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April 2019 • Volume 12 • No 2 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES is published by Man in Black Media • www.mibmedia.com • Editor-in-Chief: Junior Isles • For all enquiries email: enquiries@teitimes.com
Special Technology
supplement
Is AI the saviour?
A megaproject is under way that
is aimed at turning Bolivia into a
regional energy hub.
Unlocking big data through articial
intelligence could be key to the survival
of energy companies.
Page 13
News In Brief
Green hydrogen becoming
affordable alternative
The outlook for hydrogen as
an energy carrier is looking
increasingly promising, according to
recent research.
Page 2
NY reveals storage
incentives
New York state is keeping its energy
storage targets with a proposed
package of incentives
Page 4
Japan releases results of
V2G experiment
Mitsubishi Motors has released
results of a ‘Vehicle-to-Grid’ (V2G)
experiment undertaken by seven
Japanese companies.
Page 6
Finland moves to phase out
coal
Finland has approved proposals
to stop using coal for energy
production in 2029.
Page 7
South Africa faces power
shortages once more
South Africa’s economy is suffering
in the country’s latest round of load
shedding events.
Page 8
Shell increases electric
utility activity
Shell has accelerated its move into
the utility sector with the acquisition
of Limejump, a UK-based demand
side aggregator.
Page 9
Energy Outlook: A battery-
powered renewable future
Battery storage will reduce
costs, improve energy security
and increase renewables in the
generation mix. The question is how
to increase global deployment.
Page 14
Technology: Hydrogen and
electricity from plastic
A new process for the conversion
of waste – typically unrecyclable
plastic and used tyres – into
hydrogen and electricity has
been assessed and is now in the
commercialisation phase.
Page 15
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In a drive to accelerate clean deployment efforts in developing countries, the World Bank
Group and Global Wind Energy Council are working together to fast-track a growing pipeline
of offshore wind projects. Junior Isles
Carbon emissions reaches all-time high despite
renewables growth
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY
TIMES
Final Word
The UK’s green gas plan
is a bold one, says
Junior Isles.
Page 16
The World Bank Group (WBG) is
looking to accelerate the adoption of
offshore wind energy in developing
countries.
Under the new programme, the
World Bank and sister organisation
International Finance Corporation
(IFC) will help emerging markets as-
sess their offshore wind potential and
provide technical assistance to devel-
op a growing pipeline of projects that
are ready for investment by renewable
energy developers.
This work will be carried out in co-
operation with the Global Wind En-
ergy Council (GWEC) and its recently
formed Offshore Wind Task Force,
which brings together leading off-
shore wind developers, equipment
manufacturers and service providers.
Led by the World Bank’s Energy
Sector Management Assistance Pro-
gram (ESMAP), the $5 million pro-
gramme is being initiated thanks to a
£20 million ($26.4 million) grant to
ESMAP from the United Kingdom
government to help low- and middle-
income countries implement environ-
mentally sustainable energy solutions.
The initiative presents an important
opportunity for countries with strong
offshore wind resources, including
Brazil, Indonesia, India, the Philip-
pines, South Africa, Sri Lanka and
Vietnam. Vietnam’s technical poten-
tial for xed and oating offshore
wind is 309 GW, while South Africa
and Brazil have 356 GW and 526 GW
in total technical offshore wind poten-
tial, respectively.
The programme will bring together
developing country governments,
commercial developers, development
partners and wind energy experts to
raise awareness around offshore wind
opportunities in emerging markets
and lay the groundwork for a pipeline
of new projects that could be support-
ed by World Bank or IFC nancing.
The World Bank and IFC will work
with public and private sector partners
to undertake technical studies and de-
velop national strategies to facilitate
the adoption of this increasingly cost-
competitive technology.
According to the World Bank, off-
shore wind has grown nearly ve-
fold since 2011, with 23 GW installed
at the end of 2018 and a large volume
of planned projects in Europe, China
and the United States. Offshore wind
now represents about $26 billion in
annual investments or 8 per cent of
new global investments in clean en-
ergy and this proportion is set to in-
crease dramatically, with about $500
billion expected to be invested in
offshore wind projects by 2030.
