russian Fast Reactor Connected to the Grid
Chiles Newest Hydro Plant Takes Shape in the Desert
Wind Funnel Generator Is Channeling Interest
Statkraft Ends Investments in Offshore Wind Projects
THE BIG PICTURE: GHG Reduction Pledges
Nuclear Newcomers Face Varying Hurdles
Heat Rate Article Correction
POWER Digest
8
8
8
9
10
11
12
12
FOCUS ON O&M
Coal Ash Mapping Using Electromagnetic Technology
LED Lighting Improves Visibility and Saves Money for Power Plant
13
14
LEGAL & REGULATORY

Challenges of Increasing Dependence on Gas-Fired Generation
17
By Glenn Benson and Rachel Block, Davis Wright Tremaine
COVER FOCUS: COMBINED HEAT & POWER

CHP Update: Policies, Partnerships, and Challenges
18
Low U.S. natural gas prices and federal policies, plus localized efforts to make
energy infrastructure more resilient around the world, are giving support to
combined heat and power (CHP) projects. That doesnt mean cogeneration
works everywhere.
CHP and Other Technologies Could Breathe New Life into U.S.
Coal-Fired Power Plants
22
With finalization of the Clean Power Plan, coal power advocates feared no
new coal-fired plants could be built without expensive carbon capture and
sequestration, but a new EPRI report suggests there are some potential nearterm alternatives and one commercially available option: combined heat and
power.
Bagasse and Blended Biomass Cogeneration Advances in the Cuban

Sugarcane Industry
14
27
CHP plants are common in many parts of the world where locally available
opportunity fuels like agricultural residue can be put to good use. Even with
low-cost fuels, optimizing fuel blends, combustion, and emissions control for
overall efficiency is important.
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February 2016 POWER
www.powermag.com
18
1
SPECIAL REPORT: LEGAL & REGULATORY

Navigating Legal Implications of Power Industry Regulations
30
From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys top lawyer to attorneys

who have argued cases against the agencys regulations, all the speakers at
POWERs legal affairs conference agreed that taking a wait-and-see approach
to compliance with recently finalized federal regulations is ill-advised.
HEAT EXCHANGERS
Innovative Heat Exchanger Technology Enhances Proven Designs
35
Every thermal power plant has a number of heat exchange systems, but the
familiar shell-and-tube design has limitations, including flow-induced tube
vibration. Thats led engineers to develop a few new twists (literally, in one
case) on familiar components.
34
GENERATION TRANSITIONS
TransAlta Plays Defense with Coal Out, Renewables In
40
With the political writing on the wall, this fossil fuelheavy generating company in Alberta took preemptive steps designed to chart its path forward.
Reducing its coal dependence is only one of its challenges.
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE

Using Sensor Technologies to Optimize Maintenance of Power Plant
Water Systems
43
Though many plant water system components dont merit inspection with
every outage, you cant ignore them forever. Periodic nondestructive examination can help you schedule maintenance appropriately, thereby saving
both inspection and maintenance costs.
TECHNOLOGY
Power Technology Innovations from the Developing World
47
For emerging economies, innovation is typically driven by soaring demand

growth and the imperative to deliver power supply quickly and affordably.
Thats led to localized research and development solutions as well as some
that have broad applicability.
NUCLEAR POWER
35
Nuclear Relicensing: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
51
Recently, the fate of nuclear power in the U.S. has largely depended on
whether a unit is in a regulated or deregulated market. Heres where the fleet
stands in terms of early retirements and long-life extensions.
COMMENTARY
Fusion Power Illusions, Delusions, and Hope
56
By Dr. Robert L. Hirsch, former head of the U.S. government fusion program
YOULL ONLY SEE THESE IMPORTANT STORIES ONLINE AT POWERMAG.COM
43
2
Greece, Croatia, and Italy Chart a Course to More Solar Power

Malware Campaign Reportedly Prompts Large-Scale Blackout in Ukraine
State RPSs Provide Significant Economic Benefits, DOE Study Says
Worlds Last Magnox Reactor Shut Down for Final Time
Global Demand for Coal Shrinks
Obama Vetoes Resolution to Stop Clean Power Plan
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
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sessions, along with a special Opening Session.
REGISTRATION DATES:
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Contributors: Glenn Benson, Rachel Block, Steve Bowart, Paul Boyadjian,
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Kennedy Maize, Amaury Perez Sanchez
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POWER February 2016
SPEAKING OF POWER
And Now, a Word from

(and to) Our Sponsors
ouve heard that Nothing in life is
free, yet this magazine is free for
the vast majority of readersboth
in print and online. Thats only because of
the continued support of our advertisers.
No media brand achieves success without
both a loyal audience and loyal sponsors.
So this is a thank you to both groups, as
well as a defense of advertising.
Note that this column wasnt requested
or reviewed by my boss, the vice president
and publisher. Those who arent in the
publishing industry might not realize that
its traditional in both consumer and business-to-business publications for there to
be a virtual wall between the editorial and
business sides of a brand. In most places,
that wall has developed some cracks in recent years, but at POWER, we still believe
in clearly distinguishing advertising from
editorial content.
Ads Benefit Readers, Including

Editors
Rather than think of ads as an unwelcome intrusion into contenta common
attitute when it comes to TV adsId
argue that ads in a trade magazine are
part of the value the brand delivers. For
starters, without advertising, wed have
to chargequite a lotto produce the
content readers have come to expect from
POWER. That would limit the number of
people we reach, and that wouldnt be
good for anyone in the power industry,
whether you are a buyer or seller of equipment, services, or electrons.
Ads also help readers learn about companies and their offerings. Even though
we try to keep our audience apprised of
the major stories and developments in the
industry, we cant possibly cover everything, especially in print. There are far too
many components and services that are
part of the power sector. Ads help spread
the word about more aspects of the industry we cover, thereby playing an important
informational role.
Even editors learn whats new from
ads. Yes, press releases can serve that
purpose, but the visual impact of a well6
executed print ad is going to capture our

attention more easily than one of the
hundreds of emails we get daily. On more
than one occasion, something our editors have read in an ad has prompted a
follow-up. Sometimes its because were
reminded that a particular firm handles
work with X equipment that were writing
a technology update on. Other times we
reach out to advertisers for ideas about
the latest industry pain points or to supply a specific type of photo. Running an
ad wont win anyone a puff piece in our
editorial pages, but it can have unexpected mutual benefits.
Print Ads Still Have Power

Theres no question that todays advertisers have to be visible on digital platforms,
but that doesnt mean print ads have lost
importance.
In the June 29July 5, 2015, issue
of Bloomberg Businessweek, STIHLthe
company that makes handheld outdoor
power equipmentran a 10-page ad.
Those 10 consecutive full pages began
and ended with what Id call the story
of STIHL, while focused messages about
the brand, its users, and its values ran
on the pages between. What makes this
particularly noteworthy is that STIHL is
a large but not a huge company. It has
2,100 employees in the U.S. Both the
number of pages and the quality of the
creative content ensured that nobody
picking up that issue could fail to notice STIHL. Part of the print ad blitzs
goal was to engage people in a social
media sharing campaign, but what impressed me was how the company recognized that the best way to drive activity
online was to first woo current and prospective customers in print. At POWER,
weve offered a similar approach for individual advertisers or industry groups
to highlight their value to our readers.
You may have noticed, for example, a
special advertising section in our July
2015 issue, produced by the Institute of
Clean Air Companies.
Because they lack an expiration date,
www.powermag.com
print ads have a long shelf life. How often

have you gone back to a website to check
an ad or take action on it? How many times
have you dog-eared an ad in a print publication? Depending on when you returned
to the website, the ad may no longer be
visible, whereas that print ad is patiently
waiting for you to remember that you saw
it in a recent issue of POWER.
Every commercial website that doesnt
require a fee for access is in an ongoing
evolution when it comes to handling advertising. Some Internet users attempt
to short-circuit digital ads by using ad
blockers. But some media companies are
fighting back. In December, Forbes greeted ad-blocking app users with a message
that they could not gain access to forbes.
com unless they disabled blocking. The arguments and technologies for and against
digital ads in all their forms are sure to
continue. In the meantime, print ads cant
be blocked.
While print ads have a lot going for
them, as all of us spend more time on
our digital devices, being visible on those
screens is increasingly important. And if
you can give users a strong enough reason
to click throughto download a timely
report or learn something newdigital
ads enable fast and easy response.
Metrics and Other Things That

Matter
Do your family members love you? How
do you know? Does their love matter less
because you cant reliably quantify it? Advertisers face a similar set of questions.
One of the perennial arguments against
traditional advertising in print and broadcast media is that you cant measure the
impact. But things have changed, and
POWER has ways to track response to both
digital and print promotions (contact your
ad rep for more information).
Ill close by encouraging our readers
to spend some time with the ads they
encounter over the next year. You never
know what you might learn.
Gail Reitenbach, PhD is POWERs
editor.
POWER February 2016
Is Your Power
Project a Winner?
Find out by nominating
it for a POWER award
The 2016 categories are:

Plant of the Year Award
Reinvention Award (formerly Marmaduke Award)
Water Award
Smart Grid Award
Top Plants Awards (in gas, coal, nuclear, and renewable subcategories)
All nominated projects must be in commercial operation by the nomination deadline of

April 29, 2016. Youll find award information, lists of former winners, and nomination
forms at powermag.com/power-awards/
NOMINATION DEADLINE: APRIL 29, 2016
Russian Fast Reactor

Connected to the Grid
In a leap for fast neutron power technology, Russias Rosatom has connected
Unit 4 of its Beloyarsk nuclear plant in
the Urals region to the grid. The 880-MW
BN-800 unitthe latest generation of
fast reactor technology first launched in
Russia about 35 years agohas restored
the countrys mastery in the field of design and construction of fast reactors,
Russian officials said.
The BN-800 is a fast reactor design that
uses liquid sodium as a coolant and heat
transfer agent. It was developed from
a pilot reactor (a BN-600) that was installed at the Beloyarsk site (Figure 1) in
1980, which at the time housed a watercooled graphite-moderated channel-type
slow-neutron ABM-100 and ABM-200.
Both were decommissioned in the 1980s,
and the BN-600s lifetime was extended
until 2025.
Construction of the BN-800 and a bigger BN-1600 unit at the site were begun in 1984, with startup of the BN-800
originally planned for 1992. But after the
Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the reactors
construction was suspended, along with
all nuclear power plants under construction in the Soviet Union at the time. Officials at state-owned nuclear company
Rosenergoatom said that the technology
was improved during the long period of
suspension.
In 2006, the BN-800s construction was
revived. General construction contractor
Uralenergostroy Management spearheaded
the project along with Saint-Petersburg
Institute Atomenergoproekt, the projects
general designer. The reactor was brought
1. Fast development. Rosatoms fourth

unit at its Beloyarsk nuclear power plant is a
BN-800 fast breeder reactor that was connected to the grid in December 2015. Courtesy: Rosatom
to minimum controlled power in 2014, but

fuel development issues delayed its connection to the national grid. As of early
January, the reactor was operating at 25%
capacity.
For Russia, the reactor that uses a uranium and plutonium mixed oxide (MOX)
fuel is particularly important because it
could result in more than a 50-fold increase in the usage of extracted natural
uranium. Meanwhile, it could eliminate
spent fuel waste, resolve storage issues,
and, critically, eliminate weapons-grade
plutonium created as a result of energy
conversion. When some serial power
units with fast reactors appear in Russia, together with facilities for MOX-fuel
fabrication and spent fuel regeneration,
there will be a loopback of the nuclear
fuel cycle, which means centuries-long
prospects for the Russian nuclear power
industry, the company said.
Rosenergoatom is now mulling the further expansion of the Beloyarsk plant with
the construction of a fifth unit, possibly
a 1,200-MW fast reactor. Many infrastructure facilities built on the BN-800 unit
site are designed for two power units, the
company said. And the team of builders, which accumulated experience in the
course of BN-800 construction, will apply
its skills at the next power unit construction, it added.
Chiles Newest Hydro

Plant Takes Shape in the
Desert
Plans to build a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant in the worlds driest region
won the approval of environmental regulators in Chile this December.
The unique 300-MW project proposed
by Valhalla Energia involves the construction of a pumped hydro plant atop
a coastal headland (Figure 2) located
100 kilometers (km) south of Iquique in
northern Chile, which is home to some
of Chiles biggest mines. The $400 million Espejo de Tarapaca project will draw
seawater through a tunnel for accumulation in natural cavities on the headland
about 600 meters (m) above sea level using solar power. At night, the plant will
generate power by relaying water down
the same tunnel.
The Chilean company founded in 2011
said that the project has 50 mainly national investors. If all goes well, conwww.powermag.com
2. A cliffhanger. Valhalla Energias unique

proposed pumped storage project will make
use of a coastal headland in the Atacama Desertthe worlds driest. The company says the
natural depressions on top of the headland
possibly ancient dry lakescan store seawater
without the need to build dams, reducing construction costs, and allowing it to be competitive with other generation sources. Courtesy:
Valhalla Energia
struction should begin in the second half

of 2016, with operations beginning in
2020. The project still requires regulatory approval for its proposed $500 million Cielos de Tarapaca solar photovoltaic
plant, a 600-MW installation needed to
pump the seawater.
Chiles parched Atacama Desert, located in the north of the country and covering an area of about 105,000 square km,
is thought to have the worlds best solar
resources. Among projects in the pipeline
is Abengoas 110-MW Atacama I concentrating solar power plant, a solar power
tower project. However, that plants future is now in doubt as Abengoa undergoes a reorganization.
Wind Funnel Generator Is

Channeling Interest
A unique wind funnelbased power generating system that is quickly garnering interest
from investors could see first construction
kickoff in the first quarter of 2016.
The INVELOX (short for increased velocity) technology uses a funnel system
that captures the wind and brings it to
ground-level turbines and rotors for easier
and cheaper operation and maintenance
(Figure 3). Its developer, Minneapolisbased SheerWind, says that the technology allows wind energy to be produced from
record-low wind speeds of 2 m per second
in locations close to the end userand
even on rooftops in urban areas.
SheerWind in early January confirmed
it had signed a licensing agreement with
Dutch investment firm Reikon Beheer that
POWER February 2016
3. Inverted. SheerWinds INVELOX technology turns wind power systems upside

down by first using a funnel to collect wind
through an omnidirectional intake, channeling that wind to increase its speed within a
shrouded Venturi section, and then delivering it to multiple turbines that are covered at
ground level. Courtesy: SheerWind
will allow the INVELOX system to be marketed and deployed in the Netherlands.
The agreement comes on the heels of a
similar agreement signed with SheerWindChina, which says it is already in negotiations with Chinese customers for the
installation of two 200-kW rooftop and
a 1-MW ground-based system that could
start operating this year.
While enthusiasm for the new technology grows, so does skepticism about its
viability. Ducted turbines have been slow
to take off, owing to questions related to
technical implementation and financial viability. One technical issue, for instance,
which has been insurmountable to address
is the implementation of a mechanism design which will allow for self-alignment of
large-scale ducted turbines with the wind
direction. In addition, ducted turbines still
need to be placed at a certain height which
increases the technical complexity as well
as the cost, said researchers in a 2015 article in the journal Energy that assesses the
technologys performance.
However, they concluded: INVELOX
eliminates the need for self-alignment
with the wind because its intake is omnidirectional and all rotating parts are on
the ground which simplifies the operation
and maintenance.
Statkraft Ends
Investments in Offshore
Wind Projects
Europes largest generator of renewable
power will no longer invest in new off-
shore wind projects and may postpone

some international hydro plants.
Norwegian state-owned power company
Statkraft will stop investing in offshore
wind farms in order to keep paying dividends to its shareholders, even as it is
reeling from power prices at a 15-year low.
The company made the announcement on
December 16 as it released a reduced investment plan. The decision follows Norways refusal to allow Statkraft to reinvest
$574 million in new projects rather than
pay it out as dividends.
The move means that the company will
not invest in the 1.2-GW Dogger Bank and
900-MW Triton Knoll projects proposed in
UK waters. Statkraft may also postpone
two hydropower projects in Chile.
Offshore wind power is capital intensive. The reduced financial terms from the
owner entail that it is not possible for
Statkraft to invest in new offshore wind
projects, said Statkraft Chief Executive
Christian Rynning-Toennesen.
Last June, Statkraft also scrapped two
wind power projects in Central Norway
with a combined capacity of 1 GWbecause it said lower prices had rendered
them unprofitable.
Renk Test System, Augsburg, Germany: Wind Turbine Test Rig
February 2016 POWER
www.powermag.com
THE BIG PICTURE: GHG Reduction Pledges

Ahead of the climate summit in Paris last December, 187 countries submitted intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), setting out how far they will go to slash their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Heres what the worlds
top 10 GHG emitters pledged. The green bar corresponds with each countrys share of the worlds GHG emissions in 2012.
Sources: Carbon Briefs INDC Tracker, UNFCCC
Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, a POWER associate editor
24%
CHINA
2012 share of
world GHGs
A 60%65% reduction in CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 2030
(based on 2005 levels) and reach peak in CO2 emissions by 2030. Also, to slash power
sector emissions 60% by 2020.
A 26%28% reduction in GHG emissions by
2025 (compared to 2005 levels).
12%
U.S.
2012 share of
world GHGs
A 40% reduction in GHG emissions (compared to 1990

levels).
9%
EU
2012 share of
world GHGs
6%
INDIA
2012 share of
world GHGs
A 37% reduction in GHG emissions by 2025 (compared

CHINA to 2005 levels)
and a 43% reduction by 2030.
6%
BRAZIL
A 33%35% reduction in emissions intensity by 2030 (compared to 2005

levels), and to get 40% of power capacity from non-fossil fuelbased
resources by 2030.
2012 share of
world GHGs
A 25%30% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels).
5%
RUSSIA
2012 share of
world GHGs
A 26% reduction in emissions by 2030 (based on 2013 levels). Per long-term energy
strategy, power mix in 2030 will comprise 20%22% nuclear, 22%24% renewables,
26% coal, 26% liquefied natural gas, and 2% oil.
3%
JAPAN
2012 share of
world GHGs
A 30% reduction in GHG emissions (based on 2005 levels).
2%
CANADA
Share of 2012
worlds GHGs
A 29% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 (compared to business as usual).
1%
2012 share of
world GHGs
INDONESIA
1%
AUSTRALIA
10
A 26%28% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 (based on 2005 levels), to be

implemented through Emissions Reduction Fund and other policies under development.
2012 share of
world GHGs
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
The announcement is a setback for Europes burgeoning offshore wind sector,

where there were 3,072 grid-connected
turbines at 82 farms spanning 11 countries, for a total of 10.4 GW of capacity
as of June 30, 2015. China, the leader in
offshore wind in Asia, had 718.9 MW of installed capacity; Japan, 52 MW; and South
Korea, 5 MW by October 2015.
Overall, the sector will see a downturn in 2016, predicted consulting firm
Douglas-Westwood. Following a strong
year of offshore wind activity in 2015
(3.8 GW installed), capacity installed
will dip in 2016 to 1.5 GW. However, capacity will return to an upward trend,
peaking at 9.2 GW in 2022, it said in a
recent insight. The firm also noted that
capital costs for offshore wind have fallen in recent years, owing to the larger
sizes of turbines installed and resulting
in less infrastructure (such as support
structures) required.
Nuclear Newcomers Face

Varying Hurdles
Nuclear ambitions fostered by some countries were tested by a variety of events at
the end of 2015.
Work Continues on Turkeys Russian-Built Akkuyu Plant. Reports that

Russia has halted construction of Turkeys Akkuyu nuclear power plant, and
that Ankara has begun looking for new
contractors, are unfounded, officials
from the Akkuyu Nuclear Co. said in early December. The reports came as Russia broadened sanctions against Turkey
after that nation shot down a Russian
warplane in November under disputed
circumstances. On December 17, meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin
4. Four of a kind. In May 2010, Russia

and Turkey signed an agreement that a subsidiary of Rosatom would build, own, and operate a power plant at Akkuyu comprising four
1,200-MW VVER units. The first VVER-1200
pressurized water reactors are still under construction at the Novovoronezh II plant in Russia and expected to come online early in 2016.
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Hullernuc
February 2016 POWER
said that Russias decision to participate in the construction of the nuclear

plant would be based purely on commercial considerations. We will not take a
single step that would damage our own
economic interests, he told reporters in
an annual news conference in Russia.
Russias Rosatom Overseasrenamed
Rosatom Energy International in Decemberis building the $22 billion project
that is Turkeys first nuclear plant. The
plant will have four reactors (Figure 4)
with a total capacity of 4.8 GW and a
60-year service life. When completed, it
is expected to provide 17% of Turkeys
power needs.
Indonesia Scraps Nuclear Plans. Indonesia in December scrapped an $8 billion plan to operate four nuclear plants
with a total capacity of 6 GW by 2025.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister
Sudirman Said told reporters that the government was not persuaded that nuclear
capacity was immediately necessary. We
still have many alternatives and we do not
need to raise any controversies, he said.
The decision was made public after the
National Energy Council released its latest National Energy Plan in December. Last
revised in 2006, the new plan will see a
major boost in renewable power in lieu
of nuclear power, increasing renewables
share from 5% to 23% by 2025.
The new plan will see coals share also
fall slightly from 33% to 30%. Significantly, the island nation plans to continue relying on oil, which will account for
25% of power within a decade, compared
to a previous target of 20%. Natural gas
will have a 22% share in 2025.
Vietnam Delays Nuclear Plant. Power-hungry Vietnam will slow down development of its first nuclear power plant in
Ninh Thuan, planning to start construction
in 2020 to ensure safety and efficiency.
Hoang Anh Tuan, director general of the
Vietnam Atomic Energy Agency, told attendees at a nuclear power seminar that
the nuclear newcomer was facing many
hurdles as it set out to build its first reactor, including lack of experience and a
workforce shortage.
The country had planned to start building Russian AES-2006 reactors at least for
the first two units of the four-unit plant
in Ninh Thuan province in 2014, with operations anticipated in 2020. The country also picked a Japanese consortium to
develop a second nuclear power plant at
the site, though details of that deal are
sparse. Russia is expected to finance at
least 85% of the $8.9 billion Ninh Thuan
1 plant.
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POWER Digest
RWE Abandons Hard Coal Construction
Project. RWE scrapped plans to complete
Heat Rate Article Correction
the 800-MW Block D of the Hamm hard

coal plant in the German state of North
Rhine-Westphalia on December 18, citing
damage and delays caused during the installation of a steam generator. The German utility began building the two-unit
plant in 2008, and the first unit came online in July 2014. In the summer of 2013,
however, a chemical leak allowed contaminantsincluding hydrochloric acidto
get into the boiler of Block D.
An equation in Understanding Coal Power

Plant Heat Rate and Efficiency in the February 2015 issue went to publication with an
error. The correct equation, and the paragraph
preceding it, follow and have been corrected
in the online version of the article.
The heat loss method for calculating
heat rate essentially draws a box around
India Gears Up Nuclear Liability Fund.

