Eeklo – One 1800kW wind turbine – December 2002

At the end of 2002 Electrawinds and Ecopower installed four Enercon E66 wind turbines. It concerns 1.8MW turbines. Electrawinds constructed one turbine which provides renewable energy for 1200 families on an annual basis. Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th July 2009

Zedelgem – One 1800kW wind turbine – December 2002

In December 2002 Electrawinds installed a wind turbine at the Arend Industrial Estate in Zedelgem. It concerns an Enercon E66 turbine with a capacity of 1.8MW. Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th July 2009

Gistel – One 2.3 MW wind turbine -

May 2007

The Gistel windmill farm is a cooperation project between several partners, including Aspiravi. Electrawinds installed one 2.3MW wind turbine which has been operational since 2007. Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th July 2009

Middelkerke – 1.3MW solar farm -

June 2007

In June 2007 Electrawinds started a solar energy project in which renewable energy is generated by capturing light in photovoltaic solar cells. These cells directly convert the light into electricity. More specifically, a 6ha site in Middelkerke has been completely covered with 7695 solar panels (approx. 400 families). Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th July 2009

Projects using green power

Evolis in Belgium

Cows are the answer

Aidan Turnbull reports on a recent visit to Electrawinds Biomass Mouscron, one of Belgium’s most advanced cogeneration plants based on biofuels. such as biomass and solar energy.

It’s incredible to think that tallow from rendered-down dead cows could be one of the major sustainable fuel sources behind 18MW of ‘green energy’ being produced by the Mouscron co-gen facility.
In terms of energy that’s enough to supply the needs of 44,000 families and still produce enough recoverable ‘waste’ heat to sell to industry facilities in the vicinity – and warm up local swimming pools too.
The other significant fact about the project, say the operators, is the
remarkable reliability and low wear rates the engines at Mouscron have achieved since their installation in 2006.
When the plant was first commissioned the concept of running engines on biofuel was pretty much uncharted territory.
But with their broad insensitivity to fuel quality, Mouscron’s large medium speed diesel engines, designed for heavy fuel oils, seem to cope readily with carbondioxide neutral fuels such as plant oils,
animal fats and various blends of wasteoils.
Typically, these are fuels which can cause considerable problems in high-speed engines with their more sensitive injection systems. But thanks to large mediumspeed diesel engines made by MAN Diesel,
they have effectively become part of the global warming solution.
The technology Electrawinds nv, headquartered in Ostend, Belgium, is currently the largest private player on the Belgian market for
renewable energy. Initially a provider of ‘green’ electricity, it began establishing wind energy projects, but soon began toinvest in other forms of renewable energ.

Its business strategy of combining wind, biomass and solar energy is unique in Belgium. Electrawinds now operates inItaly, France and Eastern-Europe. The story really begins In August 2005 when Electrawinds set up its first 13MW biofuel-based energy-generating plant in Ostend.
A template for later projects, the role of this facility was to convert animal and vegetable fats into sustainable energy.
Today, the Ostend plant has a capacity of Mouscron’s large medium speed
diesel engines, designed for heavy fuel oils, seem to cope readily
with carbon-dioxide neutral fuels such plant

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th July 2009

Boilers – a power plant’s heart Fluidised -bed boiler installation.

www.doosanheavy.com Internet link

Korea South East Power runs an eco-friendly power plant armed with state-of-the-art, high- efficiency environmental facilities – including a DeSOx & DeNOx System, and electrical dust collectors- but a new fluidised bed boiler is key to the operation.

Korea’s latest and largest coal-fired, eco-friendly,high-efficiency powerfacility – officially titled the Yonghung Thermal Power Plant Units 3and 4 – has been operating at optimal levels recently. This is all thanks to thenew core facilities and boiler equipment.

Run by Korea South East Power, the units are now part of an 870MW-class coal-fired power plantwhich uses ultra super criticaltechnology.

Moreover, the facility is aneco-friendly power plant armed with
state-of-the-art, high- efficiency environmentalfacilities (including desulfurisation, DeSOx & DeNOx System, and electrical dust collectors).
A company spokesman told IPA: “The completion of the Yonghung Thermal Power Plant Units 1 and 2 has contributed
to easing the imbalance between power supply and demand in the Seoul metropolitan region, and has helped
stabilise the nation’s electricity supplynetwork.

Generators 3 and 4 at the plantmake a significant contribution tostabilising the power supply during the peak power demand season in summer.” Power output
The Yonghung Thermal Power Plant Units 3 and 4 generate 13.6 billion kWh of electricity per year, enough to supply 4 million households.