“Offshore wind has already made
signicant strides in markets such as
Europe and China, but its true
potential reaches far beyond these es-
tablished areas,” Ben Backwell, CEO
at GWEC, said.
Riccardo Puliti, Senior Director and
Head of Energy and Extractives at the
World Bank added: “Offshore wind is
a clean, reliable and secure source of
energy with massive potential to
transform the energy mix in countries
that have great wind resources. We
have seen it work in Europe – we can
Continued on Page 2
Rapid growth in wind and solar was
not sufcient to prevent carbon diox-
ide emissions reaching a historic high
in 2018, according to an International
Energy Agency (IEA) report.
In its latest assessment of global en-
ergy consumption and energy-related
CO
2
emissions for 2018, the IEA
found that energy demand worldwide
grew by 2.3 per cent last year, the fast-
est pace this decade, with fossil fuels
meeting nearly 70 per cent of the
growth for the second year running.
According to the ‘Global Energy &
CO
2
Status Report’, the rapid growth
in energy demand was driven by a ro-
bust global economy and stronger
heating and cooling needs in some
regions. Natural gas emerged as the
fuel of choice, posting the biggest
gains and accounting for 45 per cent
of the rise in energy consumption.
Gas demand growth was especially
strong in the United States and China.
Solar and wind generation grew at
double-digit pace, with solar alone
increasing by 31 per cent. This, how-
ever, was not fast enough to meet
higher electricity demand around the
world, which also drove up coal use.
As a result, global energy-related
CO
2
emissions rose by 1.7 per cent to
33 Gt in 2018. Coal use in power gen-
eration alone surpassed 10 Gt, ac-
counting for a third of the total in-
crease. Most of that came from a
young eet of coal power plants in
developing Asia. The majority of coal
red generation capacity today is
found in Asia, with 12-year-old plants
on average, decades short of average
lifetimes of around 50 years.
The report says electricity contin-
ues to position itself as the “fuel” of
the future, with global electricity de-
mand growing by 4 per cent in 2018
to more than 23 000 TWh. This rapid
growth is pushing electricity towards
a 20 per cent share in total nal con-
sumption of energy. Increasing pow-
er generation was responsible for
half of the growth in primary energy
demand.
Renewables were a major contribu-
tor to this power generation expan-
sion, accounting for nearly half of
electricity demand growth. China re-
mains the leader in renewables, both
for wind and solar, followed by Eu-
rope and the US.
Energy intensity improved by 1.3
per cent last year, just half the rate of
the period between 2014-2016. This
third consecutive year of slowdown
was the result of weaker energy ef-
ciency policy implementation and
strong demand growth in more energy
intensive economies.
Commenting on the ndings, Dr
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Di-
rector, said: “Despite major growth
in renewables, global emissions are
still rising, demonstrating once again
that more urgent action is needed on
all fronts – developing all clean en-
ergy solutions, curbing emissions,
improving efciency, and spurring
investments and innovation, includ-
ing in carbon capture, utilisation and
storage.”
World Bank
Group pushes
offshore wind in
emerging markets
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
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THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
5
Asia News
Syed Ali
Large hydropower plants (HPPs) will
become part of the non-solar Renew-
able Purchase Obligation (RPO) in
India, as the government moves to
support the expansion of hydropower
generation and clean energy in the
country.
In March the Union Cabinet gave the
thumbs-up to a number of measures
that would allow India to take advan-
tage of its signicant hydropower po-
tential, estimated at 145.3 GW. Only
45.4 GW of this has been tapped so far.
One of the measures includes the clas-
sication of large hydro as renewable
energy – until now this was reserved
only for projects of up to 25 MW.