Indias central government has approved the
creation of a Nuclear Liability Fund of $300
million in the event damages from a nuclear
accident exceed the legal limit specified for
plant operators. The operators liability is
capped at $226 million under the 2010 Civil
Liability for Nuclear Damage Act. The fund is
required by a number of foreign companies
mulling new nuclear plants in India because
the 2010 law gives state-run operator Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd. the right to
seek damages from suppliers in the event of
an accident. News media reported in December that India is close to closing a deal with
Westinghouse Electric for six reactors. Rus-
sia, meanwhile, has reportedly offered India

a new range of reactor unitsthe VVER-Toi
designfor the third and fourth units of the
Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu.
1.6-GW expansion of the 2.6-GW coal-fired

Ramagundam power plant in Telanganas
Karimnagar district. The Ramagundam
plant was a 2015 POWER Top Plant.
GE to Supply Turbines for $15.5B

Hydro Plant in China. General Elec-
Australia Lifts Ban on Wind Farm

Investments. Australias federal govern-
tric (GE) on December 24 said it won a

contract to supply six 850-MW Francis
turbine-generator sets for the 10.2-GW
Wudongde hydropower plant being built
by China Three Gorges Corp. The project
recently garnered approvals from the Chinese government after a reported 18 years
of research and preparation, state-owned
China Three Gorges said on December 16.
ment on December 13 suspended a decree

introduced by former Prime Minister Tony
Abbott in June 2015 banning the nations
A$10 billion green bank from investing
in wind power. A new mandate allows the
Clean Energy Finance Corp. to invest in
wind projects, as long as they incorporate
emerging and innovative systems. The
move is expected to give the wind industry
a boost and inject confidence into the renewable sector.
Ramagundam Plant Gets OK for

Hefty Expansion. Indias Ministry of
Environment and Forests has approved a
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EPC Agreement for Texas CCS Project. Summit Power Group, developer of
the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP)
an integrated gasification combined cycle
(IGCC) carbon capture, utilization, and
storage project backed by the federal
governmenton December 8 signed an
engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with China Huanqiu
Contracting & Engineering Corp., a wholly
owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp., and SNC-Lavalin Engineers
& Constructors. The contract covers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and performance testing of the
chemical and carbon capture block, which
will be integrated with a Siemens combined
cycle power block. Siemens is also expected to supply the coal gasification equipment for the chemical block. TCEP, which
is planned for construction near Odessa,
Texas, has received more than $450 million
as part of the Department of Energys Office
of Fossil Energy Clean Coal Power Initiative.
The project has also received $811 million
in investment tax credits, awarded to qualifying advanced coal projects that generate
at least 400 MW of power and capture a
minimum of 65% of their carbon dioxide.
TCEPs financial closing is targeted for
spring 2016. (For more on the TCEP, see Is
Polygeneration the Future for Clean Coal?
in the March 2014 issue.)
Sonal Patel is a POWER associate editor.

12
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
Coal Ash Mapping Using Electromagnetic

Technology
The identification and containment of coal ash has risen to the
top of the priority list for plant managers across the U.S. after
inadvertent releases of coal ash into unintended areas resulted in
adverse environmental impacts and negative publicity. Increased
scrutiny and changing regulatory requirements are forcing plant
operators to work aggressively to manage coal ash.
Looking for Trouble
In the past, utilities used exploratory excavations, hand augering, and test drilling to determine if coal ash basin containment
structures had failed and to identify the extent of coal ash deposits, which do occasionally fall outside of intended boundaries.
These traditional methods of coal ash exploration are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and can be inaccurate due to the physical constraints of the process.
However, an innovative new method utilizing frequency domain
electromagnetic (FDEM) induction surveys has been employed to
scan soil at coal-fired plants to provide improved underground
characterization of subsurface strata. The response from plant
operators, who have been looking for more efficient and definitive tools to characterize subsurface conditions, especially when
unintended coal ash is involved, has been very positive.
The FDEM method is attractive for generators because it is less
expensive than traditional physical work and the results are highly reliable. Some studies have determined that using electromagnetic technology rather than traditional subsurface exploration
techniques is 85% more economical, and results are available in
less than a quarter of the time.
Conductivity and Magnetism Provide Answers
The utilization of the FDEM method at coal ash sites identifies
the lateral extent of the potential coal ash flow. Coal ash contains the mineral pyrite (iron disulfide), which is very conductive and magnetic, thus resulting in lateral changes in subsurface
conductivity when coal ash is present.
FDEM measurements provide a noninvasive method (Figure 1)
for the measurement of subsurface conductivity and magnetic
susceptibility. The mapped conductivity and susceptibility contrasts (Figures 2 and 3) delineate the approximate lateral extent
of the coal ash.
During initial trials of the FDEM method, hand augering was
conducted both inside and outside of coal ash boundaries to
verify results. The plots generated using FDEM were confirmed to
be highly accurate.
Our clients have been very pleased with the results of the
FDEM execution as quantitatively verified by the hand augers,
said Todd Eiler, project manager and president of Eiler Services.
As a result, the use of hand augers has not been required on
subsequent projects.
The FDEM method allows fast data acquisition in a fraction of
the time of previous methods. In short, data can be collected
as quickly as a person holding a conductivity rod can walk. The
depths at which FDEM technology can be deployed are dependent
on the length of the conductivity rod, with the standard length
being 12 feet. The sole prerequisite is that a walkable, unobstructed route is required to complete the grid pattern.
February 2016 POWER
1. Mapping an area. The process involves having a technician

walk a grid pattern in order to survey for underground ash. Although
a larger area was surveyed in this example, the area of concern was
inside the red lines. The region shaded blue was partially inaccessible.
Courtesy: Paul Boyadjian
2. Painting the picture. Bulk conductivity maps depict, by color,

the magnitude and concentration of coal ash. Courtesy: Paul Boyadjian
3. Seeing results. In-phase data from the frequency domain

electromagnetic survey depicts differing conductivity within the soil.
Courtesy: Paul Boyadjian
www.powermag.com
13
Enhanced Results
With the success of FDEM, utilities have undertaken other electromagnetic technology applications to characterize subsurface
conditions, such as 2-D multichannel analysis of surface waves,
electrical resistivity imaging, and seismic refraction. Plant owners may implement multiple complimentary geophysical methods
to attain more accurate subsurface data given the sometimescomplex nature of geophysical conditions.
As with most types of technology in this arena, there are
limitations associated with each method, and the results
need to be considered appropriately. Therefore, using multiple complimentary geophysical methods is sometimes preferred so that a more accurate subsurface model of the site
conditions can be developed. Each technology can be used
independent of the other or can be combined with others to
provide more definitive results when one method alone does
not suffice.
The value of FDEM continues to grow as this type of technology is being deployed at sites to identify the location of
underground items such as concrete, metal pipes, large boulders, subsurface voids, conduits, and more. These innovative
tools are also being deployed to perform geophysical surveys.
These surveys allow the subsurface variability to be better understood, improving the accuracy of models prior to any site
work or physical excavations.
Furthermore, FDEM applications can be utilized anywhere
subsurface conditions are crucial to the success of a project.
Given the age of many facilities and the accuracy of existing
data, some utilities now mandate the use of ground-penetrating
radar prior to excavation. In many cases, this is an overly conservative method yielding less-than-perfect results. Given the
major technological advances in electromagnetic exploratory
tools and methods, utilities now have a superior option to traditional toolsets.
Paul Boyadjian, PE, PMP (paul.boyadjian@gmail.com) has
served as director of engineering and vice president of engineering at various firms involved in engineering, procurement, and
construction projects.
LED Lighting Improves Visibility and

Saves Money for Power Plant
Drax Power Station, a 3,960-MW six-unit facility located in North
Yorkshire, England, is the largest power plant in the UK. It was
constructed in two stages, with the first three units completed
in 1974 and Units 4, 5, and 6 finished in 1986.
As a baseload plant, the stations coal hopper shed is in use
24/7, but the lighting in the area had deteriorated over the
years. Performing maintenance on the 15-year-old high-pressure
sodium (SON) light fittings was difficult, and dust and dirt accumulation had become a problem. Access limitations made biannual maintenance tricky, and the track that provided bus power
for the existing light fittings had been damaged during previous
maintenance tasks. Replacement of failed SONs consumed a lot
of time, so a more reliable and higher-performance lighting solution was desired.
The Light-Emitting Diode Solution
Matthew Glazier, one of Draxs electrical maintenance techni-

14
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
4. Dark and dreary. The high-pressure sodium lighting previously installed in Draxs coal
hopper shed was not particularly illuminating. Courtesy: Hadar Lighting/Steve Bowart
cians, came across Hadar Lighting while

the company was displaying its product
line during a procurement open day, which
is essentially a vendor exposition where
engineers can peruse products in search of

project solutions. After conducting a more
thorough evaluation of the companys offerings, Drax asked Hadars sales team to
provide a recommendation for improving

the plants coal hopper shed lighting.
The team responded with a proposal
to replace 20 400-W high-bay trackmounted SONs and 30 70-W trackside fittings with 20 160-W light-emitting diode
(LED) high-bay lights and 15 100-W LED
floodlights. Assured that the new scheme
would be far superior to the existing
lighting arrangement, Drax agreed to proceed with the project.
Two weeks later, the LED fittings were
delivered. The fittings needed to be installed above rail tracks that ran over giant hoppers into which coal is routinely
dumped. Rather than installing scaffold
over this very dangerous area, the installation team chose to use a rail-mounted
scissor lift to perform the task. That decision allowed installation to be completed
in only six days.
Saving Time and Money
Although Drax generates its own electricity, improving energy efficiency is
a corporate objective. By reducing the
total number of fittings from 50 to 35
and total wattage from 11,050 W (the
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15
5. Seeing is believing. The newly installed light-emitting diode (LED) lighting has brightened up the area while saving on energy costs. Courtesy: Hadar Lighting/Steve Bowart
400-W high-bays actually drew 440 W

and the 70-W wall packs drew 75 W) to
4,700 W, the plant has been able to cut
its energy use in the coal hopper shed
from 4.74 W per square meter (W/m 2)
to 2.02 W/m 2.
LED fittings run at a much lower temperature than the SONs and are designed
to dissipate driver heat away from the
fittings using fins that act as a heat
sink. The rim design incorporates small,

machined apertures that draw air from
below the fitting up and over the face
and fins, providing airflow in much
the same way as a chimney does, thus
creating small eddy currents around
the fitting. In addition to cooling the
components, this also helps to remove
dirt that clings electrostatically on the
face and body of the fitting. The LED
luminaires carry five-year warranties, so
lamp failure is less of a concern, and relamping can be scheduled at times to
suit the plant, thus reducing the maintenance burden.
We looked at a range of fittings from
other manufacturers as alternatives, but
Hadar was a perfect fit. The quality and
ruggedness of their fittings is great. Its
solid. The coal hopper lighting now speaks
for itself. Its a 100% improvement, Glazier said (Figures 4 and 5).
The glare-free LED fittings provide
a much better working environment
throughout the shed, and everything now
looks clear and crisp.
Steve Bowart (steve.bowart@
hadar-lighting.com) is business development manager for Hadar Lighting.
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16
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
Glenn Benson
Rachel Block
Challenges of Increasing Dependence on

Gas-Fired Generation
se of natural gas for power generation in the U.S. is skyrocketing. From 2005 to 2015, the share of energy produced from gas has increased over 80%, with gas now
comprising about 35% of the fuel mix. This rapid escalation in
dependence on gas presents challenges for generators, independent system operators (ISOs)/regional transmission organizations, and regulators.
Perhaps the most salient issue is how to maintain reliability
and limit price spikes in areas like the Northeast on cold winter
days. On such days, gas pipeline capacity is often constrained
and gas utilities and power plants compete for limited supplies.
Considerable efforts are being made to manage these challengesincreased coordination, pay-for-performance standards, and
innovative pipeline funding reformsbut success on these initiatives requires navigating through stakeholder resistance, a
maze of regulatory complexities, and other obstacles.
Harmonizing Timing
First, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued
a rulemaking in April 2015, requiring pipelines to defer the
timing for their daily nomination deadlines, enabling electric
transmission operators to complete day-ahead scheduling and
gas-fired generators to receive electric market dispatch instructions before pipeline nominations are due. FERC also required
adjustments to the posting time of ISO day-ahead energy market results to facilitate gas procurement and scheduling by generators that clear.
In response to strong gas industry opposition, however, FERC
withdrew a proposal that would have aligned the nationwide Gas
Day with the electric operating day. FERCs objective was to relieve gas-fired generators that have committed across a single
electric operating day from having to procure gas supply and
schedule gas transportation across two Gas Days. It also was intended to address difficulties arising from the fact that the start
of the Gas Day occurs in the middle of the morning electric load
ramp. This initiative was challenged on various grounds, including that it would increase costs, harm reliability of gas service,
raise safety issues, and cause operational problems.
Capacity Market Adjustments
Second, ISO-New England (ISO-NE) and PJM Interconnection
(PJM) have modified their respective capacity markets to reward
generators that reliably deliver power during tight system conditions and more strongly penalize those that do not. ISO-NE has
redesigned its market to correlate a generators capacity payments to performance during scarcity conditions through adoption of a two-settlement process, with the objective of providing
incentives for generators to pursue cost-effective measures to
ensure they have the fuel to come online when needed.
The redesign has been challenged as, among other things, unnecessary and unduly risky, saddling consumers with unnecessary
February 2016 POWER
costs, discouraging investments, encouraging generators to add

oil-gas fuel-switching capability to the detriment of environmental goals, and discriminating against resources without quickstart capability. Pending the outcome of litigation, the redesign
is scheduled for implementation in 2018.
PJM is phasing in a new Capacity Performance Resource product, aimed at improving incentives to deliver energy reliably.
Capacity Performance Resources will be subject to charges for
poor performance and eligible for credits for superior performance. Like ISO-NEs redesign, numerous parties are opposing
PJMs initiative on a variety of issues, including costs to consumers and discriminatory treatment favoring certain resources.
Subject to the outcome of litigation before FERC and likely the
court of appeals, PJMs program will be fully implemented by
the end of 2018.
New Pipeline Contracts

Third, pipeline companies Kinder Morgan and Spectra are relying
on an innovative strategy to develop projects they say are needed to supply the New England market: They are seeking long-term
firm transportation agreements, not just with prospective shippers on their pipeline projects, but also with electric distribution
companies (EDCs).
The theory behind these arrangements is that although EDCs
have no need for pipeline capacity themselves, they can release the capacity in the secondary market to meet the needs
of gas-fired generators on which they depend for reliability. The
pipelines seek EDC contracts because generators are unwilling
to enter into the long-term agreements needed to finance a
pipeline project. To control costs and enhance their own competitiveness, generators typically rely on less-expensive interruptible pipeline service or unneeded firm capacity re-sold in
the secondary market.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has approved
the concept of EDC contracts, and proceedings are under way
in other New England states to do the same. EDC contracts are,
however, controversial. Detractors assert they unfairly favor gasfired generation and can subject consumers to unnecessary costs.
Critics further contend that reliability concerns can be better addressed with more efficient utilization of existing resources. Like
the ISO reforms discussed above, any EDC contract filed for state
commission approval appears destined for litigation.
How these issues and proceedings are resolved will go a long
way toward determining the effects that increased reliance on
gas-fired generation will have on reliability, prices, and the operation of the markets. They may well determine how large a role
gas will play for many years to come.
Glenn Benson (glennbenson@dwt.com) is a partner in Davis
Wright Tremaine LLPs energy practice in the firms Washington,
D.C., office, and Rachel Block (rachelblock@dwt.com) is an associate in the firms Seattle office.
www.powermag.com
17
COMBINED HEAT AND POWER
CHP Update: Policies,

Partnerships, and Challenges
Courtesy: Greenberry/NAES
Though combined heat and power (CHP) is getting increasing attention as a means
of efficiency and reducing carbon emissions, the sectors traditional challenges remain. But some generators and policymakers are working hard to deploy CHP in
new and more economic ways.
Thomas W. Overton, JD
ombined heat and power (CHP) is hot

againin more ways than one.
After a surge in capacity during the
1980s, kick-started by the 1978 federal Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) that
was designed to combat high oil prices, CHP
has since lagged in the U.S., especially after
PURPAs incentive structure was changed in
2005 (see CHP: A Rocky Path for a Promising Approach in the February 2015 issue).
But CHP is seeing new interest, driven
by a combination of stubbornly low natural
gas prices and new policy support driven
by environmental and reliability concerns.
Both government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry groups like the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI) have recognized that CHP
offers a way for traditional generation technologies to boost efficiency and remain part
of the power mix as renewables continue to
increase their share.
Rethinking CHP
CHP has long been popular in Europe, where
district heating is more common, and among
self-generating industrial customers around
the world. For industrial CHP, the availability of low-cost opportunity fuels is often an
added advantage. For example, among several new industrial CHP plants is a project in
18
Turkey built by Outotec for Modern Karton,

a major European manufacturer of packaging paper and corrugated cardboard materials
from waste paper. The incinerator designed
by Outotec uses byproducts such as paper
rejects, biological sludge, and paper sludge
from Modern Karton. The CHP plant produces electricity for the network and steam that
is used in the paper production process.
But in the U.S., largely thanks to PURPA
and other problems in the past, utilities remain wary of CHP they dont control. Thats
led think tanks like ICF International to look
at ways to bring those utilities in from the
figurative cold.
Anne Hampson, a project manager with
ICF, who coauthored a 2014 report, From
Threat to Asset: How Combined Heat and
Power (CHP) Can Benefit Utilities, spoke
to POWER in December about ways utilities
can make CHP work, at least in areas where
theyre allowed to own generation.
Traditionally, you would put power plants
out in the middle of nowhere so that people
dont have to see them, but when you do that,
you are limiting yourself geographically because you are not located near people who
can use the thermal energy, Hampson said.
And the further away you are, the less likely
you are going to have ways to deliver steam
to potential customers.
www.powermag.com
Hampson pointed to Great River Energys

Spiritwood Station in North Dakota (a 2015
POWER Top Plant) as an example of strategic colocation. The plant was built to serve
adjacent industrial thermal loads as well as
supply power to the grid. Doing so enables
this coal-fired plant to meet EPA emissions
guidelines under the Clean Power Plan because of its high efficiency. Great River also
took advantage of a similar arrangement at its
Coal Creek plant, partnering with an adjacent
ethanol plant to supply process steam. Hampson pointed to district heating systems as another potential use for CHP steam output (see
the sidebar Steel City Steam).
Co-siting can be really beneficial, she
said, if you look at where your existing
industrial customers who need steam already are. If theyre having to produce it in
a boiler, but they could get it from a power
plant, thats a perfect means to do so. More
recently, weve seen a lot of focus on how
that kind of siting for power plants can take
advantage of it.
The customers get less-expensive steam
and lower capital outlays, while the plant
owner can substantially boost efficiency and
thus reduce average emissions per megawatt.
And theres a lot of opportunity out there.
According to the ICF report, theres about
130 GW of technical CHP potential in the U.S.
POWER February 2016
Steel City Steam

