Leo Flaman gave an insightful review of the cogeneration industry and its
status, in Alberta.
He quoted from Omar Ian Al-Halif saying there are four things that will
not come back, the spoken word, the sped arrow, time past and the neglected
opportunity. Leo focused the presentation on the opportunities.
He defined cogeneration as the simultaneous production of electrical and
thermal energy from a single fuel. He demonstrated that in separate generation
53% of the energy produces useful power and heat whereas from cogeneration
that figure rises to 76% halving the "wasted energy" from stack
and condenser losses which means a 30% reduction in fuel consumption.
Leo gave a brief overview of the typical power generation cycles, steam
turbine topping cycle, steam turbine bottoming cycle, gas turbine topping
cycle, simple cycle cogeneration (EOR application) and combined cycle cogeneration.
The advantages of cogeneration lie in providing savings in fuel/electricity,
enhancing power reliability, improving plant efficiency, receiving value
for otherwise wasted energy, good environmental practice and conservation
of Alberta's resources.
Current cogeneration facilities in Alberta include,
Suncor -60 MW and Syncrude -260 MW in Ft McMurray,
Dow -180 MW at Ft. Saskatchewan,
Foothills Hospital -18 MW in Calgary,
Renaissance Energy -1.5 MW in Jenner,
Pulp and Paper Plants in N. Alberta
CU Power/Amoco -80 MW in Primrose.
Typical costs for power generation are $1200/KW for combined cycle, $1500/KW
for steam turbine and $1000/KW for gas turbine with heat recovery. T
he average revenue from electricity sales in Alberta is around 5c/kW.h,
one of the lowest in North America. In 1995 Alberta deregulated the power
industry with the Electric Utilities Act and there is now a power pool in
operation. By 2005 there will be full retail competition. The 2005 base
cases for technical potential for peak thermal and electric sizing were
reviewed and explained.
Leo then listed the Dos and Don'ts of Cogeneration to identify cogeneration
opportunities.
A good opportunity will include:-
large requirement for natural/process gas to be used for heat input
to process,
365 day/24 hour operation,
large electrical load,
waste hot gas,
waste fuel streams,
low cost fuel,
favourable tax treatment class 43.1 accelerated tax write-off,
government support
remote plant location
He further outlined circumstances that greatly enhanced cogeneration economics
including avoidance of, spare air compressor(s), capital investment in new
boilers, investment for safety/environmental compliance on old systems,
reduction in maintenance, labour and greenhouse gas emissions.
In closing, Leo summarised that for any project in Alberta, one should not
neglect the potential for cogeneration. Review the circumstances and a viable
cogeneration project may be the result.
C.Eng