It is not yet clear how the RPO scheme
would change in order to include large
hydropower. Indian consultancy RE-
Connect Energy, said: “This change
will prove complex to implement and
may meet with resistance from many
states. One option available would be
to just incorporate large hydro in the
existing Non-solar RPO. However, this
will put a strong negative pressure on
REC [renewable energy certicate]
prices and future non-solar (primarily
wind) capacity addition.”
Following the decision, state-owned
hydropower producer NHPC (Nation-
al Hydroelectric Power Corporation)
announced plans to raise its installed
power generation capacity by approx-
imately 30 per cent by 2022 to reach a
total of 10 GW. The company plans to
spend Rs38 billion ($544 million) for
the scal year to March 2020 as a rst
step to reach this objective.
News to include large hydro as part
of the non-solar RPO comes as the
country saw a slowdown in growth of
wind capacity additions. At the start
of March, Crisil Research said a shift
to a competitive bidding mechanism
has slowed industry growth due to a
signicant fall in tariffs, triggering a
decline in both bid response and prof-
itability for original equipment manu-
facturers (OEMs).
The company added that the wind
energy sector is likely to see a slow
growth with regard to capacity addi-
tions over the next ve years.
It said in a statement that capacity
additions are expected to rise by 14-16
GW over scal 2019 to 2023, entailing
investments of Rs1100 billion ($16
billion). New capacity will mainly be
driven by central government alloca-
tions with relatively stronger counter
parties like Solar Energy Corporation
of India (SECI) and PTC India (for-
merly known as Power Trading Cor-
poration of India), reducing risk as
compared to direct exposure to state
distribution companies.
State auctioning, on the other hand,
has slowed as several states have
signed power supply agreements
(PSAs) with PTC and SECI to procure
wind power under the schemes auc-
tioned by them, to help full their non-
solar renewable purchase obligations
targets.
Crisil also said that moving to a com-
petitive bidding mechanism sector has
caused a slowdown in additions, as
participants are yet to adjust, with tar-
iffs having fallen to Rs2.4-2.6 per unit,
from Rs4-4.5 per unit under the feed-
in-tariff regime.
India has been taking signicant ac-
tion to boost its clean energy and re-
cently signed a major deal with the US
to build six nuclear power plants.
The agreement came after the ninth
round of India-US Strategic Security
Dialogue in March. A statement issued
by the Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA) said: “They committed to
strengthening bilateral security and
civil nuclear cooperation, including the
establishment of six US nuclear power
plants in India.”
The statement seeks to breathe new
life into the civil nuclear cooperation
agreement between the two countries,
which has failed to live up to expecta-
tions since it was signed in 2008.
A law limiting civil liability for
nuclear damages from the plants
passed in 2010 was meant to over-
come a stumbling block for US com-
panies looking to set up nuclear
power plants in India.
However, nancial problems at US
company Westinghouse, which had
agreed in 2016 to build six plants in
Andhra Pradesh, put the plans on hold
when it went into bankruptcy in 2017.
Now owned by Brookeld Asset Man-
agement, Westinghouse has received
the backing of the Trump administra-
tion for the project and US Energy
Secretary Rick Perry promoted it dur-
ing a visit to India last year.
India has ambitious plans to increase
its nuclear electric generation capacity
to meets its growing needs with clean
energy.
Key role for hydro in
India’s clean energy
expansion
n Hydro projects above 25 MW now part of non-solar RPO n US deal signed for six nuclear plants
Bangladesh is planning to raise $2 bil-
lion through issuing bonds to bankroll
investment in the power and energy
sector, according to State Minister for
Power, Energy and Mineral resources,
Nasrul Hamid.
“I am trying to oat an energy pow-
er bond at least for $2 billion,” he said.
“Two things we will get from there:
nance; and branding Bangladesh as
an investment destination. If I become
successful in raising $2 billion, albeit
a small amount given what we need in
the power and energy sector, the whole
world will be eager to invest in the
country.”