Like many large cities in the northeastern
U.S., Pittsburgh has a district heating system in its downtown areas. And, like those
other cities, Pittsburghs system is quite
old: Its been operating for more than 100
years. Overseen by Pittsburgh Allegheny
County Thermal (PACT), the system currently serves about 65 buildings in the
Golden Triangle area of downtown, including all of the areas city, county, state, and
federal office buildings.
The PACT system isnt the only district
heating system in Pittsburgh, either. Another one, owned and operated by NRG,
serves the area on the north side of the
Allegheny River. According to David Gaier,
senior director of communications for NRGs
East Region, that system serves about 6.3
million square feet of space, including
important regional landmarks such as the
Allegheny General Hospital, PNC Park, and
the Carnegie Science Center.
Pittsburgh sits in the heart of the Marcellus shale region, and it consequently
enjoys some of the lowest natural gas
prices in the country. That makes it an
ideal candidate for expanding its CHP
capacity. Last summer, the city signed a
memorandum of understanding with the
National Energy Technology Laboratory
on joint efforts to design modern energy
infrastructure for Pittsburgh. One key element of that initiative was supporting
and expanding opportunities for district
energy systems, and the first target was
the citys district heating systems.
While these energy systems have served
us well for decades, theyre terribly inefficient, area Congressman Mike Doyle
(D-Pa.) said at the time. That means were
producing more pollution and greenhouse
gas emissions than we need to. Pittsburgh
and PACT turned to NRG for help.
where existing onsite electric loads can be
served at facilities conducive to CHP. Another
110 GW of potential exists in sizing CHP systems for industrial thermal loads, leading to
exports of electricity to the surrounding grid.
CPP = CHP
Pressure to deploy more CHP is coming, in
part because of that route to substantial efficiency gains. The biggest driverassuming
it survives judicial reviewwill be the EPAs
Clean Power Plan (CPP).
February 2016 POWER
1. Deep heat. NRGs district heating (DH) system in Pittsburgh is part of a

planned project to upgrade the citys aging
DH network with more-efficient infrastructure and a new cogeneration plant. Courtesy: NRG Energy
Weve been engaged by the City to

develop ways to improve and expand the
100-year-old PACT steam system covering
downtown, Gaier told POWER via email.
With 80 or so customers, the idea is to
retain current customers and add new
ones. NRG has a solid, progressive vision
for Pittsburgh District Energy: development of and collaboration among three
systemsthe existing NRG district energy
system, the PACT system, and the future
Lower Hill District system (Figure 1).
NRG and CJL Engineering are jointly
developing the Lower Hill District system
just east of the Golden Triangle, Gaier
said. In the plan, a new district energy
plant will be located adjacent to the Consol Energy Center, and the UPMC Mercy
Hospital would be the anchor customer.
The project will ultimately include a fullscale CHP plant on the site and begin operations in 2017.
Upgrading the PACT system will help
improve its efficiency and reduce its emissions, and the collaboration with NRG will
create one of the largest district heating
systems in the country.
Whether your state follows a mass-based
or rate-based approach to compliance under
the CPP, CHP would be able to contribute,
Hampson said. Under a rate-based approach,
a CHP plants lower emissions per megawatt
compared to conventional generation could
enable the plant owner to generate emissions
rate credits that it could sell to higher-emitting
sources. That could provide another revenue
stream to the CHP plant, she said. Under a
mass-based approach, it would have a very
similar type of thing, except instead of selling
www.powermag.com
credits, it would most likely sell into something like an allowance market.
Though the CPP is often thought to offer a
substantial boost to gas-fired power, a study
from EPRI released in October 2015 suggests
that CHP could provide a way for advanced
coal-fired plants to meet EPA emissions limits without carbon capture, again because of
the efficiency gains that would result. (See
CHP and Other Technologies Could Breathe
New Life into U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants
in this issue for details.) The caveat, however,
is that a 750-MW advanced ultrasupercritical
plant would require at least a 150-MW thermal load to achieve 12.5% extraction, and the
number of potential customers who need that
much steam is limited. The study suggests
that smaller coal-fired CHP plantssimilar
to Spiritwood Stationare more likely to be
viable under the CPP.
Another report, which ICF helped prepare
for the Pew Charitable Trusts, Industrial Efficiency in the Changing Utility Landscape,
looked at potential growth in the CHP market through 2030. Though CHP in general is
poised to expand, growing 12.4 GW by 2030,
the combination of the CPP and some improved tax treatment of CHP could result in
30% more capacity: 16.1 GW by 2030. The
biggest gains in absolute terms would accrue in California and Texas, both states with
substantial industrial bases that are potential
customers for CHP output.
State-Level Support
California and Texas also illustrate the possibilities for state-level policy support to affect
CHP adoption. Both states have substantial
unexploited CHP potential. Another report,
by the Brattle Group, estimates the potential
in Texas at around 11 GW, and up to 20 GW
by 2032 as a result of continued growth in
the petrochemicals industry. Texas took a
big step in that direction recently by making
it easier for CHP plants to sell electricity to
adjacent customers without being considered
utilities.
California, meanwhile, has a state policy
to add at least 4 GW of new CHP capacity by
2020. Thats been a bit controversial because,
while CHP is more efficient than conventional generation, its still typically powered
by natural gas, which means greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions. With the state also under
a mandate to reduce those emissions, environmentalists have pushed to cut support for
gas-fired CHP. Renewable CHP, meanwhile,
is getting some attention (see the sidebar
Bakersfield Biomass).
But CHP-heavy states like California and
Texas are not the only places where the technology has a growing future.
New York has promoted CHP for years,
19
Bakersfield Biomass
California is often thought of as an oasis
of environmentalism and renewable energy. Although both are deeply embedded
in the Golden State, California also has a
robust oil and gas sector, most of it concentrated in the inland areas of the southern half of the state. Kern County and its
county seat, the city of Bakersfield, have
long been the capital of Californias oil
business.
Making that sector more environmentally friendly has long been a goal of state
regulators and environmental groups. One
such project, the 44-MW Mt. Poso Cogeneration Plantshown in the header photocame to fruition a few years ago.
The Mt. Poso plant has been around
for decades, but until recently, it ran on
a combination of coal, petroleum coke,
and shredded tiresnot the most ecofriendly mix. Plant owner MacPherson
Energy Corp. uses steam from the plant
for operations in its adjacent oil field,
while water from the oil field is used for
produced steam and plant cooling. Emissions from Mt. Poso put the plant in the
sights of state regulators, who slated it
for closure in the 2000s.
in part because of its ability to promote grid
resiliency, and the state gets 57% of its total
distributed generation (DG) from CHP. The
states Reforming the Energy Vision (REV)
strategy, spearheaded by Governor Andrew
Cuomo, is expected to provide an even greater boost to CHP. The plan seeks a 40% reduction in state greenhouse gas emissions, 50%
renewable generation, and a 23% decrease in
building energy consumptionall goals that
CHP can help meet.
As part of REV, the state announced in
September that it is aiming to increase the
number of CHP projects in New York by
10% through $258 million in public and
private funding of 53 separate projects (totaling about 200 MW) that are already in
development. The New York State Energy
and Research Development Authority is providing $41 million of the total, with the balance coming from private investors. In part
because of experiences during Superstorm
Sandy, when CHP helped numerous institutions keep the lights on (for one example, see
the story on the New York University [NYU]
Cogeneration Plant, a POWER Top Plant, in
the September 2014 issue at powermag.com),
many of these projects are part of microgrids,
20
MacPherson Energy opted instead to

convert the plant to burn biomass. It
formed a partnership with DTE Energy Services to undertake the conversion, which
began in November 2010. Limited operations began the following year, and the
project was declared complete in February
2012. While plant capacity was reduced
from 55 MW to 44 MW, the emissions profile was substantially improved.
MacPherson and DTE are equal owners
in the new plant, which burns biomass
from urban and agricultural wood waste
(construction, tree trimmings, and agricultural sources). The $34 million project
not only preserved 30 existing jobs in an
economically challenged area, but it also
created eight new ones at the site and
spurred growth for several area companies
supplying biomass fuel.
The project was also a win for Pacific
Gas & Electric (PG&E), which signed a 20year power purchase agreement for the
plants electricity. Conversion to biomass
qualified the plant as a renewable power
generator, helping PG&E meet its obligations under Californias ambitious renewable portfolio standard.
including a $37 million, 15-MW system at
Columbia University.
Other states are also making concerted
drives to boost CHP.
Minnesota in 2013 began an initiative
designed to study how CHP could help
meet the states renewable portfolio, energy conservation, and GHG reduction goals.
The process, funded by a U.S. Department
of Energy grant and conducted through
stakeholder meetings in 2013 and 2014,
produced a detailed CHP Action Plan that
was released in October 2015. It builds on
previous studies that showed, among other
things, that the state could easily double its
CHP capacity and had technical potential
of four times the current 961 MW. Other
findings during the process were that most
stakeholders felt current rates and utility
business models were not favorable for
CHP in Minnesota and that existing incentive programs were not sufficient.
In the action plan, the state lays out an
ambitious, multifaceted plan to help advance
CHP, including policy and rate reform, identifying the best CHP opportunities, and public
outreach and education. One concern is how
CHP fits into the states existing Conservation
www.powermag.com
Improvement Program, and the plan seeks to

clarify and revise evaluation criteria to ensure
worthwhile CHP projects are eligible. The
process of identifying potential projects will
start with existing public facilities that could
employ CHP, such as universities and wastewater treatment plants, and develop plans for
CHP implementation. The plan also makes
an aggressive commitment to seeking out and
exploiting existing CHP support mechanisms
and incentives. Policy and rate reform, naturally, will take longer, but the plan begins a
process to formulate a specific list of changes
that could be implemented.
New CHP Tech

Microgrids powered by CHP are drawing
increasing attention because of their extra
resiliency. Typically, though, these have
been large, megawatt-scale systems such as
the NYU and Columbia projects. Now, advances in software and data processing are
enabling owners of smaller CHP systems to
aggregate them into a single, flexible, dispatchable resource. While not necessarily a
true microgrid, these systems have many of
the same properties.
Redwood City, Calif.based firm Autogrid has begun marketing what it calls
Software-Defined Power Plants, aggregated
DG that functions as a single system on the
grid using its Predictive Controls software.
This approach allows large customers to reduce their demand charges, to participate in
utility demand response programs, or trade
directly in electricity markets in ways that
may not be available or feasible for small
systems operating separately. The first such
virtual plant was rolled out in November in
the Netherlands and Belgium in partnership
with Eneco Group, and involves 100 MW of
resources, including several customer-sited
CHP systems. Autogrid has also partnered
with Italian firm Electro Power Systems
(EPS) to integrate its hydrogen-based energy storage system.
EPSs technology deserves special mention because, in addition to storing energy as
hydrogen via electrolysis, the units can then
release the hydrogen for use as fuel for CHP.
While still new, the technology holds the
promise of integrating storage and renewable
CHP into a single system.
Smaller turbines and microturbines
have been used for CHP for many years,
but these typically require pairing with
a separate heat-recovery system. Portsmouth, N.H.based FlexEnergy, however,
is introducing a CHP system that combines
a 330-kW microturbine with an integrated
onboard hot water heat exchanger. According to Doug Demaret, FlexEnergys vice
president of sales and marketing, com-
POWER February 2016

2. Pocket tri-gen. This containerized solution combines biogas generation, power, and
waste heat recovery into a single modular system. Courtesy: Entrade
bining the turbine and heat exchanger in

a single self-contained module allows for
higher efficiency because less heat is lost
outside the unit, especially when it is situated outdoors. Demaret said the units will
be able to achieve up to 92% efficiency.
For those looking for completely self-contained CHP, German firm Entrade announced
in December that it would begin offering a
containerized system that can take raw biomass and waste materials, turn them into syngas in an onboard reformer, and use that to
generate power, heat, and cooling (Figure 2).
Though relatively small compared to other
options discussed in this articlethe E3 system generates up to 25 kW of electricity, 60
kW of thermal energy, and 30 kW of coolingEntrade says the system is completely
turnkey and can be installed and commissioned in a single day.
An even more unusual CHP system is
being marketed by Israeli firm AORA Solar. The Tulip is a modular hybrid concentrating solar powermicroturbine system
that is able to generate both electricity and
hot air. The Tulips solar tower, instead
of generating steam, heats air to drive the
microturbine, which can also run on a variety of fuels, including biogas (Figure 3).
Each module can generate up to 100 kW
of electricity and 170 kW of heat. Two Tulip systems are currently in operation, one
in Israel and the other in Spain. Another is
under development in Ethiopia.
increased use as natural gas prices remain

low and diesel and fuel oil fall out of favor
for environmental reasons. Patrick Barrett,
an account manager for Caterpillar, who has
worked extensively on CHP deployments,
told POWER that his company is seeing
substantial growth for reciprocating engine
based CHP in the commercial and institutional fields because the abundance of shale
gas has resulted in lower costs and less pricing volatility in the marketplace (Figure 4).
The biggest driver for us is spark spread,
he said, referring to the margin between gas
costs and electricity prices. There is a pretty
favorable spark spread in the Northeast, and
while universities are always looking to be
green and efficient, they are also looking to
reduce their operating costs, which makes
CHP a win-win for them all around. We are
seeing a lot of university and hospital CHP
projects right now, and again, it is an economic driver.
3. Flower power. The Tulip is a hybrid

CHP system that combines concentrating solar power with a microturbine to produce electricity and heat around the clock. Courtesy:
AORA Solar
Engines Power Up
Existing technologies are also being reoriented more and more toward CHP, in particular reciprocating engines, which are seeing
February 2016 POWER
4. Full steam ahead. This Cat CG26012 gas-fired generator set was installed at
Markham District Energys Birchmount Energy Centre in Markham, Ontario. It supplies
both power to the local grid and steam for the
district heating system. Courtesy: Caterpillar
Barrett said that while incentives are nice,

the economics of CHP in many cases are
such that incentive money is just a bonus.
Financially, the project makes sense even
without it.
Siemens Dresser-Rand unit recently installed a CHP-powered microgrid at a Northeastern university, Wesleyan in Connecticut.
The campus lost power for nearly a week after a nasty 2011 storm, and in the aftermath,
the university opted to upgrade its existing
cogeneration system to better prepare for future outages. Powered by a 676-kW Guascor
SFGLD 360 gas engine, the new system can
supply about 90% of the campuss electrical
load in island mode if necessary. The project
was supported by a state program designed
to strength the grid through deployment of
advanced microgrids.
GE is also pushing its reciprocating engines on the CHP market, having delivered
its eighth J920 Flextra gas engine to a 10MW CHP plant (shown on the cover of this
issue) owned by CHP firm HanseWerk in
northern Germany in November. The plant
will provide grid support while supplying the
local district heating system.
Reliability and Efficiency

Cogeneration has come a long way from
the days of simple diesel engines and boilers. Between the environmental benefits of
greater efficiency and the reliability provided
by CHP and advanced microgrid technology,
the sectors future appears bright.
What were concentrating on is reliability, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said at
the inauguration of the Wesleyan microgrid,
the ability to recover, to keep our citizens
warm, to keep their phones charged, the ability to have a hot meal. So if we can build this
system out around the entire state, were going to be able to respond better to those kinds
of emergencies.
Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER

associate editor.
www.powermag.com
21
CHP and Other Technologies Could

Breathe New Life into U.S. CoalFired Power Plants
Courtesy: Mississippi Power
An EPRI report finds that carbon capture and sequestration isnt the only way for
new coal power plants to meet recent emissions standards for carbon dioxide. Unlike the other options, combined heat and power (CHP) can meet the requirements
and is commercially proven.
Jeff Phillips
ince the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new
source performance standard on
August 3, 2015, requiring new coal power
plants in the U.S. to emit no more than
636 kg (1,400 lb) of carbon dioxide (CO2)
per megawatt-hour (MWh) of gross power
produced, the general assumption has been
that new coal-fired power plants will only
be possible if they include carbon capture
and sequestration (CCS). That seems a fair
assumption, given that current state-of-theart coal-fired plants, based on operations at
ultrasupercritical (USC) steam conditions
above 593C (1,100F), emit approximately
800 kg (1,760 lb) CO2/MWh.
Several U.S. states and a number of countries also have announced or are considering
similar restrictions on CO2 emissions from
new coal-fired plants (Table 1). Except in
China, existing and proposed government
22
standards for CO2 emissions cannot be met

solely by building an efficient coal power
plant using state-of-the-art USC technology.
To achieve the EPAs limit, the conventional
wisdom is that more than 20% of a new U.S.
coal plants CO2 emissions would have to be
captured for long-term sequestration.
However, even though CCS has been
deemed by the EPA as the best system of
emission reduction, applications are constrained by technology, policy, and market
factors. Power plant developers evaluating
possible investments are reluctant to consider
new coal generation due to uncertainty, the
cost of capture, and the difficulty in finding a
suitable storage location.
Current CCS technologies and anticipated
near-term commercial offerings for systems
to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil-fueled
generating plants will not only increase
capital costs but also impose significant perwww.powermag.com
formance penalties, challenging the competitiveness of new coal generation. Many

locations worldwide lack suitable geology for
CO2 storage, one of several factors expected
to constrain CCS deployment. Even projects
with the most ideal set of circumstances, like
SaskPowers Boundary Dam 3 CCS project,
have encountered significant unanticipated
challenges. (See SaskPowers Boundary
Dam Carbon Capture Project Wins POWERs Highest Award in the August 2015 issue and SaskPower Admits to Problems at
First Full-Scale Carbon Capture Project at
Boundary Dam Plant online at powermag.
com.)
This poses a question: Is technology available or in development that would enable
power plants fueled solely by coal to operate
so efficiently that a CO2 emission standard of
636 kg/MWh (1,400 lb/MWh) or less could
be met without partial CCS?
POWER February 2016

Table 1. Recent CO2 emissions
standards for new coal plants.
1. How coal technologies stack up. Courtesy: EPRI
Source: EPRI
Country or state
Standard (CO2/MWh)
New York
420 kg (925 lb) net
Canada
420 kg (925 lb) net
United Kingdom
450 kg (992 lb) net
California
500 kg (1,100 lb) net
Maine
500 kg (1,100 lb) net
Washington
500 kg (1,100 lb) net
United States
636 kg (1,400 lb) gross
China
763 kg (1,679 lb) net
Based on high-level assessments described in a recent white paper published by

the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),
the answer is a qualified yes. The paper,
Can Future Coal Power Plants Meet CO2
Emission Standards Without Carbon Capture & Storage? (EPRI report 3002006770)
is available at www.epri.com. This article
offers highlights of that report, with an emphasis on the only currently commercially
available and proven technology route, CHP
(Figure 1).
In Search of Alternatives to CCS

Some industry executives are beginning
to wonder if an easier path to regulatory
compliance might be found through advanced coal technology. The answer is
clear: Without CCS, meeting or beating
the U.S. standard can only be achieved
by increasing the thermal efficiency of
the energy conversion processes involved
in generating electricity from coala
challenge more easily stated than accomplished (Table 2). EPRI found:
Even with steam temperatures exceeding 800C (1,500F)some 200C (360F)

higher than those currently achievable
USC coal plants based on the conventional
Rankine steam-electric cycle alone are not
capable of meeting the standard.
USC plants used in high-efficiency CHP
applications are capable of meeting the
standardbut only at sites with thermal
hosts capable of using large volumes of
steam.
Gasifying coal and then firing the synthesis gas in a conventional combined cycle
configuration can meet the standardbut
only for certain types of gasifiers, and
only when the integrated plant is fueled by
high-quality coal.
Assuming further technological progress,
coal gasification provides multiple pathways for achieving the standard, including
gasifiers integrated with solid oxide fuel
February 2016 POWER
cells; with combined cycle plants having

firing temperatures for the combustion
turbine approaching 1,700C (3,100F); or
with novel cycle designs.
Greater public-private investment in research and development (R&D) is needed
to accelerate commercialization of gasification-based cycles and component technologies.
Power producers interested in new coal
plants could explore potential thermal
hosts for CHP projects or the economics
of gasifying and firing high-quality coal.
Coal Generation Technologies

That Could Meet CO2 Emissions
Standards
High-quality bituminous fuel makes up
only about half of the worlds coal resource.
EPRIs report focuses on possible technology options for meeting the EPAs standard
while firing subbituminous Powder River
Basin coal, representative of widely available
lower-rank fuels.
www.powermag.com
Rankine Cycle Plants with Higher

Steam Temperatures. The overwhelming
majority of coal-fired power plants are based

on the Rankine cycle, in which high-pressure
steam is raised from the heat released while
burning pulverized coal. Efficiency can be
improved by increasing the temperature ratio
of the hottest and coldest points in the cycle.
For the Rankine cycle, this means increasing
the temperature of the steam entering the turbine and/or decreasing the temperature in the
condenser at the turbine exit.
Since 2001, an R&D consortium principally funded by the U.S. Department of Energy
and the Ohio Coal Development Office has
been pursuing advanced materials for coalfired boilers and steam turbines, with EPRI
serving as the technical lead. Nickel alloys
in particular show promise of allowing steam
temperatures to rise to 760C (1,400F). That
would allow an increase in gross thermal efficiency of at least 10%, from the current ~41%
for USC plants to ~45% for next-generation
advanced USC plants.
23

Table 2. Technologies considered in EPRIs analysis, relative to the
EPAs standard. Source: EPRI
Details
CO2 emissions intensity

(kg/MWh, gross)
Efficiency (%)
USC
290BAR/593C/621C
789
38.4
USC
276BAR/593C/616C
777
39.5
USC
276BAR/649C/671C
754
40.8
USC
276BAR/704C/727C
735
42.0
734
41.2
Technology
USC
290BAR/593C/621C +
High-quality coal
USC
352BAR/680C/700C
723
42.7
USC
276BAR/760C/760C
721
42.8
USC
352BAR/680C/700C/700C
715
43.4
636
46.5
636
49.0
568
55.2
465
68.0
Siemens/2XGE7FB
743
38.2
IGCC
E-Gas/GE7FB
702
38.7
IGCC
Shell/3XGE7FB
676
40.0
627
41.9
567
47.6
USC+CHP
USC+CHP
USC+CHP
USC+CHP
IGCC
IGCC
IGCC+HTCT
IG+SCO2
IGFC
IGFC
IGFC
IGFC
IGTC
290BAR/593C/621C +
14% steam extraction
276BAR/760C/760C +
12.5% steam extraction
276BAR/760C/760C +
276BAR/760C/760C +
Shell/3XGE7FB +
High-quality coal
Shell +
1,700C combustion turbine
Oxy + CO2 venting
603
42.0
Atmospheric pressure SOFC
603
43.7
501
54.0
498
51.5
430
61.4
527
51.3
Catalytic gasifier +
Atmospheric pressure SOFC
Pressurized SOFC
Catalytic gasifier +
Pressurized SOFC
Pressurized SOFC +
1,500C combustion turbine
Notes: CHP = combined heat and power, HTCT = high-temperature combustion turbine, IG = integrated gasification, IGCC = integrated gasification combined cycle, IGFC = integrated gasification fuel cell, IGTC = integrated
gasification triple cycle, SCO2 = supercritical CO2, USC = ultrasupercritical.
This increase in efficiency would not be

sufficient to meet the EPAs standard, but
deploying advanced Rankine cycles would
significantly decrease the amount of CO2
that would have to be captured and stored.
If materials could be developed, that would
allow Rankine cycle coal power plants to
reach steam temperatures greater than 760C
(1,400F). However, EPRI has calculated that
a plant capable of meeting the EPA standard
of 636 kg/MWh gross (1,400 lb/MWh) would
require steam temperatures around 1,125C
24
(2,050F). This is well beyond current materials technology.