In 2004 Doosan an initial contract for the supply of boilers for the site in an international bid hosted by KoreaSouth-East Power in 2004, beating out Japanese rivals.
Hard on the heels of this successful project, Doosna was recently contracted to supply equipment worth 100 billion won (£50m) for a project involving the supplyof Korea’s largest 340MW- class Fluidised- Bed Boiler for Yeosu Thermal Power Plant No. 2 operated by Korea South EastPower.
Doosan President & CEO Geewon Park commented: “The contract involved the supply of a 340 MW-class Circulating
Fluidised-Bed Boiler and supplementary facilities.

Unlike a Pulverized Coal Boiler, which is used in most conventional power plants, the Circulating Fluidised-Bed
Boiler is an eco-friendly boiler product which significantly reduces the emission of pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and
sulphur oxide.

Another advantage is that it can use low-grade coal as fuel, effectively cutting fuel costs.” Cutting fuel costs with a Circulating Fluidised-Bed Boiler at Yeosu replacing the use of heavy oil, the plant will not only cut down fuel cost significantly, but also reduce pollutant emissions. Hence the utility facilities, once revamped, will transform into an
economical, eco-friendly power plant.
Under the contract, Doosan plans to design and produce the Circulating Fluidised- Bed Boiler and supplementary equipment at its Changwon Plant, and deliver them by December 2011. Doosan has also signed a licensing agreement with Foster Wheeler, a global market leader in Circulating Fluidised-Bed Boiler technology, in 2006.
Executive Vice President Dongsoo Suh said, “With the acquisition of the new project, Doosan has set a precedent in
the supply of a 340 MW-class Circulating Fluidised-Bed boiler, the largest scale of its kind in Korea and among the largest in
the world.”
He added: “As the use of low-grade coal is steadily increasing, Doosan will continue to win more orders for Circulating Fluidised- Bed Boilers not only in Korea but also in overseas markets in the future.” Doosan also won projects for
the construction of coal-powered thermal power plants adopting Circulating Fluidised-Bed Boilers in Thailand and the
Philippines in 2007.
On June 14th, 2009, Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction signed a contract worth 74 million euros (US$102
million) with MAPNA Boiler of Iran for the overall supply of eight heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) for four combined cycle thermal power plants in the Middle Eastern country. “The project entails the supply of two HRSGs to each of the four combined cycle thermal power plants located in Kahnooj, Iran.

Doosan plans to begin designing the equipment
based on its own technology in June, and is scheduled to supply them in phasesfrom April to December of 2010,” a
spokesman told IPA.
Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction secured the top spot in terms of global market share in 2003 thanks to the acquisition of HRSG orders worth 240 million euros(US$ 331 million) for the MFPNA combined cycle thermal
power plant, the world’s largest singlesuch project.

The company also won successive orders in the Middle East in
2007 and 2008. Dong Kyu Lee, head of the HRSG BU at
Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, told IPA: “Doosan was able to win the project thanks to the strong engineering
capacity we have demonstrated during the execution of our other projects in Iran.” IPA

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 16th July 2009

Two years ago the MDHCC brought in anew high-efficiency gas engine tri-generation plant .

The results have beensignificant in the high energy savings and
reduction of CO2 emissions.
Since the installation of the new system, MDHCC has raised COP by 0.5 points and has achieved a 24% reduction of fuel
consumption and cut CO2 emissions by 24,000t/a.
This saving of energy and reduction of CO2 emissions results from the best mix of optimum layout and design of highefficiency equipment such as gas engines which generate power using clean natural gas as fuel and optimum operational technology.
Two high-efficiency Wärtsilä engines with a power generation efficiency of
45.6% have been introduced for the firsttime into Japan. Electrical power
produced by the gas engines runs theelectric turbochiller to produce chilled water. The surplus electrical power isused to power the plant and is also sold to generate cost benefits.
The Wärtsilä gas engines not only produce high levels of efficiency but they also provide low costs of operation as natural gas costs less than fuel oil and the consumption of lubricating oil is at a minimum level.
A heat recovery system uses the gas engine’s waste heat to produce steam to power the engine’s waste heat boilers toproduce large amounts of steam which drives absorption chillers that produce chilled water. Additionally, no steam is Steam operations in Japan

Clever utilisation of steam is at the heart of the Makuhari District Heating and Cooling Centre located just outside Tokyo. Many consider it the perfect model of trigeneration.Wasted as it is actively used as a heat
source in all kinds of situations at theoperator’s facilities.
The beneficial aspectsSteam created by the furnace flue boiler becomes the heat source for customer’s heating and is also used as a heat source
for the steam absorption chiller.