The country is already beginning to
prove an attractive destination for
overseas investors. In late February,
Arab Investment Development Au-
thority (AIDA) committed $5 billion
of investment to develop 5 GW of so-
lar power plants in cooperation with
Almaden Emirates Fortune Power
(AEFP) and Bangladesh-based In-
traco Solar Power (ISP).
The solar power project along with
the manufacturing facility, which is to
be completed within the next 6-8 years,
will be powered by a total of 14 million
solar panels, making it the largest solar
power plant investment in Bangladesh.
Commenting on the project, Adil Al
Otaiba, Chairman of AIDA, said:
“The project is likely to reduce pow-
er costs by billions as well as create
jobs for both the power plants and the
proposed solar manufacturing facility
based on an annual 500 MW capacity.
The development will reach its max-
imum capacity by 2030, in line with
the expectations of the government of
Bangladesh.”
Safa Capital Limited (SCL) a com-
pany regulated by Dubai Financial
Services Authority, is the lead nancial
advisor and arranger for the project.
n In mid-March the government
signed ve separate contracts with
Summit Corporation Limited and GE
Consortium for constructing a com-
bined cycle power plant at Megh-
naghat, Narayanganj with a power
generating capacity of 583 MW. Ac-
cording to sources at Power and En-
ergy Ministry, Summit and GE are
scheduled to complete the power
plant by March 2022.
Bangladesh moves
to attract energy
investment
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
Special Project Supplement
Energising Bolivia
A megaproject is
under way in Bolivia
that is part of a
strategic programme
aimed at turning
the country into a
regional energy hub.
The project, which
sees the conversion
of three separate
simple cycle plants
into combined cycle,
is a showcase in
project logistics
under challenging
conditions.
Junior Isles
what has been a logistically very chal-
lenging project.
In a mega project that will see the
plants converted from open cycle to
combined cycle, Siemens will supply
and commission: four SGT-800 gas
turbines, four SST-400 steam turbines
and eight HRSGs at Termoeléctrica
del Sur; four SGT-800 gas turbines,
four SST-400 steam turbines and
eight HRSGs at Termoeléctrica de
Warnes; and six SGT-800 gas tur-
bines, three SST-400 steam turbines,
and six HRSGs at Termoeléctrica
Entre Ríos.
The main aim of the new contract is
to boost the output of the three plants
and improve efciency. The exten-
sion will see the power output from
Termoeléctrica del Sur increase from
120 MW to about 480 MW; output
from Termoeléctrica de Warnes will
be increased from 200 MW to about
520 MW; and Termoeléctrica Entre
Ríos will see its capacity boosted
from 100 MW to about 480 MW.
Siemens is familiar with the power
plants, having installed the existing
13 gas turbines, which have been
operating at the sites for a number of
years. There are already four existing
SGT-800 turbines at del Sur and ve
at de Warnes; Entre Ríos has four
SGT-700s. The conversion of these
plants to combined cycle, through
the addition of HRSGs and steam
turbines, will increase plant ef-
ciency from round 40 per cent to
50-52 per cent, depending on ambi-
ent conditions.
Commenting on the decision to opt
for Siemens equipment for the proj-
ects, Josef Entfellner, Overall Project
Director, said: “The easiest thing for
the client is to use the same gas tur-
bines they already had for the exten-
sion. It’s easier for them to handle, it’s
easier for spare parts and for mainte-
nance. There is an existing mainte-
nance contract for the gas turbines in
the country, and this has been ex-
tended for the new units.”
The Termoeléctrica del Sur and de
Warnes projects are very similar. In
addition to steam tailing of the exist-
ing units, both will also feature two
completely new combined cycle
blocks, also in a ‘2-on-1’ congura-
tion. Each block comprises two gas
turbines, each with an associated
HRSG that will feed steam to a single
A
s a commodity, energy, espe-
cially gas, is key to Bolivia’s
economic development. With
sizeable gas reserves, the country is an
important energy provider to its neigh-
bours, exporting gas to Brazil and
Argentina. Further, in 2015 Bolivia
had an installed electricity generating
capacity of nearly 2000 MW with gas
accounting for 57 per cent of the an-
nual 9 TWh generation.