Coal Gasification Integrated with
Combined Cycles. Gasifying coal to pro-
duce a synthesis gas (syngas) opens up additional potential pathways for meeting CO2
emission limits without CCS. The syngas
consists predominantly of carbon monoxide
(CO) and gaseous hydrogen (H2) fuel. Contaminants, specifically sulfur species and ash
mineral content, are removed. Clean syngas
is then fired in the open Brayton cycle comwww.powermag.com
bustion turbine. The turbine exhaust is fed to

the Rankine cycle heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), which also receives steam
from the syngas cooler.
State-of-the-art integrated gasification
combined cycle (IGCC) units (as is expected for Mississippi Powers Kemper County
IGCC project, shown under construction in
May 2015 in the opening image) have thermal efficiencies based on net power output
that are similar to those of state-of-the-art,
stand-alone Rankine cycle coal power plants,
offering significantly lower gross CO2 emission intensities. However, the auxiliary power
consumption of IGCCs is greateran important consideration when gross CO2 emission
intensity is the parameter of merit.
IGCC efficiency gains (and resulting reductions in CO2 emissions intensity) can be
realized by increasing the firing temperature of the combustion turbine. EPRIs 2011
IGCC R&D roadmap concluded that going from todays range of 1,370C1,430C
(2,500F2,600F) to 1,700C (3,100F) would
decrease heat rate by 16%. The technical feasibility of a firing temperature approaching
1,700C (3,100F) has been established; the
timeline for commercial deployment of hightemperature combustion turbines optimized
for IGCC operation is uncertain but appears
to be about a decade away.
Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycles.
Closed Brayton cycles using supercritical

CO2 (SCO 2) as the working fluid are being
investigated by several organizations. (See
Ten Advanced Combustion Systems That
Are Getting the Governments Backing
at powermag.com.) SCO 2 is introduced to
the burner to dilute the mixture because
firing syngas in oxygen would result in
temperatures above 2,750C (5,000F), far
exceeding the level current turbine technology can tolerate. Recycling a large
flow of CO2 moderates the firing temperature to 1,150C (2,100F).
The stream exiting the burner includes
a small amount of water vapor but consists
mostly of CO2. The ratio of recycled CO2 to
that produced by combustion of the syngas is
about 10:1. The flow is expanded in a turbine
to drive a generator. The turbine exhaust, still
at high temperature (>700C or 1,300F), is
directed to a large heat exchanger (recuperator), then cooled further to condense out the
water vapor. The remaining flow, essentially
all CO2, is raised up to high pressure (165 bar
or 2,400 psi) and then preheated in the recuperator prior to reintroduction to the burner.
A 2014 EPRI report (3002003734) summarizes findings from an analysis of various
syngas-fed oxy-fired SCO2 Brayton plant
designs with 100% carbon capture. Various
POWER February 2016

2. CO2 emission intensities of CHP plants based on USC technology
with various levels of steam extraction to a thermal host. Courtesy: EPRI
mal hosts location, the EPAs standard offers

CHP plants full credit for any heat that is exported and put to good use, according to the
following formula:
Pgross= [(PeST + PeCT + PeIE - PeFW)/T]
+ (PtHR + PtIE + PtPS)
configurations offered increases ranging

from >25% to >40% in net thermal efficiency
relative to state-of-the-art IGCC plants with
90% CCS, providing CO2 emission intensities below the EPA target.
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. Fuel cells have long
held the promise of higher-efficiency power

generation based on natural gas, hydrogen
fuel produced via the electrolysis of water,
and other gaseous fuels. Combining a coal
gasifier with a fuel cell offers a similar opportunity.
In integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC)
power plants, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)
technology essentially replaces the combustion turbine in IGCC designs. Syngas is fed
to the anode side of the cell, and oxygen is
supplied by blowing air into the cathode side
of the cell. This enables an electrochemical
reaction that produces heat and induces direct
current, which is converted to grid-compliant
alternating current via an inverter.
The chemical reaction in the SOFC does
not fully consume the syngas. Any remaining CO and H2 are mixed with hot air leaving the cathode and then are combusted in a
burner. The HRSG applies the combustion
exhaust from the burner to raise steam, which
is mixed with steam produced in the syngas
cooler, to drive a steam turbine.
An IGFC plant design operating on
CH4-enriched syngas and at elevated pressure would have a CO2 emission intensity
of 430 kg/MWh (946 lb/MWh). SOFCs
are still at an early stage in the development cycle; according to EPRIs analysis,
megawatt-scale modules are not expected
until after 2020.
Coal Gasification Integrated with Triple
Cycles. University of Tokyo professor Dr.
Shozo Kaneko, among others, has promoted
February 2016 POWER
the concept of integrating SOFCs with conventional combined cycle plant configurations
to create triple-cycle plants that could be
fueled by natural gas, coal-derived syngas, or
other sources. The potential thermal efficiency
advantage of integrated gasification triple cycle
(IGTC) over IGFC designs is that hotter turbine
inlet temperatures can be achieved by having
the SOFC feed a combustion turbine.
EPRI developed a simplified IGTC model
and simulated performance based on a conventional coal gasifier, a pressurized SOFC,
and a G-class turbine with a 1,500C (2,732F)
firing temperature. Results indicate a possible net thermal efficiency of greater than
51% (HHV basis) and CO2 emission intensity of approximately 527 kg/MWh gross
(1,159 lb/MWh), sufficient to achieve the
EPA standard. Room for improvement in
IGTC performanceto achieve even lower
limitsappears to exist through design optimization and perhaps eventually through the
achievement of a 1,700C (3,100F) turbine firing temperature. SOFC technology remains
the limiting factor.
Combined Heat and Power Applications. Another way to increase the thermal
efficiency of pulverized coal power plants

is to utilize the input fuels energy to produce both electric power and useful heat.
Combined heat and power or cogeneration
(cogen) plants can approach very high utilization rates. The technology is commercially
mature. Examples of typical thermal hosts
for the exported heat from CHP plants are
oil refineries, food processing facilities, and
central heating (and/or cooling) districts for
commercial buildings, large hotels, hospitals,
and university campuses.
Because exported heat can displace the
burning of fossil fuel that would otherwise
have been used to generate heat at the therwww.powermag.com
Where:
Pgross = Gross energy output of affected
facility in MWh.
PeST = Electric energy output plus mechanical energy output (if any) of steam
turbine(s) (ST) in MWh.
PeCT = Electric energy output plus mechanical energy output (if any) of combustion turbine(s) (CT) in MWh.
PeIE = Electric energy output plus mechanical energy output (if any) of affected
facilitys integrated equipment (IE) that provides electricity or mechanical energy to the
affected facility or auxiliary equipment in
MWh.
PeFW = Electric energy used to power
boiler feedwater (FW) pumps at steam-generating units in MWh.
T = Electric transmission and distribution
factor, set to 1.0 for most affected facilities
and to 0.95 only for a facility where at least
20% of Pgross consists of electric or direct mechanical output on an annual basis and 20%
of Pgross consists of useful thermal energy
output on a rolling three-year basis.
PtHR = Hourly useful thermal energy
output, measured relative to standard ISO
conditions, from heat recovery (HR) for applications other than steam generation or
performance enhancement of the affected
facility in MWh.
PtIE = Useful thermal energy output relative to ISO conditions from any integrated
equipment that provides thermal energy to
the affected facility or auxiliary equipment
in MWh.
PtPS = Useful thermal energy output of
steam, measured relative to ISO conditions,
that is used for applications that do not generate additional electricity, produce mechanical
energy output, or enhance the performance of
the affected facility.
The term PtPS is calculated in MWh as:
PtPS =
Qm x H
3.6 x 109
Where:
Qm = Measured steam flow in kg (lb) for
the operating hour.
H = Enthalpy of the steam at measured
temperature and pressure relative to ISO conditions in J/kg (Btu/lb).
3.6 x 109 = Conversion factor in J/MWh
(3.413 x 106 Btu/MWh).
Assuming that only steam is exported to a
25

thermal host and that the FW pump is driven
by an electric motor, the formula for gross
power becomes:
Pgross = PeST PeFW / T +
(Qm x H / 3.6 x109)
To assess the CO2 emission intensity of
CHP applications based on the EPAs formula, EPRI explored four CHP cases, one
based on current USC steam conditions and
the others starting from an advanced USC
plant design with a main steam pressure

of 276 bar (4,000 psi) and main and reheat
steam temperature of 760C (1,400F). The
latter three cases are based on extracting
12.5%, 25%, and 50% of the steam at the
cross-over between the intermediate- and
low-pressure turbine sections. The results
are shown in Figure 2. EPAs standard of
636 kg/MWh (1,400 lb/MWh), indicated
by the dotted red line in the figure, could
be achieved by a new CHP plant based on
current state-of-the-art USC technology like
that employed at the John W. Turk Jr. Power

Plant in Arkansas but also incorporating at
least 14% steam extraction and utilization.
The limit also could be met by using at least
12.5% of the steam from an advanced USC
plant. Tighter standards set by U.S. states
and other nations could be achieved based
on higher CHP fractions.
However, scale is an issue. An advanced USC plant producing nominally
750 MW net with 12.5% steam extraction would require a thermal load of approximately 150 MWabout 50 kg/s (0.4
million lb/h) of steam at 4.7 bar (68 psia)
and 367C (693F). As a point of reference,
the CHP plant supplying steam to Totals
Gonfreville refinery in Normandy, France,
has a thermal load of 330 MW.
Because only a modest number of thermal
loads sized at 150 MW or larger are likely
to be available, smaller advanced USC plants
operating in CHP mode may represent a
more widely applicable approach for achieving a CO2 emission intensity of 636 kg/MWh
(1,400 lb/MWh) or lower.
More Work Needed

Yes, technology has been identified that
would enable new coal power plants to operate so efficiently that the EPAs CO2 emission
standard could be met without partial CCS.
However, among all of the options firing subbituminous coal considered in EPRIs analysis, none with potential to meet the standard
are commercially available, economically
viable, and suitable for broad deployment.
CHP meets the first two criteria, but deployment options are limited.
To help expand the available options,
additional public-private R&D investment
is needed to accelerate the commercialization of SOFC technologies, higher-temperature turbines capable of operating on
coal-derived syngas, and SCO2 Brayton
cycles. National R&D programs in the
U.S., Japan, and elsewhere are making
progress. Greater resources and increased
collaboration are recommended due to the
challenges that are facing CCS deployment. In addition, a study of existing and
potential future thermal hosts capable of
accommodating large volumes of steam in
the U.S. and other countries is recommended. This would help determine the extent to
which the CHP option may be available for
building new coal-fired power plants and
achieving CO2 emission standards without
the need for partial CCS.
Jeff Phillips is manager of EPRIs Fossil

Fleet for Tomorrow program, which conducts R&D on advanced fossil generation
and carbon capture, sequestration, and
utilization technologies.
26
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
COMBINED HEAT & POWER
Bagasse and Blended Biomass

Cogeneration Advances in the
Cuban Sugarcane Industry
Courtesy: Amaury Prez Snchez
Cuba, like other countries with few fossil energy resources, has used biomass to
fuel its industrial processes for decades. More recently, it has worked to improve
efficiency and increase the role that these plants play in supplying grid power.
Amaury Perez Sanchez
he sugarcane agribusiness has supported the Cuban economy for decades,

and nowadays it plays an important
role in the rapid development and growth of
the countrys internal and external markets.
Today, sugarcane biomass constitutes the energy source with highest potential in the medium to long term, as Cuba is an agricultural
country with a sugarcane industry that generates millions of tons per year of high-energyvalue residues.
However, the once-strong Cuban sugar industry, which was capable of producing up to
eight million tons of sugar per year, hit the
bottom in 20092010 when total sugar production tumbled to 1.1 million metric tons
(mt), the lowest level in 105 years. The situation is beginning to improve, and the administration is taking some important measures
to boost efficiency and increase production.
Bagasse Distribution and Use

Sugar cane bagasse (or bagasse) constitutes
the fibrous matter that remains after sugar-
February 2016 POWER
cane stalks are crushed to extract their juice.

From the chemical point of view, it is composed of:
Cellulose: 45%55%
Hemicellulose: 20%25%
Lignin: 18%24%
Ash: 1%4%
Waxes: <1%
Bagasse has historically been used as a fuel

in the sugar industry, and although its calorific value is relatively low (~5,600 to 8,900
kJ/kg) as compared with traditional fossil
fuels, there is no doubt that it constitutes a
valuable energy source, especially for countries that dont have significant availability of
fuels and that are major sugar producers, like
Cuba. The high-fiber sugarcane (HFS), sugarcane harvest residues (SHR), and integral
milled cane (IMC) constitute other sugarcane
byproducts and residues that could be used as
fuels for steam generation in sugar factories.
Figure 1 shows that four countries dominate
www.powermag.com
the global generation of bagasse: Brazil, India,

China, and Thailand. According to data recently published by Azcuba (formerly the Cuban Ministry of Sugar Industry), in 2012 about
3.96 million mt of bagasse were used as fuel in
thermal power plants, and Cuba ranked fourth
worldwide (Figure 2). Power generation from
bagasse represents 20% of the global installed
biomass capacity (Figure 3).
Cogeneration in the Cuban Sugar

Industry
Bagasse cogeneration (which is the term most
countries use for combined heat and power)
was initiated in Mauritius and Hawaii. By the
192627 season, 26% of Mauritius and 10%
of Hawaiis electricity generation came from
sugar factories. Bagasse cogeneration is also
the basis of power generation efficiency in
Cubas sugar industry.
The cogeneration principle has been
used in Cuba since the very beginning of
the 20th century. For example, in 1911 a
power plant was installed in a sugar mill
27

3 Bagasse provided one-fifth of
global biomass in 2010. Source: Inter-
1. Bagasse production, 2012. Source: United Nations/www.chartsbin.com
national Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)/

Platts
Liquid fuel,
3% Woodgas, 1%
Biogas,
Sewage gas, 1%
3%
Landfill gas,
8%
Bagasse production (2012)

154,099
86,299
37,871
8,814
0
Wood,
44%
Biomass,
20%
(thousand metric tons per year)
Bagasse,
20%
Bagasse conversion (thousand metric tons)
2. Top countries using bagasse for fuel. Source: Azcuba

25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Brazil
(1)
Guatemala
(2)
with enough capacity to satisfy the factorys energy needs and supply surplus
power to consumers. Today there are 185
bagasse-fired boilers installed in 56 sugar
factories all around the country, with a total
power capacity of 532.1 MW, and all sugar
factories operate under the cogeneration
principle (Figure 4).
There is a current trend in the Cuban
sugar industry that puts special emphasis
on process integration, mainly power-processes combination, in order to achieve a
more logical synchronization between the
power generation system and the production process. As compared with power
systems characterized by the exclusive
production of electricity, the power systems used at sugar mills are more efficient,
as they can generate all the electricity required for primary engines and auxiliary
equipment while supplying the heat needed
from the residual energy contained in the
exhaust steam. The energy demand of a
sugar mill could be satisfied with almost
half of the bagasse it produces.
Nowadays, several sugar mills are search28
Thailand
(3)
Country (rank)
Cuba
(4)
Spain
(5)
ing for more optimized energy schemes to

obtain the highest amounts of surplus bagasse possible, to be used as a raw material
to produce important chemicals and products
such as ethanol, activated carbon, resins, and
wallboards, and also as an energy source to
produce additional electricity. Consequently,
power generation has become today one of
the main products or outputs supplied by Cuban sugar factories, that is, power is considered a main product and not a byproduct.
Some Cuban sugar factories are applying
several measures to increase and optimize the
efficiency of their cogeneration systems:
Use of high-efficiency boilers capable of

producing steam at high pressure (65 to 85
bar) and temperature (450C to 500C), with
low fuel consumption and steam generation per unit of power produced.
Mixing bagasse with some sugarcane agricultural residues such as straw, green
leaves and tops, and also with other plants
like marabou (Dichrostachys cinarea), to
obtain low-priced, high-energy fuel mixes.
This also includes mixing of HFS, SHR,
www.powermag.com
and/or IMC with bagasse.

Design, field evaluation, and commercial
implementation of integrated gasification
processes and technologies in sugar mills,
in order to gasify sugarcane bagasse and/
or related biomass residues. For example,
last year a joint venture was established
between Azcuba and Optimo Finance, a
Norwegian consulting firm, in order to
design, install, and evaluate a prototype
17-MW BIG-GT (biomass integrated gasification gas turbine) gasification plant
at the Antonio Guiteras sugar mill in the
province of Las Tunas, to produce about
110 GWh per year.
Reduce steam leakages in steam-consuming equipment.
Increase the operational efficiency and
steam exploitation of all the steam-consuming/producing equipment, especially
heat exchangers, turbines, and boilers.
Use of at least one turbine operating under
partial condensation conditions, or using
only one extraction/condensing, high-capacity steam turbine, working at 60 to 80
bar and 500C to 530C.
Installation of bagasse dryers consuming
renewable energy (mostly solar).
Use of the exhaust steam from the evaporators to heat juices exclusively.
Today, Cubas sugar industry accounts for

3.5% of national electricity generation, and
its expected that the implementation of the
aforementioned measures will generate a
surplus of 755 MW to the national grid by
2030. The aim is to increase the amount of
electricity generated by sugarcane biomass to
nearly 14% by 2030. The gradual installation
of modern bioelectric plants in some sugar
POWER February 2016

4. Distribution of sugar factories in Cuba (2015). Source: Oficina Nacional de
Estadsticas e Informacin (ONEI)
0 12 34 57 78
mills will also increase the odds of reaching

that goal.
The implementation of efficient cogeneration systems will bring the following advantages to the Cuban economy:
Reduction of ethanol and sugar production

costs.
Reduction or elimination of fossil fuels
dependence.
More secure, diverse, reliable, and
widespread supply of electricity for local consumers.
A decrease in electricity transmission and
distribution losses.
Jobs generation for local populations.
Added value to agricultural waste.
Lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)
and other gases than from conventional
fossil fuel generation.
Cuba is considered the country with the

highest potential to use bagasse-fired cogeneration in its energy production balance,
reaching a value as high as 25%, according
to a 2004 study by the World Alliance for Decentralized Energy (WADE).
Biomass Fuel Blending

As mentioned above, in recent years, several biomass residues have been studied
or evaluated in order to be used alone or
mixed with sugarcane bagasse as a fuel for
cogeneration in Cuban sugar mills. One of
the most important biomass sources considered for this purpose is the marabou
plant. This woody shrubconsidered an
agricultural plague in Cubahas an average net heat value (NHV) of 15,700 kJ/kg,
which is about 2.1 times higher than the
NHV of sugarcane bagasse. Several studies have shown that the steam generation
rate of a standard Cuban sugar mill will increase by three times if marabou is used as
the main fuel, as compared with the use of
bagasse under the same operational conditions. Recently, reports have recommended
mixing marabou biomass with bagasse (to
make a bagasse-marabou fuel blend) in or-
February 2016 POWER
der to avoid several operational issues during combustion in the boiler, such as slag
deposition problems, reduced burning efficiency, and increased fuel compactness.
Several other biomass sources are being
used or studied as fuel additives for bagasse
in selected sugar mills around the country.
The most important are rice husk (NHV
~14,000 kJ/kg) and sugarcane straw (13,000
kJ/kg).
Finally, the use of an oil sludgefuel oil
mixture as a fuel in bagasse-fired boilers has
shown promising results to date. Some reports have demonstrated that the use of a fuel
mixture containing 35% sludge oil and 65%
fuel oil will provide between 30% and 38%
cost savings in terms of fuel expenses, without affecting significantly several important
issues like steam generation rate, pollutant
emissions, and boiler thermal efficiency. This
oil sludge is obtained as the heavier residue
from clarification (by a centrifugation process) of raw, untreated fuel oil, prior to its
being burned in fossil fuel plants.
Emissions from the Cuban Sugarcane Industry

The most important sources of gaseous pollutants found in the sugarcane industry are
burning sugar cane prior to harvest operations, fermentation processes in distilleries,
and bagasse-fired boilers operation to produce steam.
The practice of burning sugar cane prior
to being harvested is prohibited in Cuba because of its negative environmental impact.
Although the practice has decreased to
10% to date, its still taking place in some
areas either by accident or due to negligent
actions. Burning a sugarcane field releases
considerable amounts of CO2, with estimates varying from 2,600 kg to 4,500 kg
CO2/hectare.
In conventional distilleries, great amounts
of gaseous CO2 are produced during the alcoholic fermentation processes. A typical Cuban distillery that produces 600 hectoliters of
ethanol per day will generate about 45 tons of
CO2. This CO2 could be recovered and used
www.powermag.com
in several industrial applications, but in Cuba

there are very few distilleries that recover it,
and then only in small quantities, thus the
bulk is released to ambient air.
The operation of bagasse-fired boilers
for steam generation is currently the most
important source of gaseous contaminants
in the Cuban sugarcane industry, and its
closely related to several factors such as
bagasse properties (including humidity and
ash content), bagasse pretreatment processes, furnace/boiler characteristics and
operation, as well as the type of combustion
system used. Particulate matter, combustion
products, and volatile organic compounds
are the primary pollutants emitted from the
sugarcane processing industry. Combustion
products include nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, CO2, and sulfur oxides. Actually,
there arent treatment systems and technologies installed in Cuban sugar mills (such
as the one shown in the opening photo) to
control gaseous emissions. This is a topic
that is gaining increased attention due to recently released environmental regulations,
and several projects (mechanical collectors,
cyclones, and wet scrubbers) are being designed or are under development in some
selected sugar factories for gaseous emissions control.
It must be said that sugarcane plantations
may act like efficient absorbent materials, as
they can absorb high amounts of CO2 and
transforms it into oxygen, resulting in the
so-called forest effect. Its calculated that
1 hectare of sugarcane can absorb more than
60 tons of CO2 and produce nearly 40 tons of
pure oxygen.
Bagasse combustion is environmentally
friendly because it boasts low particulate and
CO2 emissions. The CO2 produced during
bagasse combustion is the same amount that
the sugarcane absorbs when it grows, which
means that there is an environmental balance
between CO2 generation and utilization
that is, CO2 is cycled back to be re-fixed by
the photosynthetic process in the next crop.
Bagasse-based cogeneration is considered today one of the main advantages of the
Cuban sugarcane agroindustry, especially in
light of worldwide energy changes and the
need to consolidate the Cuban power mix.
Today, this industry is self-supporting from
the energy point of view, but its power contribution is not enough to face future demands
from other dynamic sectors such as construction. Therefore, the need to keep optimizing
it and increasing its application in other areas
of the countrys economy remains.
Amaury Perez Sanchez (amaury.

psanchez@reduc.edu.cu) is a chemical
engineer in the Chemistry Department,
University of Camagey, Cuba.
29
LEGAL & REGULATORY
Navigating Legal Implications of

Power Industry Regulations
Current and former Environmental Protection Agency lawyers as well as seasoned energy and environmental lawyers in private practice shared their
insights, projections, and advice at POWERs legal affairs conference.
Aaron Larson; Thomas W. Overton, JD; Sonal Patel; and Gail Reitenbach, PhD
rom the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agencys (EPAs) top lawyer to attorneys
who have argued cases against the agencys regulations, all the speakers at POWERs
December 7 legal affairs conference in Las
Vegas, Navigating Legal Implications of Power Industry Regulations, agreed that taking a
wait-and-see approach to compliance with recent federal regulations is ill-advised. As EPA
General Counsel Avi S. Garbow (Figure 1)
said in his opening keynote address, theyre
all final rules, and it would be wrong and
risky to treat them as uncertain, even when
subject to legal challenge.
EPA General Counsel Puts

Regulations in Context
Garbow, clearly aware of the way many in
the power industry view his agency, made
an effort to explain that the EPA is not the
freewheeling, unaccountable agency it is
often made out to be. Rather, it is tightly
constrained by a welter of often-conflicting
statutes and court decisions that frequently
leave it little choice in the direction it goes.
In most cases, Garbow said, the agency
does not have discretion not to act.
The statutes the EPA operates underincluding the Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and other lawswere created
separately, at separate times, under differing
priorities and political environments. Most
of them have also been amended repeatedly.
The agency has to figure out ways for these
to work together, he said.
Garbow asked event attendeesrepresentatives of generating companies, engineering
and consulting firms, law firms, and equipment providersto view the EPA as a reasonable partner even if they dont agree with
the agency. He said he hoped industry experts
would tell us what we dont know in order
to test the EPAs own legal analysis, and he
observed that the millions of comments on
the Clean Power Plan (CPP) have increased
its legal defensibility.
Garbow also stressed that the EPA is not
out to handicap the free market. Rather, it
tries to find ways to meet its statutory man30
dates in ways that work economically. My

hope is that none of you see environmental protection as the antithesis of economic
progress, he said.
During the question and answer period,
Garbow was asked about reliability issues
and said that states can revise their CPP
implementation plans if they face significant
reliability challenges.
Litigating Climate Change Issues

The U.S. has long been known for its litigious environment, so perhaps it shouldnt be
surprising that its even outpacing other jurisdictions in the new area of climate change
litigation. More lawsuits concerning climate
change have been decided or settled in the
U.S. than in the rest of the world combined,
explained Teri Donaldson, partner with DLA
Piper, although the success rate in these
cases is very low.
Climate change is pushing the courts to
do things that the courts are not empowered
1. EPA General Counsel Avi S.