Water tube boiler is operated primarilyto drive the steam turbine turbo chiller.
Heat generated during cooling of the gas engine is sent to the hot water absorption chiller to be used as a heat source for the air conditioning.
In addition, high temperature heat generated by the gas engine is used to
create steam at the heat recovery boiler,which is used as the heat source to produce chilled water for air conditioning at the steam absorption chiller.
The cooling towers are installed on the upper portion of the pyramid and serve to radiate heat generated to the chillers.
The district heating and chilling pipelines are installed in purpose-built culverts which run throughout the city
The tri-generation power plant contributes to the local environment by
significantly reducing CO2 emissions and preventing air pollution by reducing both NOx and SOx emissions.
The heating and cooling of buildings is, in many cases, installed by independent air conditioning systems. The buildings must each provide everything from installation of various heating and cooling sources to management, operation and maintenance.
On the other hand, district heating and cooling generates ‘heat’ such as chilled water and steam collectively at a single energy plant.
This is a centralised system that supplies this through pipes to multiple buildings located within a fixed area. By entrusting such matters to energy professionals, customers are able to use ‘heat’ that is safe,secure and environmentally-friendly.
A spokesman for the MDHCC told IPA:
“The concept of tri-generation is now a proven, cost effective alternative for a continuous supply of electricity, heatingand cooling needed all year round.”
www.wartsila.com
Internet link
IPA

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 16th July 2009

India to Focus on Electric Vehicles

A number of lectures on the policies and current states of electric vehicle (EV) development in China and India were delivered at the 24th International Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition (EVS24), which took place in Norway from May 13 to 16, 2009.

China is planning to allot half the total transportation energy consumption to EVs and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) that primarily use energy other than petroleum by 2020. In India, on the other hand, the diffusion of EVs has become an important issue due to its environmental problems and transportation conditions.

Gasoline cars, EVs to co-exist for some time in China

Automotive sales are growing extremely fast in China. They reached about 9.3 million units in 2008 and are likely to surpass 10 million units, the largest sales volume in the world, in 2010. The number of vehicles owned in China is currently 40 million and is forecast to reach 150 million in 2020.

C. C. Chan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Asia Pacific China, and Duan Ruichun, executive president of Chinese Electro-technical Society China, reported data on automotive development including EVs in China.

China is planning to reduce gasoline cars and hybrids, which are powered primarily by oil, and allot half the total energy consumption in the transportation segment to EVs and FCVs, which are powered by energies other than oil, Chan said.

As half of the existing cars will remain, China will (1) maintain the infrastructure for gasoline and other liquid fuels, (2) make its mileage regulation for gasoline cars etc, meet international standards and (3) give priority to high-efficiency direct-injection engine cars and hybrids until 2020.

Ruichun said China is conducting 863 projects concerning EV and FCV development to meet this goal. As a result of those projects, EVs and hybrids are currently running in 13 cities in China. And the Chinese government is planning to increase the number of those vehicles to more than 1,000 units within three years.

At first, EVs and FCVs will be diffused as means of public transportation. To accomplish this goal, the government will increase the subsidies for purchasers of electric buses, etc. For example, for the purchase of a hybrid, electric or fuel-cell bus with a total length of 10m or more, a subsidy of up to Rmb420,000 (about ¥5.88 million or US$61,600), 500,000 (¥7 million) or 600,000 (¥8.4 million) will be paid, respectively.

As for the purchase of a general EV, a subsidy of up to Rmb50,000 (¥700,000), 60,000 (840,000) and 250,000 (3.5 million) will be granted to the purchaser of a hybrid, EV and FCV, respectively.

Aided by those stimulative policies, China is already at a state where it can start producing core technologies for EVs and automotive platforms, Ruichun said.

“We have already achieved 2,000W/kg output density of a Li-ion secondary battery with a current capacity of 6 to 100Ah and mounted a 1,300W/kg output motor with more than 93% efficiency on a car,” he said, emphasizing the fact that EV development is making smooth progress in China.

EVs are suited for India

Meanwhile, Indian population will outnumber the world’s largest Chinese population, exceeding 1.4 billion in about 2030. The Indian automotive market has been growing at an annual rate of more than 15% as well. The market will maintain the same scale as in the preceding year even during the global recession of 2008 to 2009.

The diffusion of EVs seems to have become a pressing challenge in India.

“Considering environmental issues, we will face a serious trouble if we do not start spreading more EVs in priority to gasoline cars,” said Chetan Maini, deputy chairman and CTO of Reva Electric Company of India.