Several years ago, in a move to
capitalise on its gas reserves while at
the same time increasing the electri-
cation rate in the country, the govern-
ment took the decision to expand
three of its strategic gas red power
plants. The expansion project would
not only enable the country to ef-
ciently use more of its gas for domes-
tic power production but would also
allow it to export some of that elec-
tricity to its bordering countries and
become an energy hub for the region.
Implementation of that decision
began in 2015 when Bolivia’s Energy
Ministry and Siemens agreed on an
energy collaboration with the goal of
adding roughly 1100 MW to the na-
tional power grid.
Siemens and its consortium partner,
Spanish company TSK, signed a
contract with state-owned electricity
generator Ende Andina S.A.M in
2016 to expand three existing simple
cycle power plants – Termoeléctrica
del Sur, Termoeléctrica de Warnes,
and Termoeléctrica Entre Ríos.
The project is part of a wider vision
for development of the country’s
power sector to reach 100 per cent
electrication by the middle of the
next decade. Known as Vision 2025,
Bolivia is developing projects that
will see generating capacity go from
1924 MW in 2015 to 6000 MW in
2025, of which 3000 MW will be for
export. The plan will see a major
boost for renewables including wind,
solar, biomass, geothermal and hy-
droelectric power generation. But
with gas providing the bulk of genera-
tion, and expected to maintain a sig-
nicant share in the generating mix,
gas red combined cycle technology
is a key part of realising the vision.
Certainly, Bolivia is now undergo-
ing change. It is experiencing a
transformation process in its hydro-
carbon sector, in its industry, road
transport development, and in its
electricity sector. Ende Andina was
initially entrusted with the task of
guaranteeing electricity supply in the
national grid by building its rst gas
red power plant at Entre Ríos.
It was then assigned the task of in-
creasing system reliability by install-
ing additional power through the del
Sur and Warnes projects in the rst
open cycle stage. Today Ende Andina
has the task of changing the genera-
tion technology by moving current
open cycle plants to combined cycle
systems
Ramiro Becerra Flores, Project
lead, Ende Andina, said: “Incorporat-
ing new technology is fundamental
because the gas/energy conversion
process is more efcient and gives the
country the opportunity to nd other
uses for the surplus or residual
amounts of gas that are going to be
produced as a result of mainstreaming
this more efcient new technology.
The scale of the projects, not only
with regard to the electricity industry
but for projects in general in Bolivia,
presents challenges, above all for ex-
ample in the eld of logistics.”
Under the contract, Siemens’ scope
of supply includes the delivery of a
total of 14 industrial gas turbines, 11
steam turbines, 22 heat recovery
steam generators (HRSGs), and other
power plant equipment to Bolivia, in
The expansion project will,
among other things, allow
Bolivia to export electricity to
its bordering countries and
become an energy hub for the
region
turbines, whenever possible.
The rst gas turbine was loaded
onto a ship in Norköping, Sweden.
The ship then travelled to the port of
Hamburg, Germany, where the gas
and steam turbine generators and
other auxiliaries for the gas turbine
were brought on board. The ship then
travelled to Arica, Chile, through the
Panama Canal. In Arica, the parts
were unloaded and trucked to each
project site.
With equipment arriving from sev-
eral countries, different ports of entry
had to be used, as a single port was not
large enough to handle all the cargo.
For the 22 boilers, each consisting of
two modules, a total of 44 boiler
modules were shipped from China to
the ports of Angamos and Arica,
Chile, and then transported on to the
project sites.
It took approximately ve to eight
weeks to ship the gas turbines by sea
from Sweden or Germany to the port
of Arica and then roughly four weeks
to transport them onward to the con-
struction sites.
With limitations on trucks capable
of transporting equipment, it was im-
possible to transport equipment to all
three sites in parallel. Deliveries were
therefore staggered to ship a maxi-
mum of four boilers at one time and
two gas turbines on one vessel.