Garbow. In opening remarks at POWERs
Dec. 7, 2015, legal affairs conference, Garbow
commented on the agencys desire to hear
from the power industry but also emphasized
the value of seeing the EPA as a reasonable
partner. Source: POWER/Gail Reitenbach
to do, and the courts are resisting that. They

are declining to legislate, so the success rate
internationally is about 40%, she added.
Donaldson also addressed the recent news
concerning ExxonMobil, its climate change
research, and what it did and didnt tell shareholders. From the perspective of a former
federal prosecutor, I am here to tell you what
is going on in the securities side is insane.
Its out of control. Its something that you do
need to keep an eye on and be fearful of, in a
way, because Ive never seen anything quite
like this, she said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission
issued guidance in 2010 on what a company
should tell shareholders to expect as a result
of climate change. It pointed out that much
more information is publicly available outside of disclosure statements, but it also laid
out expectations for companies to cover the
impact of legislation and regulations in their
annual report filings. In essence, companies
are being asked to look into a crystal ball and
guess what could happen in the future, with
the possibility of being held responsible for
inaccurate predictions.
There are potential consequences that
are not only expensive in terms of defending
an investigation, but there is also the potential for criminal penalties for your inability
to have an accurate crystal ball, and I think
thats really alarming, Donaldson said.
With no adequate legal framework in place
to combat climate change in the U.S., about
all companies can do is keep fighting litigation
that seeks to misuse the laws and the courts.
Donaldson suggested that state and federal
lawmakers must be pressed into action to do
their jobs and pass suitable legislation.
Litigation Alone Is Short-Sighted

Michael G. Cooke of Greenberg Traurig
(Figure 2) advised that states need to focus
on state implementation plans (SIPs) for the
CPP and not just litigation. States must submit SIPs by September 6, 2016. A two-year
extension can be requested, but annual progress reports are required, and final SIPs must
be submitted by September 6, 2018.
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
LEGAL & REGULATORY

2. The compliance context. Teri Donaldson with DLA Piper and Michael G. Cooke of
Greenberg Traurig addressed multiple issues that are creating a complicated context for compliance with recent environmental regulations. Source: POWER/Gail Reitenbach
3. Consolidation ahead? Floyd Self

of Berger Singerman predicted the pressure
of recent regulations may force some smaller
utilities to merge with larger ones. Source:
POWER/Gail Reitenbach
4. Dont forget the water rule. Tom

Cooke examined the situations faced by
two states, Maryland and Florida, to contrast
their current circumstances.
Florida is a traditionally regulated state
and essentially an isolated grid. The states
preliminary analysis suggested that significant coal-fired generation might have to be
retired as a result of the CPP and that capacity
challenges could be created. It expects a continued shift to natural gasfired generation,
which already makes up 65% of the states
portfolio. Some estimates are that natural gas
will rise as high as 85% by 2025, making the
state very dependent on one type of fuel.
Maryland, a deregulated state, also expects
the rule to result in the retirement of some coal
capacity, but it expects to rely on a multistate
trading approach with continued emphasis
on renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) to
address the challenge. Maryland has a much
more diversified fuel mix44% coal, 38%
nuclear, 9% natural gas, 5% hydro, 1% oil, and
3% otherso even with some change, it will
be far less dependent on a single fuel source.
Unintended Consequences of
Multiple EPA Rules
Floyd Self (Figure 3), an attorney with
Berger Singerman, said that the collection
of new EPA rules have helped forge mergers
between electric and gas utilities and necessitated new natural gas pipelines. They have
also prompted the consolidation of energy
production and may bring about the demise
of small utilities. As cheap natural gas and
environmental compliance accelerate, we
need to question whether smaller utilities can
ultimately survive, especially municipalities
and co-ops, he said.
February 2016 POWER
Self noted that munis and co-ops are heavily invested in coal and have a lot of debt.
I dont know, he said, if some of these
smaller utilities will have the scope or scale
that will enable them to successfully get out
of debt to make that transition over to natural
gas. In my mind, the only way that some of
these smaller utilities can ultimately comply
is if they merge with other larger utilities.
Attorney Tom Boer from Hunton & Williams (Figure 4) outlined key aspects of the
final CWA 316(b) rule (the Cooling Water
Intake rule), which became effective October 14, 2015. It already has legal challenges
filed in the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth,
Seventh, and Ninth Circuit courts of appeal.
Those challenges have been filed by regulated
industry and trade associations, which argue
that compliance will cost hundreds of millions
of dollars, as well as by environmental groups,
which argue that the rule isnt sufficiently protective to meet CWA requirements.
That rule is likely to be overturned, Boer
said, though the EPA will undoubtedly post
an iteration that will replace it. Boer advised
industry to prepare to comply with the 316(b)
rule as a best business practice.
Responding to the Clean Power Plan

The longest session of the day was devoted to
the Clean Power Plan (Figure 5). Discussing
the opening round of litigation against the
CPP, Allison Wood, a partner with Hunton
& Williams, noted that there are signs that
the Supreme Court is beginning the view the
EPAs actions with a more skeptical eye. She
urged attendees to pay close attention to other EPA cases before the CPP finally reaches
the court in a few years.
www.powermag.com
Boer from Hunton & Williams addressed legal

challenges to the 316(b) Cooling Water Intake
rule. Source: POWER/Gail Reitenbach
Wood, who was part of the team of lawyers

representing the utility sector in the landmark
case of Massachusetts v. EPA, which opened
the door to carbon dioxide (CO2) regulation,
suggested the Supreme Court does not see that
case as an open-ended license. Its clear from
recent cases, such as Utility Air Regulatory
Group v. EPA in 2014 that the court is mindful
of not letting the EPA stray beyond its statutory authorization in regulating emissions. That
is significant, Wood said, because of the arguments CPP opponents are making that the plan
is outside the EPAs authority under the CAA.
Patrick Ferguson, a partner with Davis
Wright Tremaine, noted that much of the
future of the CPP depends on state choices
for compliance and whether they decide to
submit a plan at all. States that submit a SIP
will have the most control over how to approach compliance. He noted that several of
the states suing the EPA have nevertheless
begun work on their SIP.
But political opposition is so intense in
31
EXHIBITION:
APRIL 1820, 2016
CONFERENCE: APRIL 1821, 2016
Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, LA
ATTEND THE EVENT

THAT BRINGS TOGETHER
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IN ONE PLACE THAN ANY
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THE RIGHT
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27265
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THE RIGHT
SHOW.
ELECTRIC POWER 2016 Conference APRIL 1921, 2016

Keynotes and General Sessions
Tuesday, April 19 8:00 9:30 AM
Opening Keynote
Tuesday, April 19 9:45 11:00 AM

Executive Roundtable
Tuesday, April 19 1:00 2:20 PM

Environmental Mega Session: Navigating the Minefield of CPP Compliance
Exhibit Hall Hours & Networking

Monday, April 18
4:00 6:00 PM Exhibit Hall Open
4:00 6:00 PM Big Easy Opening
Night Reception
Tuesday, April 19
11:00 AM 5:30 PM Exhibit Hall Open
Wednesday, April 20
10:00 AM 5:00 PM Exhibit Hall Open
4:00 5:30 PM A Southern Style Soiree Reception
3:30 5:00 PM Bayou Bash Crawsh Boil Reception
ELECTRIC POWER Conference Sessions

Tuesday, April 19
1:00 2:20 PM
2:30 4:00 PM
8:30 9:50 AM
Track 1: Power Plant Performance & Protability
1B: Are Turbine1A: Strategic Outage
Generator
Management
Upgrades the Key
to Create a
to Performance
Proactive Plant
and Profitability?
Wednesday, April 20
10:00 11:30 AM
1D: Increase
Reliability &
Profitability
1C: Overcoming
while Adapting
Outage Management
Maintenance to
Changing Market
Demands
1:30 3:30 PM
8:30 9:50 AM
Thursday, April 21
10:00 11:30 AM
1:00 2:30 PM
1E: How Big Data,

New Technologies
& Preemptive
Measures Improve
Plant Performance
1F: Heed Lessons

Learned & Operate
at Peak Performance
during Outages
1G: Three Building

Blocks for Quick
ROI in the Face
of Challenge
2E: Handling
Residual and Water
Management in the
Wake of CCR & ELG
2F: Optimizing
Mercury Control for
ELG Compliance
2G: Insightful
Technologies
and Practices to
Control NOx and
Particulate Matter
3E: A Global Look

at the Evolution of
OEM Technology
3F: Suppressing
Dust by Diverse Coal
Handling Methods
3G: Using Energy

Storage to Maximize
Clean Power
4E: Safety Doesnt

Happen by Accident
4F: Failure
Response: How
to Lose the Battle
but Win the War
4G&H: Design for Resilience

Practical Strategies & Tactics
5E: Remaining
Resilient in the Face
of Man-Made Crisis
5F: Keys to Loss

Control: Reducing
the Possibility
& Mitigating
the Impact
5G: Keeping Your

Infrastructure Safe
Track 2: Environmental Compliance

2A: Environmental
Mega Session:
Navigating the
Minefield of CPP
Compliance
2C: The Acronym

2B: Breaking it
Shuffle: Reducing
Down: Four Pillars of
SO2 through
the Clean Power Plan
DSI and VOM
2D: The Big

Picture: Important
Considerations
for CCR and
Transportation
Project Planning
Track 3: Technology Advancements & Solutions

3C: Practical Plant
3D: Adding
Improvements:
Renewables to the
3B: Natural Gas
3A: The Future of
Performance,
Grid: Challenges,
from Legacy Plants
Nuclear Power
Reliability &
Strategies, Flexibility,
to New Designs
Environmental
Storage & Planning
Compliance
Track 4: Power Plant Resiliency Safety, Practices, Operations & People
4B: Lessons in
4A: Environmental
4D: How NERC is
Resilience from
Mega Session:
4C: Training to
Applying the Lessons
Wildland Firefighting,
Navigating the
Develop Resilience
of HROs to the Bulk
Aviation and
Minefield of CPP
Power System
Healthcare
Compliance
Track 5: Power Plant Resiliency Systems & Physical Equipment
5A: Environmental
Mega Session:
5B: Weathering
5C: Cybersecurity
5D: Physical Design
Navigating the
the Storm during
Essentials Update
for Resilience
Minefield of CPP
a Natural Crisis
Compliance
Track 6: Combined Heat & Power/Cogeneration
6A: Environmental
6D: OEM
6B: Real World
6C: Utilizing CHP to
Mega Session:
Technologies for
Application of
Increase Efficiency
Navigating the
CHP Reliability
Combined Heat
& Power Output
Minefield of CPP
& Efficiency
and Power
Compliance
3H: Utilizing New

Technologies to
Manage Reliability
5H: Microgrids
Resilience for
Critical Applications
6E: Are CHP Plants

the Answer to
Clean Power Plan
Compliance?
ELECTRIC POWER 2016 Theater

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Tuesday, April 19
12:00 2:30 PM
Presented by Industrial Info Resources
North American Power
12:00 PM
Industry Outlook
2016 U.S. Industrial
12:45 PM
Market Outlook
Knowledge-Building
1:30 PM
Sessions for Users
2:45 3:30 PM
Young Professionals
in Power
The Future Electric
Power Workforce
3:45 4:30 PM
10:30 11:30 AM
Mexicos Energy
Reform: Electricity
and New
Opportunities
Young Professionals
in Power
www.electricpowerexpo.com
Wednesday, April 20
12:00 2:30 PM
Presented by Industrial Info Resources
12:00 PM
North American Power
Industry Outlook
12:45 PM
2016 U.S. Industrial
Market Outlook
1:30 PM
Knowledge-Building
Sessions for Users
2:45 3:30 PM
Young Professionals
in Power
LEGAL & REGULATORY

5. Considering the Clean Power Plan. Left to right: Jim McTarnaghan, Perkins Coie;
Svend Brandt-Erichsen, Marten Law; Patrick Ferguson, Davis Wright Tremaine; Allison Wood,
Hunton & Williams; Gail Reitenbach, POWER. Source: POWER/Aaron Larson
some states that SIPs may not be feasible

or even legal. Several state legislatures have
passed or are considering measures barring
regulators from submitting a SIP. For those
states, regulators may have no choice but to
accept a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP).
States designing a SIP need to choose
between mass-based (total emissions reductions) and rate-based (statewide pounds of
CO2/MWh) goals. Rate-based goals are more
flexible, Ferguson noted, but mass-based
goals may be simpler to implement. The EPA
is encouraging emissions trading, but the
CPP does not allow trading between states
using different approaches.
Ferguson said multi-state trading plans are
likely to be more efficient and effective in the
long run, based on existing experiments such
as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
6. Projecting based on past experience. Robert Meyers of Crowell & Moring,

and former head of the EPAs Office of Air
and Radiation, offered his projections for energy policy, regulation, and litigation. Source:
POWER/Gail Reitenbach
34
(RGGI). Existing programs like RGGI are actually well ahead of the curve and on track to
meet CPP goals by 2020. California, as a result
of its aggressive RPS, will also be well beyond
its goal by 2030. That will leave these states
ample room for trading with other states.
Svend A. Brandt-Erichsen, managing partner at Marten Law, drew attention to what he
called the big idea behind the CPP. The EPA
sees fuel substitution between coal, gas, and
renewables taking place every day across the
grid for economic reasons. What it wants to do
is interpret best system of emissions reduction in the CAA to require the same sorts of
dispatch choices for environmental reasons.
Brandt-Erichsen sees the potential for some
significant interstate tensions. He discussed the
examples of Oregon, Washington, and Montana.
The first two states support the CPP, while Montana is suing to block it. Oregon and Washington
each have only one coal plant that will soon shut
down. Both states have enough other renewable
and gas-fired capacity to survive the closures,
which also give them enough room under their
goals to build new generation.
Montana, by contrast, has several large
coal plants and a steep 47.4% emissions reduction goal. The retirement of the Corette
plant this year will help, but Montana still
needs to make steep cuts in its coal generation, mostly at the 2-GW Colstrip plant. But
theres a problem for state regulators: The
largest share of the obligation for reductions
will fall on the Oregon- and Washingtonbased utilities that own and operate most of
Colstrips capacity, he noted.
Some states like Oregon and Washington
may see sufficient renewables growth to meet
the targets, but that wont be the case everywhere. Brandt-Erichsen suggested the EPAs
projections for growth were highly optimistic
www.powermag.com
and asked, What happens if renewable energy

growth is not enough to meet the demand?
Jim McTarnaghan, a partner with Perkins
Coie, offered an observation that he suggested
explains much of the texture of support and
opposition to the CPP. A map of the states suing and supporting the plan, when colored red
and blue, looks a lot like the state-by-state
maps of the last two presidential elections.
States that support the plan, like California,
tend to have some things in common: aggressive RPSs, gas-heavy power mixes, and voters
who are sensitive to climate change issues and
support measures to address it. States opposing
the plan tend to be coal heavy and populated
by voters who are concerned about impacts on
coal industry jobs. Theres a real sense in the
anti states that the rule is not being applied
equally and fairly, McTarnaghan noted.
All four panelists agreed that some level of
interstate cooperation was inevitable given the
degree to which the CPP encourages it. The
FIPlikely to be imposed on many states
Ferguson noted, is trading ready, meaning that
even states opposed to the plan may have little
choice about participating in regional solutions.
What Lies Ahead?

In his luncheon keynote address, Robert Meyers of Crowell & Moring, and former head of
the EPAs Office of Air and Radiation, offered
his projections for energy policy, regulation,
and litigation (Figure 6). Is this an inflection
point for energy policy? he asked rhetorically, before pointing to the combination of
recent reports on the potential for decarbonization, the Paris climate change talks taking
place the same week as POWERs event, and
the slow-moving trainwreck of multiple
power plantrelated regulations.
Meyers predicted that it will be very difficult to keep the CPP on schedule and suggested that even if a Democrat wins the White
House in the November elections, there may
be changes to recent regulations. A regulatory pause is likely in either case, he said,
based on past presidential transitions.
That said, in the Q&A period, Meyers noted that the CPP is a final rule, and the odds of
a stay are poor, in his opinion, so states and
generators need to be involved in the development of SIPs. If he were a generator, he
said, he would be talking to his state regulator and governor right now. Youve got to
deal with it now, he underscored, and if you
get more time, youre lucky.
More detailed coverage of this event was
provided in online news stories at powermag.
com the week of December 7.
Aaron Larson, Thomas W. Overton,

JD, and Sonal Patel are POWER associate editors. Gail Reitenbach, PhD is
POWERs editor.
POWER February 2016
HEAT EXCHANGERS
Innovative Heat Exchanger Technology Enhances Proven Designs

They say you cant teach an old dog a new trick, but sometimes you can upgrade your dog. Innovations, such as twisted tubes, expanded metal baffles, graphene-coated surfaces, and more are improving heat exchanger
and condenser performance, making some upgrades worth considering.
Aaron Larson
hell-and-tube heat exchangers have

been around longer than anyone reading this article. The heat exchanger
offers many advantages. It can be used in
condensing, boiling, or single-phase applications; it can be utilized over a wide range
of pressures and temperatures; it can be constructed from a variety of materials to meet
corrosion and other design requirements;
maintenance is fairly simple and straightforward; and it can accommodate various physical orientations.
However, there are some limitations to the
design. The conventional shell-and-tube heat
exchanger contains baffles on the shell side
to provide support and direct flow through a
circuitous course across the tubes. The downside is that low-flow areas, or dead zones,
result in the vicinity of the baffles where fouling can occur, corrosion can go unchecked,
and heat transfer is reduced. The directional
changes caused by the baffles also consume
energy, and the shell-side pressure decrease
can be significant. The classic design is also
prone to flow-induced tube vibration, which
can ultimately result in failure.
ers. Its research includes physical testing,

computational fluid dynamics, and flow
visualization.
HTRI has and continues to investigate
new commercialized exchanger types such as
plate and shell or helical baffle exchangers,
said Joe Schroeder, senior vice president of
technical programs for HTRI.
In the helical baffle heat exchanger that
Schroeder mentioned, quadrant-shaped plate
baffles are placed at an angle to the tube axis
in a sequential arrangement to create a helical flow pattern. The helical flow design improves thermal effectiveness, enhances heat
transfer, reduces pressure loss, lessens fouling, and significantly reduces vibration concerns. One manufacturer of the helical style,
CB&I, says the design is well proven with

more than 1,800 of its HELIXCHANGER
heat exchangers in operation worldwide.
Expanded Metal Baffles

In addition to the helical baffle design,
Schroeder noted that expanded metal baffles are also revolutionizing the industry.
The designpatented by EMbaffle B.V., a
group company of Italy-based Brembana &
Rollefeatures an expanded metal baffle
grid made of plate material that has been
slit and expanded (Figure 1). The expanded
metal baffles create an open flow structure,
allowing longitudinal flow on the shell side,
which reduces pressure loss in the heat exchanger.
1. Expanding on an idea. Expanded metal is used in many power plant applications, but
running tubes through the diamond-shaped voids in a heat exchanger is a fairly recent development. Courtesy: EMbaffle B.V.
Reinventing Heat Transfer

With these problems in mind, its not surprising that engineers have continued to
conduct research to enhance the shell-andtube design, resulting in new technology
that improves heat exchanger performance,
counteracts fouling problems, saves space,
reduces cost, and increases efficiency. One
group that is leading the way in this effort is
Heat Transfer Research Inc. (HTRI).
Based in Navasota, Texas, HTRI is a research and software development company
that tests various exchanger types and heat
transfer surfaces. Its staff conducts application-oriented research on equipment and
uses these proprietary data to develop methods and software for the thermal design and
analysis of heat exchangers and fired heat-
February 2016 POWER
www.powermag.com
35
HEAT EXCHANGERS
2. An open support system. The expanded metal baffle grid repeatedly breaks up the
fluid boundary layer that forms along the tubes. Courtesy: EMbaffle B.V.
The shell-side fluid flows along the tubes

and the flow area is constricted at each baffle cross, creating localized turbulence and
processbarron.com
205-663-5330
increased velocity while breaking up the

boundary layer around the tubes. The grid
shape induces a local cross-flow component
in addition to the longitudinal bulk-flow pattern, improving heat transfer characteristics

of the heat exchanger.
Pressure loss is effectively converted into
improved heat transfer as the boundary layer
is repeatedly broken up at each expanded
metal baffle along the length of the bundle
(Figure 2). The company says that the ratio
of the transferred heat to the shell-side pressure decrease in the EMbaffle design is significantly higher than that experienced in a
heat exchanger utilizing a traditional baffle
arrangement.
Longitudinal flow is not intrinsically
prone to flow-induced vibration, which can
be a problem in conventional heat exchangers. In the expanded metal design, tubes
are fully supported by a suitable number of
expanded metal grids, with space between
adjacent grids managed down to as little as
100 millimeters (less than 4 inches), helping
eliminate any mode of tube vibration. In addition, dead zones found in segmental baffle
heat exchangers are not present in the expanded metal design (Figure 3), which lessens fouling concerns and allows equipment
to be operated longer between cleanings.
The company points to a concentrated
solar power project that it provided equip-
FUEL | AIR | GAS | ASH