“In large cities, the degree of atmospheric pollution due to auto emission is by far worse than our safety standards,” said Shanta Chatterji, chairman and managing director of Chattelec Vehicles India Ltd of India. “And the number of deaths caused by diseases from air pollution has already outpaced that of deaths in traffic accidents.”

EVs are suited not only for environmental reasons but also for transportation conditions in India. Behind this is the fact that “long-distance driving is difficult in India because of heavy traffic congestion in urban areas,” Maini said. He revealed that 95% or more of automobiles in India are estimated to travel 80km or less per trip, with 80% traveling 25km or less.

“An EV equipped with a Li-ion secondary battery can travel about 120km per charge,” Maini said. “In other words, more than 95% of cars in India can be covered. Even when traveling 240km, the EV can travel the distance with a quick charge for about 1.5 hours. So, there will be no problem if more than 99% of cars in India are EVs.”

Moreover, there is little chance that traffic congestions will improve in India, where urban population is expected to increase about 50% in 20 years.

Nevertheless, the current hottest car in India is the low-priced gasoline car, “Nano,” which Tata Motors Ltd of India is planning to release. Reportedly, nearly 200,000 units of the Nano have already been ordered.

“The diffusion of the Nano is likely to worsen the current transportation conditions and environmental issues,” Maini said, commenting on the Nano.

The Nano can be used as the second car in urban areas or a convenient car for people in rural areas. In India, the number of cars purchased as the second car has reportedly surpassed that of first car purchases since 2005.

EVs recently started to penetrate India. The total sales of electric motorcycles and EVs were about 10,000 units in 2007 to 2008, but the sales are expected to sharply soar to about 110,000 units in 2008 to 2009. However, electric motorcycles are making up the majority of the sales.

Although there are more than 15 manufacturers of electric motorcycles in India, only few Indian manufacturers deal with EVs or hybrids. At this moment, Reva is the only EV manufacturer and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd is the only hybrid manufacturer in India. Tata, on the other hand, is planning to market EVs in Europe as a starter.

The Indian government is currently devising policies with three pillars, “ecology,” “economy” and “social equity,” to diffuse EVs. Of these three pillars, EVs hold the key to both ecology and economy, Chatterji said.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 1st July 2009

Mitsubishi Heavy to Test CO2

Recovery from Coal-fired Flue Gas

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) and Southern Company, a major US power company, will jointly launch a field test in 2011 to recover high-purity carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal-fired flue gas.

The two companies will set up a CO₂ recovery demonstration plant, which is designed to be built at a medium-scale thermal power station in Alabama, the US. Based on the results of this demonstration plant, they will aim to commercialize the recovery plant in the future.

The field test will be subsidized by the US government. The demonstration plant will be constructed in Plant Barry, a coal-fired power station owned by Southern’s subsidiary Alabama Power. Recovered CO₂ will be compressed and stored in an aquifer deep underground.

The demonstration plant is composed of various facilities such as those for pre-processing, CO₂ absorption/reclamation (absorption and reclamation towers) and CO₂ injection. The plant will recover 500t of CO₂ per day (equivalent to that produced when 25,000kW electricity is generated). The recovery rate is 90% or higher. The purity of recovered CO₂ is expected to be 99.9%.

The recovery process is as follows. Coal-fired flue gas contains not only CO₂ but also ‘impurities’ such as SOx, NOx, heavy metals and halogen compounds. These impurities are removed as much as possible in the pre-processing facilities, and the flue gas is cooled to near room temperature.

Flue gas with most impurities removed is taken into the absorption tower. Inside the tower, the gas is brought into contact with an absorbing solution so that only CO₂ is absorbed into the solution. The solvent, “KS-1,” is an amine-based material co-developed by MHI and Kansai Electric Power Co Inc.

Next, the solution containing CO₂ is sent to the reclamation tower, where CO₂ and the solution are separated from each other by heating. Then, CO₂ is recovered, and the solution is recycled.

MHI has already commercialized a system to recover CO₂ from natural gas-fired flue gas. But, in order to apply this system to coal-fired flue gas, an additional process is required to remove heavy metals and halogen compounds because the impurities contained in natural gas-fired flue gas are only SOx and NOx.

Electric Power Development Co Ltd is also testing a CO₂ recovery plant for coal-fired flue gas at its Matsushima Thermal Power Plant. However, the amount of CO₂ recovered at the plant is only 10t per day. Therefore, a field test needs to be carried out using a larger scale plant for commercialization.

In addition to the field test announced this time, MHI is planning to construct a demonstration plant with a recovery capacity of 3,000t per day in the UK and intends to start trial operations in 2015.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 1st July 2009