The main challenge began when
equipment arrived in the country.
Landlocked Bolivia is the highest and
most isolated country in South
America. It has a varied terrain span-
ning the Andes Mountains, the Ataca-
ma Desert and Amazon Basin rainfor-
est. Much of the equipment had to be
navigated across the Andes at a height
of 4680 m.
Many challenges were encountered
at a number of points on the land
routes. Crossing bridges and rivers, as
well as coping with the rainy season,
were some of the key challenges
faced in implementing the project.
The constantly changing and often
extreme weather conditions along the
route (heat, snow, heavy rain, mud-
slides, ooding), presented a special
challenge.
“We had to cross different climatic
zones and the transport on the truck
itself was a huge effort,” said Koerber.
“Normally we try to keep truck trans-
port for heavy-lift equipment as short
as possible. But for this project, in
some instances we had to travel over
1800 km to reach a site with 100
heavy-lift cargoes.”
Transporting the boilers was partic-
ularly challenging. “They are very
large pieces of equipment, weighing
around 170 t. It required several
trucks to pull or push the weight over
the Andes,” said Koerber.
Some journeys involved crossing
50 bridges, with many requiring the
construction of temporary metal sup-
ports. In some cases, new roads had to
be built. “We did a study even before
the project began to make sure it was
all feasible,” said Koerber.
He added: “In South America, you
always need to have communication
with the local authorities. The rst
road may be ne but on the second
there may be a problem; and in Bo-
livia not all the roads are paved. We
needed to be exible to nd a new
road if necessary or change plan to
nd the best solution to get the equip-
ment to site in time.”
Entre Ríos provided a good example
of the adaptability of the logistics
team. Along the route to the plant,
there were two bridges that were too
high to be supported. The team there-
fore took the decision to transport the
six HRSGs from Chile to Bolivia by
aeroplane.
“We had to use the world’s biggest
cargo plane, the Antonov An-225, to
get the heavy equipment past these
bridges and to deliver what we prom-
ised to the customer,” said Koerber.
“We had 12 deliveries; it was a huge
effort.”
The rst gas turbines arrived at del
Sur in August 2017, four months after
leaving Sweden. The rst steam tur-
bine from Brazil also arrived in Au-
gust. There was approximately a
two-month stagger between the three
plants, with Warnes following two
months after del Sur and Entre Ríos,
two months after Warnes.
Erection began as soon as main
equipment began arriving at the sites.
At the peak of construction, there
were more than 1700 people deployed
across the three sites.
A major milestone was reached on
September 18, 2018 with rst re of
the rst two new gas turbines at Ter-
moeléctrica del Sur. Firing of the next
steam turbine. The fth of the existing
gas turbines at de Warnes will remain
in open cycle.
These two plants will also be cooled
differently. Due to its location in the
south of the country, where the condi-
tions are dry, Termoeléctrica del Sur
will use air-cooled condensers. As
Termoeléctrica de Warnes is in an
area where there are small rivers and
wells and rainfall is high, cooling
towers will be employed.
At Entre Ríos, the existing gas tur-
bines will all remain in open cycle.
The new equipment will be used to
build three new 2-on-1 combined cy-
cle blocks. With the availability of
sufcient cooling water, this plant
will also use cooling towers, which
allows slightly higher efciency than
air-cooled condensers.
The decision to keep some of the
gas turbines at the plant in open cycle
allowed each of the combined cycle
blocks to be designed identically. This
not only reduces costs but also means
that the open cycle units can be kept
for use at times of peak demand.
The three plants are geographically
spread in different parts of the coun-
try, and were selected for expansion,
as opposed to building a single new
large facility, for several reasons.
The high voltage grid connections
were already available, as was cool-
ing water, and smaller plants provide
more exibility in terms of power
output and speed of start-up. Further,
the transport of the heavy equipment
that would have been required for a
larger plant would have been almost
impossible.