36
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
HEAT EXCHANGERS
3. A bundle of benefits. Better heat transfer, reduced fouling
rates, no flow-induced vibration, and less shell-side pressure loss are
some of the reasons why the expanded metal baffle design is worth
considering. Courtesy: EMbaffle B.V.
4. A new twist. Advantages of a new twisted-tube design include

no need for baffles, which helps eliminate tube vibration, and easy
high-pressure washing. Courtesy: Koch Heat Transfer Co.
ing, as well as other applications.
Graphene: Miracle Material?

ment for in Spain as a successful power industry application of
its technology. The plants oil/molten salt heat exchangers for its
thermal energy storage system employ the EMbaffle design. Three
expanded metal baffle heat exchangers were installed rather than
six conventional heat exchangers, reducing the piping, valves, insulation, and heat tracing needed for the project. The solution also
decreased the load on support structures and foundations, and reduced the volume of heat transfer fluid and molten salt needed for
the system.
Twisted-Tube Heat Exchanger Technology

An interesting twist on the shell-and-tube heat exchanger is the
twisted-tube design. Houston-based Koch Heat Transfer Co. says that
its twisted-tube bundle technology offers many of the same benefits
as the expanded metal design.
As the name suggests, twisted tubes are the novel feature of this
design. The tubes are formed through a unique process, which results in an oval cross section with a superimposed helix, providing a
helical tube-side flow path. The forming process is said to maintain
a uniform tube-wall thickness, preserving the materials mechanical
integrity. The tube ends are round, however, to allow conventional
tube-to-tube-sheet joints.
The Koch design avoids the need for baffles altogether. The helixshaped tubes are assembled into a bundle on a triangular pitch, one
row at a time, with each tube being turned to align the twists at every
plane along the bundle length (Figure 4). In that way, each tube is
firmly and repeatedly supported by adjacent tubes, which helps eliminate tube vibration. The completed bundle is then tightly strapped
circumferentially to ensure no tube movement, resulting in a strong
and robust module. The twist arrangement with gaps aligned between
the tubes also provides clear washing lanes on the shell side, making
high-pressure water lancing an effective cleaning method.
The company says the twisted-tube design provides a higher heat
transfer coefficient than any other type of tubular heat exchanger for
three reasons: The complex swirl flow on the shell side induces turbulence; the twisted tubes force a powerful tube-side turbulence; and
uniform flow distribution extends the effective length of the bundle,
providing more surface area than conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers. According to some estimates, heat transfer coefficients with
the twisted-tube design are 40% higher than those found in a conventional shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a similar pressure reduction.
The twisted-tube design is being used in the power industry for
turbine steam condensing, boiler feedwater heating, and lube oil cool-
One heat transfer improvement that could be game-changing for the

power industry has little to do with the physical design of a condenser,
but rather with how steam condenses inside heat exchangers. Water vapor commonly condenses in two ways: It can form a film on wetting
surfaces or it can form drops on nonwetting surfaces. When a water
film is formed and coats the surface of condenser tubes, it impedes heat
transfer, reducing efficiency. Therefore, promoting droplet formation
rather than film formation is one way to improve condenser efficiency.
Recently, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) successfully tested the effectiveness of ultrathin
scalable
chemical-vapor-deposited
graphene coatings
in promoting
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February 2016 POWER
www.powermag.com
37
HEAT EXCHANGERS
5. Efficient condensation. An uncoated copper condenser tube (top left) is shown next
to a similar tube coated with graphene (top right). When exposed to water vapor at 100C, the
uncoated tube produces an inefficient water film (bottom left), while the coated tube exhibits
the more desirable dropwise condensation (bottom right). Courtesy: MIT
A Changing Landscape: Air-Cooled Condensers

Air-cooled condensers (ACCs) have become
fairly common in the power generation industry. China alone has more than 130 GW of
air-cooled coal-fired capacity in service, with
some estimates suggesting that the countrys
installed capacity will double by 2020.
In the past, two companiesSPX Cooling
Technologies and GEA Heat Exchangers
have dominated the ACC market. Recently,
both have experienced major shakeups. On
November 30, the former Power Cooling
Solutions division of GEA, which includes
its ACC product line, changed its name
to ENEXIO as part of a rebranding effort
following a change in ownership. Exactly
two weeks later, SPX announced that it
has agreed to sell its Dry Cooling business
to Kolkata, Indiabased Paharpur Cooling
Towers Ltd.
If that deal is finalized, as expected by
mid-2016, one of the products Paharpur
will acquire is SPXs ModuleAir ACC (Figure
6). The design is considered a big improvement over previous ACC models. Construction costs for the modular style are said
to be up to 25% less than for a standard
A-frame style. The reason is that heat exchanger bundles, ducting, and structural
components are all factory assembled,
so there is less onsite welding required,
38
6. Time is money. ModuleAirs factoryassembled components reduced onsite-welding requirements, speeding the construction
process at the Lisahally biomass-fired power
plant, shown here, in Northern Ireland. Courtesy: SPX Cooling Technologies
dropwise condensation, while offering chemical stability and low thermal resistance. The
idea is not completely new; polymer coatings
have been used in the past to enhance droplet
formation, but those coatings tended to degrade rapidly. When made thicker to compensate for the degradation, the heat transfer
improvement was negated.
Graphene is the thinnest material known
to manjust one atom thickbut it is also
incredibly strong (about 200 times stronger
than steel). It is very flexible and it is also
an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, but it isnt cheap. At a price of roughly
$60 per square inch, graphene is currently
too expensive to justify the cost of coating
condenser tubes.
However, the MIT team demonstrated
that a graphene coating could enhance heat
transfer fourfold compared to filmwise condensation (Figure 5), and by some estimates
that could lead to a 2% to 3% improvement
in overall power plant efficiency. Improving
efficiency by that amount would result in annual fuel savings of more than $1 million for
the average coal-fired power plant. It could
also help plants reduce emissions and meet
Clean Power Plan requirements.
Therefore, when the price of graphene decreaseswhich could occur in the next couple of years as production capacity increases
and production costs declinegraphenecoated condenser tubes could find a market
eager for the upgrade. And the researchers
arent done yet; they remain hopeful that by
optimizing operating conditions, the heat
transfer recorded through graphene-coated
tubes could be five to seven times better than
that of noncoated tubes.
Alternative Solutions
which permits faster installation.

Although the ModuleAir ACC operates on
the same working principle as a standard
ACC, integrated steam headers and condensate manifolds eliminate tube sheet
welding in the field. Its A-frame bundles
are much shorter than classic bundles
tooonly two meters rather than 11 meters long. The result is not only a reduced
height and smaller footprint, but also improved heat transfer. Steam velocity and
steam-side pressure are reduced in the
heat exchanger, enhancing annual average
plant output.
www.powermag.com
With water always a concern for power plants,

some facilities have turned to air-cooled heat
exchanger solutions (see sidebar). HTRI has
its own air-cooled heat exchanger research
program, and the company has conducted
testing on elliptical tubesused in some aircooled condensersusing its low-pressure
condensation unit (LPCU).
There is still a lot to learn about air-cooled
exchanger performance, especially related to
fans off operation, air recirculation, and wind
effects, Schroeder said.
In addition to the LPCU, HTRI has nine
other operating research units, including
high-temperature fouling units, a liquid-liquid heat exchanger test unit, a multipurpose
boiling unit, a multipurpose condensation
unit, and a multipurpose visualization unit
(MVU). The MVU allows qualitative and
quantitative flow visualization of two-phase
air/water flows in process heat exchanger
equipment. The test section of the unit is a
POWER February 2016
HEAT EXCHANGERS
7. Improved heat transfer. The corrugated pattern of the
plates promotes turbulent flow in the welded-plate heat exchanger
(PHE), even at low velocities. Courtesy: Tranter Inc.
8. Compact and efficient. Compared to a conventional shelland-tube heat exchanger, the PHE takes up less than a tenth of the
floor space. Courtesy: Tranter Inc.
core, which is composed of round or oblong chevron-type plates

welded into a cassette by porthole perimeter welds. Cassettes are
then placed together and perimeter welded to each other, producing
an accordion-like core that is highly tolerant of thermal expansion
(Figure 7).
The plate pack is inserted into a cylindrical shell. Flow diverters positioned between the shell and the plate pack help direct flow through
the shell-side channels. End plates, nozzles, and top and bottom covers are welded to the shell to form a high-integrity pressure vessel.
Tranter says the design has experienced an extremely low failure rate
because there are no gaskets to replace and the design has an optimal
stress-distributing shape. With no tubes to vibrate under flow conditions, there is less stress induced on welds, baffles, and supports.
One of the most surprising differences between the PHE design and a conventional shell-and-tube heat exchanger is the size
of the components required for comparable duty. In one waterwater heat transfer application, it would have taken a shell-andtube heat exchanger weighing seven tons with a 100-ft 2 footprint
to replace a PHE that weighed less than a ton and needed only 8
ft2 of floor space (Figure 8). The result is less cost for material
and support structures.
The standard PHE is designed for pressures up to 1,450 psig
and temperatures from 50F to 1,650F (extended range units are
also available). The design can accommodate phase changes on
either the plate or shell side of the heat exchanger. Some common
power industry applications include closed loop cooling exchangers, lube oil coolers, gland steam condensers, low-pressure feedwater heaters, blowdown heat recovery exchangers, condensers,
and evaporators.
Aaron Larson is a POWER associate editor.
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Another design that has been refined through years of research and
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TransAlta Plays Defense with Coal

Out, Renewables In
TransAlta Corp., a large, multinational investor-owned electric generating company sitting in the middle of Canadas fossil fuel riches in Alberta, is offering to move away from coal. Whats behind the Calgary companys Dial
down coal. Dial up renewables strategy?
Kennedy Maize
hen it comes to a transition away

from coal, TransAlta Corp. is playing political defense.
The Canadian province of Alberta contains among the richest fossil energy resources in the world, including oil (and oil sands),
natural gas, and coal. For decades, Calgarybased TransAlta Corp. was a conventional
utility, founded on hydropower and grounded
in coal. In the 1990s, when the province deregulated its electricity market, the company
became a generating company selling power
through power purchase agreements with
distribution utilities and into the Alberta
wholesale market.
In recent decades, TransAlta has relied on
coal as its primary fuel. Then last October,
TransAlta made a bold proposal to the provinces Climate Change Advisory Panel, which
it called Dial Down Coal. Dial Up Renewables. The company said it is willing to dial
down coal-fired generation by 20%, starting
in 2016 and put a hard cap on greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions. At the same time, the company said it is prepared to invest hundreds of
millions of dollars in new renewables, including wind, solar, and hydro.
Don Wharton, TransAltas managing director of coal transition, acknowledged that the
companys proposal is reactive. Its a defense
against a preemptive closure of coal units, he
told POWER. We are taking our cues from
the statement of intent of the government, and
our proposal does that. Wharton said, Its not
like we are fighting against the government,
but we are looking for a sensible approach.
In a November op-ed in the Calgary Herald,
TransAlta CEO Dawn Farrell said, So we extend an open invitationwhich I first offered
at the Pembina Climate Change Summit in
Edmonton last Septemberto environmental
groups, our employees, communities and the
province to sit down and reach an agreement
that shows the world what Alberta can do.
TransAltas generation transition plan is
a lets-make-a-deal offer to the Alberta
government, which is advancing a GHG plan
40
that could rule out coal generation by 2030

(see sidebar Albertas GHG Plan). The
company is offering a less-extreme approach
with its proposal to cut back on coal generation (Figure 1), cap its carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, and go forward with ambitious renewable generation (Figure 2), including 350
MW to 400 MW of new hydro on the North
Saskatchewan River.
TransAltas move came in the context of a
provincial election last May that overturned
a 44-year run of governance by the businessoriented Progressive Conservative Party. The
election elevated the liberal and environment-oriented New Democratic Party and
its leader, Rachel Notley, into power. Notley
campaigned on environmental issues, which
played well at the time.
Soon after her election, Premier Notley
called for cuts in CO2 emissions from the
provinces coal-fired generation by 2030 that
look to TransAlta and others as unachievable.
The Notley policy would phase out coal-fired
CO2 emissions by 2030, cap GHG emissions
from oil sands operations, and impose an escalating carbon tax. Notley appointed a fivemember Alberta Climate Leadership Panel,
headed by University of Alberta energy economist Andrew Leach, to come up with the
details for her pronouncement, which was
unveiled in November.
TransAlta CEO Farrell, in September remarks to the Pembina Institute (an Alberta
environmental think tank), made clear that
the company is angling for a compromise
with the government. My case is simple,
she said. Its the case for a collaborative

process to accelerate and achieve mutual
objectives. We believe it will result in good
environmental and economic policy, including job protectionsomething that is needed
particularly now that we must create jobs and
economic prosperity while also taking care
of the environment. Albertas fossil energy
based economy has been hurting as a result
of plummeting oil prices.
TransAlta announced its dial-down coal
plan in anticipation of Notleys shutdown decree. Notleys approach became part of the
Canadian GHG reduction promises delivered
to the United Nations climate meeting in Paris
in early December. (See THE BIG PICTURE:
GHG Reduction Pledges in this issue.) At a
press conference in her home city of Edmonton, Notley said, Our goal is to become one
of the worlds most progressive and forwardlooking energy producers.
How Notleys overall plan and the details of the offer from TransAlta will mesh
is not yet clear. TransAltas Wharton said it
will take six months or more of negotiations
among the provincial government, the Alberta market operator, and provincial energy
producers, including TransAlta, before a final deal can be done.
The Financial Markets View

The results could be costly to the generating company. A TransAlta submission to
Albertas Climate Change Advisory Panel
in October said the companys plan could
cost its customers C$75 billion by 2030,
Its not like we are fighting

against the government, but we are
looking for a sensible approach.
Don Wharton, managing director of coal
transition, TransAlta
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
1. TransAltas policy proposal
imposes a hard cap on coal-fired
power. Source: TransAlta
5,000
4,000
view. Bloomberg reported, Private-equity

investors could be drawn to TransAltas high
cash flow, relative to its beaten down share
price, Kenny said. The companys free cash
flow yield is now about 20 percent, he said.
2. TransAltas plan for

changes. Source: TransAlta
Renewables Natural Gas Coal
60,000
50,000
MW
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Current
2021
2026
2030
compared to the governments plan, which

could have impacts as high as $103 billion.
The Financial Post quoted an analysis from
iA Securities analyst Jeremy Rosenfield that
the Notley policy could leave TransAlta with
C$1 billion in stranded assets.
A billion-dollar hit would be hard for
TransAlta to take. The company has about
C$3 billion in annual revenues on an asset
base of about C$9 billion.
TransAlta has been experiencing financial
problems for some time. Last year, it trimmed
486 positions, 239 from its Calgary headquarters and 247 from coal generation and
mining operations, in a cost-cutting move.
Thats out of about 1,300 employees (and
thousands of others who depend on the companys business). On September 30, Moodys
Investors Service announced it was reviewing
TransAltas debt rating, with the likelihood
of a downgrade to below investment grade.
Moodys senior analyst Gavin MacFarlane
said, TransAlta continues to generate weak
financial metrics for an investment-grade
rating. Management has been implementing
its strategy to delever TransAlta; however,
it increasingly looks like too little, too late.
TransAlta holds C$4.2 billion in debt.
At the same time as the Moodys announcement, TransAlta agreed to pay C$56 million
to settle a dispute with the provinces Market
Surveillance Administrator for alleged market
manipulations in 2010 and 2011. While TransAlta insists it followed the market rules, the
market monitor found that the company had
shut down power plants during peak demand
periods in order to push up power prices.
The Canadian genco may also be a takeover target. In late October, Bloomberg reported that TransAlta has held talks with
more than one potential suitor in the past
several months, people familiar with the matter said. Bloomberg quoted Patrick Kenny at
National Bank Financial in Calgary as saying, Fundamentals have changed here in
Alberta and that creates an opportunity for
a buyer who might take a more constructive
February 2016 POWER
Total production (GWh)
Generation Then and Now

TransAlta began in 1911 with construction
of the 14-MW Horseshoe Falls run-of-river
hydro project, which is still in service. When
power began flowing from the project, the
Calgary Power Co. was born. The companys
first fossil-fueled plant, in the 1920s, was a
small generator powered by coal gas, a 19thcentury fuel. The company remained dependent on hydro for several decades (Figure 3).
That changed in 1956, when the company
built its first coal-fired plant at Wabamun,
west of Edmonton and adjacent to a coal
reserve of more than 50 million tons. Thats
where the three major coal-fired stations, including the 2,141-MW Sundance project, are
located today. By 1968, Calgary Power was
adding a fourth unit at its original Wabamun
plant and had started construction on the
Sundance plant. In 1970, the utility commissioned the first 286-MW Sundance unit. Five
more units went online through 1980.
fuel
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Calgary Power renamed itself TransAlta in

1981. The next year, the company relocated
the rural village of Keephills away from its
coal mining operations in the area and commissioned the Keephills generating plant in
1983. The end of the 20th century saw the
rise of competitive wholesale markets in the
province and TransAltas expansion outside
of Canada, successfully bidding for the Centralia plant and mine in the U.S. With market
deregulation, TransAlta sold off its distribu-
Albertas GHG Plan

Alberta Premier Rachel Notleys platform
to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) from
Albertas energy economy, unveiled (with
many details missing) late last November
(http://bit.ly/1MLifPz), focuses on electric power generation. The plan would
phase out all pollution created by burning coal by 2030 with a move to gas and
renewables through a hybrid carbon tax
and cap-and-trade regime. Renewables,
mostly wind, would replace two-thirds
of coal-generated electricity, with gas
providing baseload capacity. Renewables
would constitute up to 30% of the
provinces electricity production, which
presumably means energy rather than capacity, by 2030.
The provinces plan would set a CO2
emissions cap for all fossil generation
at 0.37 ton/MWh, which combined cycle
gas plants can achieve today. Generation
above that would have to pay C$30/ton
for the shortfall; generation that can come
in under the limit would have emissions to
sell. According to TransAltas Don Wharton, coal cannot achieve that emissions
standard. Coals best CO2 emissions rate is
1 ton/MWh. (For more on low-carbon tech-
www.powermag.com
nology options for coal-fired generation,

see CHP and Other Technologies Could
Breathe New Life into U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants in this issue.) The Notley plan
claims it would maintain reliability, offer
price stability, and ensure that capital is
not unnecessarily stranded.
The Notley approach relies on a carbon
tax, starting at $20/ton in 2017, rising
to $30/ton in 2018, and increasing at
inflation plus 2% thereafter. The Notley
plan also claims that it would be revenue
neutral and that one-hundred percent of
the proceeds from carbon pricing will be
reinvested in Alberta.
That claim of revenue neutrality has
drawn some skepticism. In a detailed, and
generally favorable, analysis of the Notley
plan in the Canadian magazine Macleans,
economist Trevor Tombe at the University
of Calgary argues that revenue neutrality
means that every dollar from the carbon
tax means a reduction in an existing tax.
Under that definition, he says, The Alberta
carbon tax plan is not revenue neutralnot
at all. He says that nothing in the Notley
panel outlining the greenhouse plan suggests any existing tax will be lowered.
41
3. Hydro history. The 355-MW Brazeau
Plant went online in 1965. It is TransAltas largest hydro plant and one of two TransAlta hydro
plants on the North Saskatchewan River System in Alberta. The plant was named for Joseph
Brazeau, a linguist and employee of the historic
Hudson Bay Co. Brazeau helped with the Palliser Expedition, which completed the first major
survey of the prairies. Courtesy: TransAlta
tion business, becoming a pure generating

company.
According to its website, TransAlta has ownership, either in full or part, of five coal-fired
plants in Canada, all in Alberta, and all minemouth operations (see sidebar TransAltas
Coal Holdings). TransAltas share amounts to
3,591 MW. The company also owns the Highvale Mine, a strip mine that supplies the three
TransAlta generating stations west of Edmonton. It is the largest surface coal mine in Canada,
producing about 13 million metric tons of lowsulfur coal annually.
In addition to its heavy presence in coal,
TransAlta also has significant gas generation,
with shares or full ownership of six gas-fired
plants in Canada (including three in Ontario)
and three in Australia, according to the companys website. The majority of the gas-fired
Canadian plants are cogeneration units, with
sales of power and process steam.
Hydro, the companys first generating resource, now amounts to 936 MW at 27 units
from coast to coast. The company has also
gone in big for wind in recent years. TransAlta
claims it is the countrys largest wind generator, with nameplate capacity of 1,522 MW, or
15.6% of the companys generating capacity.
Having made its first wind power acquisition
in the 1990s, the company expanded its wind
portfolio at the turn of the century, along with
ventures into geothermal.
In 2008, TransAlta announced a plan to develop a C$1.9 billion carbon capture and storage project at the Keephills 3 plant, Project
Pioneer, with C$1.2 billion from the provincial and federal governments. Capital Power
and Enbridge were partners. After considerable analysis, TransAlta killed the project in
2012 as fundamentally uneconomic.
Uncertain Future
Today, TransAlta faces its toughest challenge.
42
TransAltas Coal Holdings

Coal is the foundation of TransAltas business. The company has major investments
in five coal-fired plants in Canada and one
in the U.S., plus three coal mines, two in
Canada and one in the U.S.
Centralia. The U.S. operation is at Centralia in Washington state, a two-unit,
1,340-MW station, which originally burned
mine-mouth coal. The plant shifted to Powder River Basin coal in 2006, and TransAlta
shut down the local mine (Figure 4). In a
deal with Washingtons Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire, TransAlta agreed to
shut down one unit in 2020 and the second in 2025, which would end TransAltas
operations in the U.S.
Genessee 3. This 450-MW plant, located
50 km southwest of Edmonton, is a 50-50
venture with Edmonton-based independent
generator Capital Power Corp., which operates the supercritical plant. Both companies bid the power from the plant, the first
supercritical coal project in Canada, into
the Alberta wholesale market. Coal comes
from TransAltas Highvale Mine. The plant
went into service in 2005.
Keephills. TransAlta is the sole owner
of this two-unit 790-MW plant, 70 km
west of Edmonton, which went into service in 1983. It was the site of a longterm test of mercury control in plant
stack-gas emissions, completed in 2008.
TransAlta said the technology, injection of
sorbent-activated carbon, achieved 60%
reductions. Initial testing with General
Electric had been conducted at Sundance
Unit 5 in 2006, achieving an overall capture rate of 70%. (Canada set limits for
mercury emissions from coal-fired power
plants in 2006, effective 2010, with caps
varying by province.)
Keephills 3. One of the newer coal-fired
power plants in North America, the 495MW Keephills 3 station came into service
Negotiations among the parties involved in
the Notley GHG plan are likely to persist
well into next year. According to TransAltas
Wharton, The government has given lots of
consideration to our proposal. The reaction to
date is that they are more interested in using
economic instruments, such as a carbon tax,
with a regulatory framework around that. In
our view, that would produce fewer greenhouse gas reductions at higher costs.
Provincial politics could also impinge on
www.powermag.com
4. One more transition. TransAltas

1,340-MW Centralia Complex was the Powder River Basin Coal Users Group 2013 Plant
of the Year (Large Plant). It is scheduled for
shutdown by 2025. Courtesy: TransAlta
in September 2011 and is located next

to the original Keephills plant. Keephills
3 is another 50-50 venture with Capital
Power, and TransAlta runs the plant. Both
companies bid into the Alberta pool. The
supercritical plant employs modern environmental pollution controls, including
mercury capture.
Sheerness. TransAlta (25%) and ATCO
(75%) jointly own the two-unit, 780-MW
Sheerness plant 200 km northeast of Calgary. The units went into service in 1986
and 1990 and are operated by Calgarybased ATCO. The plant has a power purchase agreement with Alberta distribution
utilities.
Sundance. At 2,141 MW, the six-unit
Sundance plant is the largest electric generator in western Canada, according to
TransAlta, which owns 100% of the generating station as well as the Highvale Mine,
which fuels it and the nearby Keephills
and Keephills 3 plants. The Sundance units
came online between 1980 and 1990.
the negotiations, as the Alberta economy
faces a long-term slowdown driven by world
oil economics. As oil prices decline and the
province faces difficulties with its oil-based
economy, the Notley plan and TransAltas
counter will both increase electricity prices.
Wharton said, Our customers and the communities where we both serve and have operations are extremely concerned.
Kennedy Maize is a long-time energy journalist and frequent contributor to POWER.
POWER February 2016
Using Sensor Technologies to

Optimize Maintenance of Power
Plant Water Systems
Nondestructive technologies make the inspection of a plants least accessible
components relatively easy and deliver results that minimize unexpected
failureand expense.
Larry Hawk
hen we undertook an initiative

at Granite Ridge Energy (GRE)
to identify, prioritize, and assess
components that were due for their 10-year
assessments, we didnt know quite what we
were taking on or how to approach it. We had
heard, however, of using advanced sensors to
good effect in inspecting pipelines and tank
interiors that are not easily accessed and thus
not usually included in standard outage iterations. After lengthy discussion at the committee level, we decided to put a dart on that
board.
Granite Ridge is a 753-MW natural gas
fired, combined cycle facility located just
outside of Manchester, N.H. (Figure 1). The
plant is equipped with two Siemens 501G
combustion turbines and one Siemens KN
steam turbine.
Commissioned in March 2003, GRE operates at a heat rate of less than 7,000 Btu/
kWh and benefits from a long-term belowmarket commodity contract, making it one
of the lowest-cost combined cycle gas turbine plants in the New England Power Pool
supply stack. Through its operator, NAES
Corp., owner Granite Ridge Holdings LLC
has undertaken several reliability-enhancing
initiatives in an ongoing effort to improve its
availability factor.
Three Challenges to Address

We targeted three systems, none of which had
been assessed since the plants commissioning:
The interiors and undersides of GREs

500,000-gallon demineralized water tank
and 800,000-gallon cooling tower makeup
water tank.
After talking about the idea with my counterparts at other facilities and getting some
referrals, I made contact with the Marylandbased Structural Group, which retains the
sensor services of Pure Technologies U.S.
Inc. and the Houston-based Mistras Group.
Structural Group did a good job of convincing our management that advanced sensors
would provide cost-effective, nondestructive
ways to better understand the risks associated
with these assets and establish baselines to
make long-term planning and procurement
more effective.
Acoustic Sensor for the Cooling

Water Line
On the advice of Structural Preservation
Systems, a unit of the Structural Group, we
opted to use acoustic technology provided by
Pure Technologies to determine the condition of the cooling water line, which carries
treated wastewater approximately 3.5 miles
1. Low-cost power. Through its operator, NAES Corp., owner Granite Ridge Holdings
LLC has undertaken several reliability-enhancing initiatives to improve the availability factor
at Granite Ridge Energy in Londonderry, N.H.
Courtesy: Granite Ridge Energy
from Manchesters publicly owned treatment

works (POTW) to the power plant. The Pure
team set up 10 transceivers along the run, and
we arranged to maintain water flow at a constant velocity during the test.
The team then launched a SmartBalla
small acoustic sensor embedded in a buoyant, compressible plastic foam sphere
inserting it through a 4-inch tap at the
POTWs pumping station (Figure 2). They
retrieved it at the GRE sites Actifloc filter
unit 6.5 hours later.
An onboard accelerometer recorded the
rotation of the SmartBall, translating it into
a velocity profile of the device as it traversed
the length of the pipeline. Tracking the position of the SmartBall via the 10 receivers
provided a time and position stamp on the
velocity profile that was used to report the
location of a leak or gas pocket (Figure 3).
As the SmartBall approaches a leak, the
acoustic signal it detects will increase, reaching a crescendo as the sphere passes the leak
and decreasing as the sensor continues on its
2. Follow the ball. The Pure Technologies team used a SmartBall acoustic sensor
and tracking equipment to inspect GREs
16-inch-diameter cooling water line, which
carries treated wastewater 3.5 miles from
Manchesters publicly operated treatment
works. Courtesy: Pure Technologies
A 16-inch ductile iron cooling water line

that supplies treated water from the City of
Manchesters treatment plant for cooling
tower makeup.
An 84-inch, 708-foot-long underground
circulating water line (a 344-foot supply
line and a 364-foot return line) consisting of 40 sections of prestressed concrete
cylinder pipe (PCCP).
February 2016 POWER
www.powermag.com
43

3. Pipeline journey. An artists rendering of a SmartBall traversing the 16-in line shows acoustic signatures corresponding to a leak (left) and
a fully developed gas or air pocket (center). Courtesy: Pure Technologies
way. The Pure analysts cross-check the data

against signals from the 10 transceivers to
pinpoint the location of any anomaly. They
further evaluate the acoustic signature to estimate the approximate magnitude of a leak.
Pure categorizes leaks as small (0 to 2 imperial gallons per minute, gpm), medium (2 to
10 gpm), or large (greater than 10 gpm).
The Pure team detected no leakage or
other cause for alarm in the cooling line.
However, they did find acoustic anomalies that indicated pockets of gas trapped
in 10 locations where the elevation of the
run changed (Figure 4). These typically
displayed a hydraulic jump at the point
where the pipe descends in elevation, creating a turbulent flow. This turbulence, together with frequent wet/dry cycles caused
by changes in flow, puts these areas at higher risk of failure. We therefore marked those
10 locations to help us keep an eye on them
at regular intervals.
The equipment consists of a transmitter

coil that generates the electrical field and a
receiver coil that picks up the induced response. As the equipment is moved through
the pipeline or along an external pipe surface,
a data logger records the data.
To understand how the data signal responds in various conditions, the Pure team
performed calibration scans on pipes similar
to GREs. From these, they created a calibration curve, which they then applied to the
distress signals measured in GREs pipeline to quantify the number of wire breaks in
each distressed region.
Once theyd established the baseline signal,
they performed additional scans on the pipe un-
der varying wire break conditions to determine:
The ability of the system to detect the

presence of broken wires.
The resolution of the system when the
number of broken wires is changed.
The optimal system settings that should be
used for that particular pipe.
The team then incorporated the calibration curve into their analysis software. This
made it possible for their analysts to measure
a distress signal and compare it against the
curve to quantify the number of wire breaks
represented by that signal.
The conveyance used by the Pure team to
4. Gas pocket detected. The acoustic signature of a fully developed gas pocket in the
line typically shows a broader, less-defined array of signals than the abrupt spike of a leaks
signature. Courtesy: Pure Technologies
Electromagnetic Sensing for PCCP

Circulating Water Line
We consulted the Structural Group for the
PCCP circulating water line as well, and they
again retained Pure Technologies to perform
the inspection. This time, Pure brought an
electromagnetic (EM) device to survey the
PCCP that makes up our 84-inch-diameter
circulating water line.
The EM technology works by inducing
a varying electrical field on the prestressing wires in the concrete and measuring the
corresponding magnetic field response. The
Pure team focused primarily on the prestressing wirethe structural component that provides the pipes strength. They surveyed each
pipe section to identify anomalies associated
with any zones of wire damage.
44
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016

5. Walking the line. A Pure Technologies technician walks the electromagnetic sensor and
data logger along the circulating water line on a stabilized conveyance that had to be lowered in
eight pieces through a manhole and reassembled below. Courtesy: NAES
6. Do no harm. Mistras Group technicians use pulsed eddy current (PEC) technology deployed on a submersible robot to inspect
the interior of the plants large water storage
tanks without harming the insulation or epoxy
liners. Courtesy: NAES
als in advance. After examining a total of 40

PCCP sections spanning the 708-foot combined length of the two lines, however, they
reported only slight indications of wire damage in two sections.
PEC Inspection of the Water Tanks

We brought in a team from the Houston-based
Mistras Group to inspect for deterioration inside the 500,000-gallon demineralized and
800,000-gallon makeup water tanks (Figure
6). They recommended visual inspection
using a submersible robot of the type used
to inspect ship hulls (Figure 7)as well as
pulsed eddy current (PEC) inspection to measure the tanks carbon-steel wall thickness.
How exactly does PEC work? Its like
something out of an old sci-fi movie but without the plot getting in the way. Basically, its
a volumetric screening tool that can inspect
insulated carbon-steel components for internal and external corrosion. It uses a stepped
signalas opposed to the sinusoidal signal
used by conventional eddy current testing
so it can measure several different frequencies
within a single step. This allowed the Mistras
team to measure wall thickness and liner flaws
indirectly without disturbing the insulation.
The PEC system consists of a pulser/receiver, a laptop computer, and a transmitter/
receiver coil (sensor or probe). Instead of using a sinusoidal AC signal, as with conventional eddy current (EC) testing, PEC excites
the coil with a pulse of DC voltage. When this
current is switched off, the sudden change in
the magnetic field induces eddy currents in
any conductive component near the transmitting coil. When a tank wall is lined or insu-
T +1 704 716 7022 | info@rembe.us
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in
Germany
EXPLOSION SAFETY
and
PRESSURE RELIEF
for Power Plants
REMBE | All rights reserved
do this inspection looked something like an

oversized sawhorse built of machined aluminum with bicycle wheels mounted on the legs
(Figure 5). We had to lower it in eight pieces
through a manhole and then wing-nut it together down below. The technician mounted
his sensors and laptop on the cross-member
and adjusted the angle of the wheels so he
could keep it stable as he walked it through
the supply and return pipelines.
This was the first time in 10 years of operation wed had a look at this line. We knew
that if it failed, it would fail catastrophicallylikely resulting in a lengthy and expensive unplanned outage and even more costly
environmental remediation.
Once the Pure team had analyzed the data
for wire damage and its severity, they could
use it to project a likely failure date, which
would give us a leg up on procuring materi-
lated, eddy currents are induced through the

insulation into the wall itself.
When the eddying currents reach their
maximum value after saturating the wall
material, they begin to decay back to a neutral state. This decay is detected by the PEC
system, which translates the duration of this
active field into a distance, which in turn is
calculated as an average wall thickness. The
eddy current generation and subsequent decay
varies with the thickness of the material under the footprint of the probe. The software
determines a comparative result, relating the
thickness displayed to a known (or assumed)
wall thickness at a selected reference point.
The main limitation of this technique is
that PEC averages the wall thickness over its
footprint, a roughly circular area where the
eddy currents flow. The footprints diameter
approximately equals the distance between
the probe and the metal surface. PEC is thus
well-suited to determining wall loss over a
relatively large area but not to detecting very
localized damage.
PEC is based on relative values, which is
another limitation. It can detect differences in
the thickness of a single object, such as a tank
wall. This will suffice for many applications,
and when you need a quantitative result, you
can calibrate at a given point within the grid
3809 Beam Road Suite K | Charlotte, NC 28217,

USA | F +1 704 716 7025 | www.rembe.us
Inc.
February 2016 POWER
www.powermag.com
45

7. Robot inspector. The submersible robot used by the Mistras Group to inspect the
tank interiors carried a television camera for visual reconnoitering as well as the PEC pulser and
receiver probe that detected variations in thickness of the carbon-steel walls. Courtesy: NAES
the acceptable range.

The PEC findings enabled us to budget
and properly plan for a single tank drain and
repair. We would otherwise have fallen back
on the costly and labor-intensive recourse of
draining both tanks during our annual outage
and responding reactively to the results of
conventional destructive testing.
Better Long-Term Planning = Less

Risk of Major Failures
of test specimens using a different method.

The PEC inspection showed the demineralized water tank to be in great condition, with
wall thickness and epoxy liner totally intact.
However, it also confirmed that the makeup

water tank was showing signs of liner failure,
with active corrosion of the steel wall. Fortunately, wall thicknesses still measured within
Through the use of advanced technologies

not commonly deployed during routine outages, we were able to catalog and baseline
conditions inside GREs least accessible
components. We can now plan more accurately for the long term and better target our
future outage efforts.
Although skeptical at first, GREs owner,
Granite Ridge Holdings LLC, much appreciated our choice of nondestructive sensor testing
to do these 10-year assessments. The company
not only realized a cost savings up front over
using conventional destructive methods but
also substantially mitigated the risk of being
blindsided by a catastrophic failure.
Larry Hawk, NAES Corp., is plant

engineer at Granite Ridge Energy,
Londonderry, N.H.

46
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
TECHNOLOGY
Power Technology Innovations

from the Developing World
From biomass gasification to microgrids, theres no lack of power sector innovation coming from the developing world. Driven by a combination of
growing demand and limited resources, inventive groups and individuals
are finding novel ways to deliver power to the areas that need it most.
Sonal Patel and Thomas W. Overton, JD
n its recently released Energy Technology Perspectives 2015, the International

Energy Agency (IEA) noted that innovation in the energy sector differs from progress in other sectors in that it tends to move
much more slowly, reflecting the fact that its
technologies tend to be large, complex, and
designed to operate for many years. The slow
rate of change is also hinged on capital intensiveness, longevity of capital stock, and time
needed for learning and experimentation.
For emerging economies, innovation is
typically driven by soaring electricity demand growth rates and the resultant bid to
expand power systems, which requires significant investment in the short term. While
data on energy technology research, development, demonstration, and deployment
(RD&D) in emerging economies is scarce,
the IEA says that available data shows that
the share of research funds is increasing: In
2008, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia,
and South Africa sank more RD&D funding
into energy technologies than IEA member
governments.
Heres a look at how some countries are
advancing power technology in ways both
large and small.
Thorium Reactors
India has cultivated a robust, largely indigenous nuclear power program owing to the
decades it spent as a nuclear pariah after being excluded from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The country has chalked out
a three-stage program to reduce its reliance
on imported uranium, seeking to make more
substantial use of thorium, of which India
holds 25% of the worlds total reserves. Although Th-232 is not itself fissile, it will absorb slow neutrons to produce fissile U-233
when placed in a reactor.
The first stage consists of setting up pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWRs); the
second stage will start with the deployment
of domestically designed fast breeder reactors
(FBRs) fueled with mixed oxides, and later,
metallic fuel. The third stage will involve the
February 2016 POWER
gradual transition to thorium-based systems,

likely through an advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) being developed at the Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Center
(BARC). The U-233 required for third-stage
breeder reactors will be obtained by the irradiation of thorium in PHWRs and FBRs.
This April, the government confirmed that
a 300-MW AHWR using thorium has been
designed and developed by BARC, and the
countrys 12th Five-Year Plan begins progress toward the start of construction. It said
the cost of electricity for the design would be
comparable to that from Indias newest standardized PHWRs.
Advanced Coal Technologies

India, the worlds most coal-dependent nation, is still banking on coal for a large share
of its future power mix, though it hopes to
replace older units with more efficient plants
owing to a scarcity of land, water, and coal
(see India Refocuses Coal Future in POWERs November 2015 issue). Since the 1980s,
even as interest in advanced coal technologies like integrated gasification combined
cycle (IGCC) plants waned internationally
owing to higher capital and operating costs,
Indias government has continued efforts to
develop them. For India, IGCC units hold
promise because they can be more efficient
at a smaller scale, emit less pollution, and use
less water. Another reason, according to the
IEA: For high ash Indian coals that are typically characterised by higher melting points,
studies have shown the air-blown fluidised
bed gasification system to be the most suitable form in terms of cost, process efficiency
and environmental impact.
Development has mostly been led by stateowned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL),
which is focused on demonstration of domestic technology (rather than leveraging foreign
technology). BHEL has established a 6.2-MW
IGCC demonstration plant with both movingbed and fluidized-bed technology. BHEL and
a number of state-owned entities, including
Indias biggest coal generator, NTPC, are
www.powermag.com
planning to set up a 100-MW IGCC plant for

commercial demonstration.
In parallel, BHEL is assessing the feasibility and market potential of pressurized
fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) and atmospheric fluidized bed combustion (AFBC)
technologies, which provide beneficial fuel
flexibility. So far, it has established a 6-metric-ton-per-day PFBC test facility and developed and proved the suitability of the PFBC
process for high-ash coals; it also has developed an AFBC test facility.
Community Microgrids
High-tech microgrids have garnered much
attention in the developed world as a means
of boosting grid resiliency, but more basic systems are increasingly being used to
bring electricity to the billion-plus people
in the world without it. Such locations typically lack easy access to fossil fuels, which
is why these community microgrids are often
powered by renewables: solar photovoltaic
(PV), wind, hydropower, and biomass. Navigant Research estimated in 2015 that remote
microgridsthose without a connection to
a larger gridnow make up more than half
of all such deployments worldwide, and installed capacity will pass 1 GW by 2017.
Another report from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) estimates that most of the regions PV capacity
is located off-gridroughly 50 MW in total.
Mali, for example, has deployed 21 hybrid diesel-PV microgrids totaling 2.1 MW, and Senegal has 107 PV-powered microgrids totaling
1 MW. ECOWAS has identified microgrids as
a key tool for rapidly advancing electrification
in a region where 90% of rural populations
lack access to electricity and expansion of the
traditional grid is cost prohibitive.
Microgrids powered by wind and small
hydropower are also being developed across
Africa. The ECOWAS report notes, however,
that these systems generally remain uneconomic from a business standpoint and must
be developed with government or private
subsidies. Still, it projects that 25% of the
47
TECHNOLOGY
1. Sail-inspired. The curved shape of
the Saphonian body is capable of capturing
twice as much wind energy as a conventional
bladed wind turbine for the same swept area.
Courtesy: Saphon Energy
regions rural population will get electricity

from off-grid renewables by 2030.
Similar developments are under way in
South Asia, where around 200 villages in
India are now powered by renewable microgrids unconnected to the national grid. An active business sector serving these needs has
sprung up, with both Indian and western companies offering solutions from the household
to the village level. Capacities are typically
quite smallpowering a few LED lights and
a cell-phone charger in each homebut this
is enough to make an enormous difference
for families with no other options. Electricity
costs are competitive with the diesel and kerosene lighting these villages had previously
relied on in addition to being much cleaner.
A Bladeless Wind Converter

Africas wind innovations have come a long way
since William Kamkwamba, a teenager from
Malawi, made headlines for a wind turbine he
created using a bicyle dynamo and spare parts
from his local junkyard just a decade ago.
Tunisian startup Saphon Energy in November 2014 won a collaborative agreement with
Microsoft for a patented bladeless wind converter known as the Saphonian. Inventor Anis
Aouinis basic idea was to remove the whole
rotating system (including the blades and hub)
and replace it with a sail-shaped body (Figure
1). The curved shape of the Saphonian body is
capable of capturing twice as much wind energy as a conventionally bladed wind turbine
for the same swept area. The company says
the prototype has come through five versions
and is in the pre-industrial stage.
An Ingenious Biomass Gasifier

Rai Singh Dahiya, a farmer from Indias arid
western state of Rajasthan, gained fame for
inventing a biomass-based gasifier. The inventor, who never got a formal education,
won an award from the National Innovation

Foundation (NIF) for the invention, which he
said was conceived in 1982 as he set up a kiln
for baking bricks and observed that burning
wood along with other fuel was producing
gas that was burning more vigorously. A decade later, after successfully modifying a diesel engine to operate on propane, he set about
to find out whether it was possible to run an
engine on gas produced by burning wood.
His invention (Figure 2) modifies a conventional diesel engine by replacing the diesel injector system with a spark plug and a
fuel pump with a distributor. The unit consists
of a gasifier that is conical in shape, compact
in design, and uniquely surrounded by a water jacket. Users can feed wood or briquettes
from agricultural residues to the gasifier, and
the unit acts as a 200C furnace to generate
syngas. The syngas is cooled and partially
cleaned by water and again by a filtration
unit made up of sieve grills and cloth.
According to the NIF, the gasifier can process about 20 kilograms of biowaste to run a
30-hp engine for one hour. Also, the furnace in
the gasifier unit can be built to different capacities as per availability of biomass and agricultural residue. Considering the cost of machine,
fuel-biomass and local labor, this arrangement
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48
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POWER February 2016
TECHNOLOGY
2. A rural innovation. A biomass gasifier invented by Rai Singh Dahiya, an Indian farmer
who never received a formal education, produces low-cost power. Courtesy: National Innovation
Foundation
is estimated to cost less than half the cost per

unit power when compared to normal electricity
grids costing 4 [rupees] per unit [$0.06].
A Power-Generating Cook Stove