Each site is also at a fairly low alti-
tude. Bolivia is perhaps ve times
bigger than Germany but only has a
population of around 11 million,
mostly living in two or three major
cities. While it might be expected that
a power plant could be located close
to areas of high load, a couple of those
cities are at a high elevation.
Entfellner noted: “The power plants
are between 200-400 m above sea
level. La Paz, which has about 3 mil-
lion people, is between 3600 m and
4100 m above sea and Cochabamba,
which has about 1 million people is
also at an altitude of 2600 m. Building
the plant at a lower altitude means a
higher output from the gas turbines.”
Termoeléctrica del Sur is located in
southern Bolivia near the border with
Argentina about 120 km east of the
city Tarija, and due to its location
will be able to export power to neigh-
bouring South American nations.
Termoeléctrica de Warnes, is in the
Warnes province next to the city
Santa Cruz; and Termoeléctrica Entre
Ríos is in Cochabamba province,
175 km southeast of Cochabamba.
The overall project has moved at a
relatively fast pace, especially when
considering the logistics of delivering
the equipment from different parts of
the world to three dispersed sites in
Bolivia.
Following nalisation of the Memo-
randum of Understanding (MoU) in
2015, Siemens signed the nal con-
tract and was given Notice-to-Proceed
on May 31, 2016. Siemens’ consor-
tium partner TSK was largely respon-
sible for electrical systems, civil
works, erection and installation.
Manufacture of the gas turbines be-
gan immediately in Finspång, Swe-
den, and the rst unit was ready for
shipping in April 2017.
Manufacturing of the steam tur-
bines, HRSGs as well as the 25 gen-
erators, eight bypass stacks, 25 trans-
formers and the power plant control
systems began on completion of engi-
neering design.
As custom-engineered components,
manufacturing of the boiler and steam
turbines started slightly later than the
gas turbines. Manufacture of the boil-
ers was carried out in China and the
rst was shipped in May 2017. Steam
turbine manufacture was undertaken
in Brazil and the rst machine was
shipped in June 2017.
Shipping and delivery of the major
equipment was quite a challenge,
one that required a great deal of
coordination.
Entfellner said: “We had a team in
Vienna coordinating the engineering,
as well as people in Spain to coordi-
nate the civil works and balance-of-
plant. And of course we had people
working on the gas turbine develop-
ment, boiler design and steam turbine
design, etc. This means we had an
international team to coordinate get-
ting all the equipment ready for ex-
works and getting it to site on time.”
Marcus Koerber, Transport and Lo-
gistics Manager says the project was
“interesting” as well as “challenging
from time-to-time”. Overall there
were about 1000 shipments – all
scheduled to be delivered within a
time frame of roughly one year.
Koerber noted: “We had a lot of
heavy equipment such as the gas
turbines and boiler parts. Some of
the boiler parts weighed up to 170 t
each. And in Bolivia there was a
shortage of the [transport] equip-
ment needed to deliver everything at
the same time. The main task was to
coordinate the shipments in a way so
that equipment was available at the
same time and to arrive at the sites
according to the schedules for erec-
tion and execution.”
The overall project called for ap-
proximately 400 heavy haulage ship-
ments to the three power plants –
nearly 100 heavy-lift shipments and
300 oversize cargo shipments.
In order to streamline deliveries and
have equipment arriving at the same
time to site, Siemens shipped genera-
tors on the same vessel as the gas
Special Project Supplement
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
Bolivia’s three combined
cycle power plants. From left
to right: Termoeléctrica del
Sur (480 MW); Termoeléctrica
Entre Ríos (480 MW) and
Termoeléctrica de Warnes
(520 MW)
Most of the equipment arrived by boat and was then transported by road to the three sites
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
Special Project Supplement
Almost all of the equipment
had to be navigated across
the Andes mountains at a
height of 4680 m
Becerra from Ende Andina
says the availability of
electricity will facilitate the
general socio-economic
development of the country
ing of subsequent gas turbine or put-
ting water treatment plants, etc., into
operation is always much quicker.”