Local universities in Bangladesh and Nepal
and rural communities in Kenya have tested
and advanced the Score-Stove, a sound-powered stove that also generates electricity. Developed by the Department of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering at the University of
Nottingham, the stove uses thermoacoustic
technology to convert heat from wood, dung,
or crop residuals into sound and then elec-
trical energy, with surplus heat available for

cooking (Figure 3).
In a thermoacoustic engine, heat is supplied from a source to a gas (in this case,
air in the Score-Stove) via the hot heat exchanger (HHX). The heat is then removed
via the ambient heat exchanger (AHX), and
the gas undergoes repetitive thermal expansion and rarefaction to produce acoustic energy. Between the HHX and AHX is a porous
material (a regenerator) with a temperature
gradient across it to sustain a resonant acoustic wave. A linear alternator within a closed
loop converts the acoustic wave into electricity. In a field trial of the design, the linear
alternator was implemented using a low-cost
loudspeaker working in reverse. The sound
emitted by the stove is no louder than a hum.
After the research phase was completed
in 2012, the second generation of the $90
Score-Stove (Score-Stove 2) showed that it
could produce 23 W using wood as fuel and
37 W under lab conditions. Rural trials have
proven that the device can produce enough
power for two LEDs while cooking a meal.
The stove was developed as a means to reduce health problems that occur from chronic
exposure to smoke and other pollutants emitted by rudimentary wood-fired cook stoves
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49
TECHNOLOGY
3. Sound-powered stove. Developed
4. Salt-powered. The SALt LED lamp
by the University of Nottingham and tested, and

then modified for evaluations by universities in
Bangladesh and Nepal, the Score-Stove uses
the principle of thermo-acoustics to generate
electricity. Courtesy: University of Nottingham
uses a saltwater-based galvanic battery to

generate about 8 hours of illumination. Courtesy: SALt
and open fires, which are the primary means

of cooking in many areas of the developing
world.
Though it holds promise, researchers from
Bangladesh University noted in a 2014 paper
that more work needs to be done. The current design is still too large, its performance
is still inferior to a conventional stove using the same amount of fuel, and technical
hurdles (such as water vapor condensation in
the resonance tubes that dampens the linear
actuator) still need to be addressed.
The Score-Stove 3, a more compact thermoelectric unit, is now being tested at Kathmandu University in Nepal, and developers
are also working to adapt the stove to use
liquid paraffin.
A Saltwater Lamp
Saltwater battery cells are familiar to anyone
who ever took a high-school chemistry class,

relying on nothing but water, salt, and two
different metals to generate electricity. But as
the design has much lower energy density and
lower efficiency than competing technologies
such as lithium-ion, they have seen little attention from a commercial standpoint.
But saltwater batteries have two big advantages in the developing world: They are
easy to build, and the components are inexpensive and easily available. Thats garnered
interest as a means of providing electricity
where there are no other options.
A Filipino startup company named Sustainable Alternative Lighting, or SALt
(www.salt.ph), has developed a portable
LED lamp that needs nothing but saltwater
to deliver about 8 hours of light or charge
a mobile phone via a USB port (Figure 4).
Thats a big advantage in an island nation
where many poor villages have no access
to electricitybut ample seawater to power
the lamp. The company said the lamps are
good for about six months of use before the
anode needs to be replaced. The first units
are in production and expected to be available for delivery this year.
Sonal Patel and Thomas W. Overton,

JD are POWER associate editors.
EEI Loss Control / Fire Protection Task Force Meeting

Co-located with the ELECTRIC POWER Conference + Exhibition
April 17-18, 2016 | Morial Convention Center | New Orleans, LA
Join utility and industry experts at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Loss Control / Fire Protection
(LCFP) Task Force Meeting in New Orleans this spring. Some of the many benefits of attendance include:
Industry Presentations on Current Utility Property Loss Control Events and Risk Mitigation Methods
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For more information, contact
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50
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POWER February 2016
NUCLEAR POWER
Nuclear Relicensing: The Best of

Times, the Worst of Times
The U.S. nuclear industry is going in two different directions: Some plants are
shutting down with years left on their operating licenses, while others
contemplate the implications of 80-year lifetimes. Heres a snapshot of
where the nations fleet is headed.
Thomas W. Overton
here is perhaps no industry in the U.S.

experiencing a greater range of fortunes
than nuclear power.
Across much of the country, nuclear plants
that must compete in deregulated markets are
often economically challenged. Two reactors
have shut down for purely economic reasons;
three more have been set for retirement within the next five years. Three reactors have
been shut down after botched outages left the
plants too expensive to repair. Several others
have flirted with retirement only to be saved
by last-minute lifelines. For these plants, license expiration dates decades hence are of
little solace.
Yet in traditional regulated markets, nuclear is looking at a bright future. Five reactors are under constructionone of which is
preparing to start up in early 2016while
another has announced plans to seek an unprecedented second license extension that
would push its lifetime out to 80 years.
Moving Forward, Moving Back

The nation currently has 99 operating reactors (Table 1). Of these, threeFitzPatrick,
Oyster Creek, and Pilgrimhave announced
retirement dates. All three still have more than
a decade left on their operating licenses.
Of the 96 still-viable reactors, 76 have received 20-year extensions on their original
licenses. The remaining 20 include 13 reactors that have filed for extensions and four
that have notified the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) that they plan to file.
Two plants, the two-unit Comanche Peak and
Watts Bar 1, have not yet formally announced
intentions on renewal.
In several cases, such as Diablo Canyon
and Indian Point, these renewal applications are highly controversial and are facing
substantial opposition from local authorities and environmental groups. Expiration
dates range from Indian Point Unit 2, which
expired in 2013 (the NRC is allowing it to
continue operating as it considers its appli-
February 2016 POWER
Table 1. Licensed nuclear reactors in the U.S., including those planned,

under construction, and recently retired. Comanche Peak and Watts Bar 1 have
not announced renewal intentions. The two Surry units plan to submit second renewal applications in 2019. Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Reactor (notes)
License issued
License renewed
License expires
License extension issued

Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 1
5/21/74
6/20/01
5/20/34
Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2
9/1/78
6/30/05
7/17/38
Beaver Valley Unit 1
7/2/76
11/5/09
1/29/36
Beaver Valley Unit 2
8/14/87
11/5/09
5/27/47
Browns Ferry Unit 1
12/20/73
5/4/06
12/20/33
Browns Ferry Unit 2
6/28/74
5/4/06
6/28/34
Browns Ferry Unit 3
7/2/76
5/4/06
7/2/36
Brunswick Unit 1
9/8/76
6/26/06
9/8/36
Brunswick Unit 2
12/27/74
6/26/06
12/27/34
Byron Unit 1
2/14/85
11/19/15
10/31/44
Byron Unit 2
1/30/87
11/19/15
11/6/46
Callaway
10/18/84
3/6/15
10/18/44
Calvert Cliffs Unit 1
7/31/74
3/23/00
7/31/34
Calvert Cliffs Unit 2
8/13/76
3/23/00
8/13/36
Catawba Unit 1
1/17/85
12/5/03
12/5/43
Catawba Unit 2
5/15/86
12/5/03
12/5/43
Columbia
4/13/84
5/22/12
12/20/43
Comanche Peak Unit 1
4/17/90
2/8/30
Comanche Peak Unit 2
4/6/93
2/2/33
Cooper
1/18/74
11/29/10
1/18/34
Davis-Besse Unit 1
4/22/77
12/8/15
4/22/37
Donald C. Cook Unit 1
10/25/74
8/30/05
10/25/34
Donald C. Cook Unit 2
12/23/77
8/30/05
12/23/37
Dresden Unit 2
12/22/69
10/28/04
12/22/29
Dresden Unit 3
1/12/71
10/28/04
1/12/31
Duane Arnold
2/22/74
12/16/10
2/21/34
Edwin I. Hatch Unit 1
10/13/74
1/15/02
8/6/34
Edwin I. Hatch Unit 2
6/13/78
1/15/02
6/13/38
Fort Calhoun Unit 1
8/9/73
11/4/03
8/9/33
www.powermag.com
51
NUCLEAR POWER
Reactor (notes)
License issued
License renewed
License expires
H. B. Robinson Unit 2
7/31/70
4/19/04
7/31/30
Hope Creek Unit 1
7/25/86
7/20/11
4/11/46
Joseph M. Farley Unit 1
6/25/77
5/12/05
6/25/37
Joseph M. Farley Unit 2
3/31/81
5/12/05
3/31/41
Limerick Unit 1
8/8/85
10/20/14
10/26/44
Limerick Unit 2
8/25/89
10/20/14
6/22/49
McGuire Unit 1
7/8/81
12/5/03
6/12/41
McGuire Unit 2
5/27/83
12/5/03
3/3/43
Millstone Unit 2
9/26/75
11/28/05
7/31/35
Millstone Unit 3
1/31/86
11/28/05
11/25/45
Monticello Unit 1
9/8/70
11/8/06
9/8/30
Nine Mile Point Unit 1
8/22/69
10/31/06
8/22/29
Nine Mile Point Unit 2
7/2/87
10/31/06
10/31/46
North Anna Unit 1
4/1/78
3/20/03
4/1/38
North Anna Unit 2
8/21/80
3/20/03
8/21/40
Oconee Unit 1
2/6/73
5/23/00
2/6/33
Oconee Unit 2
10/6/73
5/23/00
10/6/33
Oconee Unit 3
7/19/74
5/23/00
7/19/34
Palisades
3/24/71
1/17/07
3/24/31
Palo Verde Unit 1
6/1/85
4/21/11
6/1/45
Palo Verde Unit 2
4/24/86
4/21/11
4/24/46
Palo Verde Unit 3
11/25/87
4/21/11
11/25/47
Peach Bottom Unit 2
10/25/73
5/7/03
8/8/33
Peach Bottom Unit 3
7/2/74
5/7/03
7/2/34
Point Beach Unit 1
10/5/70
12/22/05
10/5/30
Point Beach Unit 2
11/18/71
12/22/05
3/8/33
Prairie Island Unit 1
8/9/73
6/27/11
8/9/33
Prairie Island Unit 2
10/29/74
6/27/11
10/29/34
Quad Cities Unit 1
12/14/72
10/28/04
12/14/32
Quad Cities Unit 2
12/14/72
10/28/04
12/14/32
R.E. Ginna
9/19/69
5/19/04
9/18/29
St. Lucie Unit 1
3/1/76
10/2/03
3/1/36
St. Lucie Unit 2
6/10/83
10/2/03
4/6/43
Salem Unit 1
12/1/76
6/30/11
8/13/36
Salem Unit 2
5/20/81
6/30/11
4/18/40
Sequoyah Unit 1
9/17/80
9/24/15
9/17/40
Sequoyah Unit 2
9/15/81
9/25/15
9/15/41
Shearon Harris Unit 1
10/24/86
12/17/08
10/24/46
Surry Unit 1
5/25/72
3/20/03
5/25/32
Surry Unit 2
1/29/73
3/20/03
1/29/33
Susquehanna Unit 1
7/17/82
11/24/09
7/17/42
Susquehanna Unit 2
3/23/84
11/24/09
3/23/44
Three Mile Island Unit 1
4/19/74
10/22/09
4/19/34
Turkey Point Unit 3
7/19/72
6/6/02
7/19/32
Turkey Point Unit 4
4/10/73
6/6/02
4/10/33
Virgil C. Summer Unit 1
11/12/82
4/23/04
8/6/42
Vogtle Unit 1
3/16/87
6/3/09
1/16/47
Vogtle Unit 2
3/31/89
6/3/09
2/9/49
52
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POWER February 2016
NUCLEAR POWER
Reactor (notes)
License issued
Watts Bar Unit 1
2/7/96
Wolf Creek Unit 1
6/4/85
License renewed
License expires
11/20/08
3/11/45
11/9/35
License extension requested
cation) to Limerick Unit 2, which is licensed

until 2049.
Five units are under construction: Units
3 and 4 at Vogtle, Units 2 and 3 at Virgil C.
Summer, and Unit 2 at Watts Bar. The Tennessee Valley Authority says Watts Bar Unit
2 should come online in early 2016 (but it
had not yet done so at press time). The other
units are still several years from operation.
One project, Fermi 3, has received a combined construction and operating license from
the NRC, but the licensee, DTE Energy, has
not made a decision on whether to proceed
with construction. It said in a statement when
the license was issued that it will keep the option open for long-term planning purposes.
Braidwood Unit 1 (Filed 5/29/13)
7/2/87
10/17/26
Braidwood Unit 2 (Filed 5/29/13)
5/20/88
12/18/27
Diablo Canyon Unit 1 (Filed 11/24/09)
11/2/84
11/2/24
Diablo Canyon Unit 2 (Filed 11/24/09)
8/26/85
8/26/25
Fermi Unit 2 (Filed 4/30/14)
7/15/85
3/20/25
Grand Gulf Unit 1 (Filed 11/1/11)
11/1/84
11/1/24
Indian Point Unit 2 (Filed 4/30/07)
9/28/73
9/28/13
Indian Point Unit 3 (Filed 4/30/07)
12/12/75
12/12/15
LaSalle Unit 1 (Filed 12/9/14)
4/17/82
4/17/22
LaSalle Unit 2 (Filed 12/9/14)
12/16/83
12/16/23
Pushing Out the Horizon
Seabrook Unit 1 (Filed 6/1/10)
3/15/90
3/15/30
South Texas Unit 1 (Filed 10/28/10)
3/22/88
8/20/27
3/28/89
12/15/28
Dominion sent waves through the nuclear industry on November 6, 2015, when it became
the first U.S. plant owner to notify the NRC
of its intent to file a second license renewal
application for the two-unit Surry Power Station by 2019. If granted, the extension could
make Surry the first U.S. nuclear plant to be
licensed for 80 years of operation. Its two
GE pressurized-water reactors are currently
licensed to operate through 2032 and 2033; a
second extension would push those dates out
to 2052 and 2053.
Continuing reactor operation beyond 60
years has been controversial, with nuclear
experts disagreeing on the ability of plants
built in the 1970s and 1980s to continue operating into the middle of this century. The issues involved in such long-term operation are
many, varied, and complex, but the Nuclear
Energy Institute (NEI) and the American
Physical Society (APS) have both urged the
industry and nation to consider the idea. The
Department of Energy and the Electric Power
Research Institute are both studying the potential for long-term operation.
An APS report issued in 2014 notes that current research does not indicate any technical
show-stoppers that would prevent the renewal
of licenses from 60 to 80 years, assuming rigorous application of maintenance, inspection,
and aging management programs.
Meanwhile, a report issued by the NEI in
December 2015 argues that, research has
shown there are no generic technical issues
that would prevent a well-maintained nuclear
power plant from operating safely during a
second license renewal period.
The stakes for the nuclear industry and
the nation are high, the NEI says. Even with
aggressive expansion of nuclear energy, the
United States will nonetheless lose substantial capacity to generate clean-air energy unless licenses are extended.
South Texas Unit 2 (Filed 10/28/10)
License extension planned

Clinton Unit 1 (Renewal application
4/17/87
expected 2021)
9/29/26
Perry Unit 1 (Renewal application expected 2019)
11/13/86
3/18/26
River Bend Unit 1 (Renewal application

expected 2017)
11/20/85
8/29/25
Waterford Unit 3 (Renewal application

expected 2016)
3/16/85
12/18/24
Under construction
Virgil C. Summer Unit 2 (Operation projected 2019)
3/30/12
Virgil C. Summer Unit 3 (Operation projected 2020)
3/30/12
Vogtle Unit 3 (Operation projected

2/9/12
2019)
Vogtle Unit 4 (Operation projected
2/9/12
2020)
Watts Bar Unit 2 (Operation projected
2016)
10/22/15
10/22/55
Combined license issued, status uncertain

Fermi Unit 3
5/1/15
James A. FitzPatrick (Retiring 2016)
10/17/74
9/8/08
10/17/34
Oyster Creek (Retiring 2019)
4/9/69
4/8/09
4/9/29
Pilgrim (Retiring 2019)
6/8/72
5/29/12
6/8/32
Retirement announced
Retired
Crystal River Unit 3 (Retired 2013)
12/3/76
12/18/08
Kewaunee (Retired 2013)
12/21/73
2/24/11
San Onofre Unit 2 (Retired 2013)
2/16/82
San Onofre Unit 3 (Retired 2013)
11/15/82
Vermont Yankee (Retired 2014)
2/28/73
3/21/11
Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER

associate editor.
February 2016 POWER
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53
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55
COMMENTARY
Fusion Power Illusions,

Delusions, and Hope
Dr. Robert L. Hirsch
usion provides the energy of the sun and all stars, but harnessing fusion for civilian electric power has proven exceptionally difficult. For over 50 years the U.S. government has
pursued fusion to produce electric power, primarily by confining an
extremely hot, ionized gas (a plasma) of fusion fuels using magnetic
fields. In spite of great progress in some aspects of the problem, the
mainline federal fusion program veered badly off course. The primary
approach to magnetic fusion power is called tokamak, a donutshaped magnetic bottle invented by the Russians. Initial engineering
studies suggested that the tokamak might be a commercially viable
source of electric power. Even though that hope collapsed over the
past two decades, the federal program stayed with the concept.
Illusions
Several illusions lie at the heart of the tokamak program.
Showpiece Cost Escalation. Larger and larger tokamak experiments have been built and operated worldwide, largely without fusion fuels. In the early 1990s a number of countries, including the
U.S., banded together to build a very large tokamak experiment using deuterium and tritium fusion fuels to produce roughly 500 MW
of thermal energy. That showcase project, called ITER, had an initial
cost estimate of $5 billion and now appears to have escalated to an
inferred $50 billion while being significantly delayed.
Why inferred? As ITER.org states, Because multiple Members
are collaborating to build ITER, each with responsibility for the procurement of in-kind hardware in its own territory with its own currency, a direct conversion of the value estimate for ITER construction
into a single currency is not relevant. So an enormous cost overrun
for the fusion showpiece has been obscured.
Market Denial. Energy professionals recognize that to be viable,
a new technology must have advantages over whats already in the
market. Consider how an ITER-like commercial fusion reactor might
compare to a commercial pressurized water reactor (PWR). A longstanding rule of thumb tells us that a rough cost comparison can
come from comparing the relative masses of systems of similar capabilities. A decades-old comparison of an early ITER core design with
a PWR indicated that the tokamak would be roughly 60 times more
expensiveclearly well out of the range of commercial interest.
Radioactive Waste. Both ITER-tokamaks and PWRs will produce
large amounts of radioactivity. However, an ITER-tokamak reactor
would produce many times more radioactivity than a PWR. While
the tokamaks radioactive waste would decay in about 100 years
compared with the PWR waste decay of roughly 10,000 years, huge
amounts of radwaste of any kind are undesirable.
Safety. Fusion advocates have claimed the technology is inherently safe, because if a hot fusion plasma were to escape its confinement, it would be immediately cooled when it collides with an
adjacent wall. Thus, fusion concepts cannot cause a nuclear runaway,
as can happen in conventional fission reactors, as at Fukushima. But
the huge tokamak superconducting confinement magnets can accidentally quench, releasing their stored energy. That energy is roughly
equivalent to a World War II blockbuster bomb. Containing such an
event, however unlikely, would require a huge, fortress-like building,
further adding costs to a fusion power plant. Thus, an ITER-tokamak
56
power plant will not be inherently safe, and because an ITER-tokamak is very large, a building to contain a superconducting magnet
quench will be huge, resulting in an additional increase in costs.
Technology Shortcoming. Recently, an ITER-tokamak technology
showstopper emerged. Tokamaks inherently leak hot plasma, which
is channeled into a side region, called a divertor. Divertors in tokamak experiments have worked well for decades, because the energy
deposited has been relatively small. In ITER the energy deposited
will be much, much larger. As a result, a panel of engineers recently
considered how an ITER divertor might be built and found, The
present knowledge base of tokamak divertor physics is not complete
enough to specify a divertor solution, . . . . In fact, we do not know
that a solution exists even in principle.
Delusions: Program Contradiction and Tribalism

Over two decades ago, the U.S. fusion research program narrowed its
focus to research and development on tokamaks and its near cousins.
Later, government policy changed to limiting the fusion program to
basic science. In response, program activities changed very little.
So why is the program still so narrow, especially when its obvious
that ITER-tokamak fusion is a commercial loser? Why doesnt the
program encompass some of the fusion concepts that may offer more
attractive paths to fusion power? Calling the program a science program is contradicted by its content.
Tribalism is a strong loyalty to ones own tribe, party, or group.
The Department of Energy (DOE) office that runs the fusion program
has made it clear that it is interested in funding only tokamaks or
similar research. Anyone who hopes to attract DOE fusion program
funding had better support what the office wants or they will not
qualify for support. Those who are currently involved in the program
dare not challenge the program bias. That situation can be viewed as
forced tribalism; its certainly not balanced basic science.
Hope for Commercial Fusion Power
While the current tokamak focus is not commercially viable, decades
of related experience provides important lessons for researchers to
identify other, potentially attractive approaches to fusion power. A
number of such concepts exist, some involving high neutron fluxes
and others devoid of direct neutron production, such as the protonboron 11 fuel cycle.
Examples of p-11B concepts include: the Polywell, which is inherently small, uses magnetic cusps and an electrostatic potential well;
the Tri Alpha field-reversed configurations, heated by ion beams, inside a cylindrical, truck-sized vacuum chamber containing solenoids;
and the Lawrenceville Plasma Physics dense plasma focus with some
fresh ideas that could solve some old problems. In addition, the independent DOE ARPA-E program is supporting some interesting concepts outside of the tokamak-plagued DOE fusion program. One or
more of these and other concepts might yield a fusion power concept
that the market could embrace. With a realignment of the mainline
fusion program, benefiting from the ITER-tokamak experience, hope
for fusion power could be rekindled and hopefully realized.
Dr. Robert L. Hirsch headed the U.S. government fusion program
from 1972 to 1976 and has since worked in industry and nonprofits.
www.powermag.com
POWER February 2016
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Feb 2016

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