Due to the logistical challenges
with transport, buffers of between
three and six months were built into
the agreed schedules to allow for
force majeure.
Entfellner explained: “For example,
in del Sur there is a buffer of three and
a half or four months, and similar for
Warnes; and at Entre Ríos, we have a
buffer of eight months. So for Entre
Ríos, our intention is to handover the
project in October/November but we
are allowed until June next year.”
The additional capacity from all
three sites is scheduled to be fully
available by the end of this year or the
beginning of next year.
In addition to the jobs resulting
from the use of several local compa-
nies during erection, operation and
maintenance of the plants will also
provide jobs for the local communi-
ties. “We have already carried out a
lot of training for operators, who
have been issued with certicates,”
said Entfellner. “We are now doing
on-the-job training for people who
will nally operate the plants.”
He also noted that a Long Term
Service Agreement (LTSA) is already
in place for the existing units and this
will be extended to cover the new
units as well.
Notably, servicing will be carried
out by a new service and training
centre that is being built by Siemens
on a 9200 m
2
site at the Parque Indus-
trial Latinoamericano (PILAT) in the
city of Warnes. The centre will also
function as a hub for servicing power
equipment installed in the South
America region. The service centre
will be complete by November this
year, with the training centre operat-
ing in the rst quarter of next year.
two followed in mid-December and
the plant received its Provisional Ac-
ceptance Certicate in February. The
rst two SGT-800s at Warnes were
ignited in January this year, with the
second two following in late February.
Now just six months after rst ring at
del Sur, commissioning of these two
plants is currently ongoing under the
watchful eye of the commissioning
teams.
At Entre Ríos, commissioning be-
gan recently with back-energising
taking place in March to provide
power from the grid to operate auxil-
iary equipment. The next key mile-
stone will be ring of the gas turbines,
which is expected in early to mid-
April.
Entfellner commented: “The rst
unit is always the most complicated
because there are always some new
competences involved but with les-
sons learned, you can see synchronis-
Tim Frace, Head of Siemens Power
Generation Services Latin America,
said: “The Service Centre is key to
being able to service the large SGT-
800 eet in Bolivia. It will also
eventually become a regional Ser-
vice Centre for the SGT-800 eet.
We will be able to provide remote
monitoring for our SGT-800 technol-
ogy and other units in Bolivia.
Moreover, the service centre will
also work as a training centre for our
customers and personnel.”
Siemens is investing over $23 mil-
lion in the facility, which it says will
improve delivery time on parts, tool-
ing and other resources.
One of the important aspects of the
centre will be an innovation room.
This room will be used to monitor the
performance the entire SGT-800 eet
in Bolivia by using Siemens’ latest
digital technologies and solutions to
diagnose and analysis the data pro-
duced by the eet.
The centre is expected to employ
about 130 people and is predicted to
grow. “The Service Centre will con-
tinue to grow and in order to cover
the needs for this centre, many high
skilled jobs will be generated for
the local communities” said Frace.
“This will help develop more spe-
cialised professionals with interna-
tional certication.”
Certainly, the centre and new plants
will improve living standards quickly.
Some areas of Bolivia have suffered
several power cuts in recent times,
due to demand outstripping supply.
Regarding the importance of this
project Becerra said: “Ende Andina is
part of a development project devised
by the administration of President
Evo Morales in the electricity eld.
It’s going to make the national inter-
connected system highly reliable, and
the availability of electricity means
we will have the tools to facilitate the
general socio-economic development
of the country, thanks to the avail-
ability of a service and a resource
such as electricity.
“It will also trigger the growth of the
electricity network, the national inter-
connected system. Although this ex-
tends to eight of the nine provinces in
Bolivia, there is still huge scope for
integrating users.
“What’s more, another main impact
is the rational and efcient use of gas
as a resource, which is a pillar that
keeps the Bolivian economy going.
It will free-up volumes of gas that
will be used for the industrialisation
that is currently under way on a
grand scale, the industrialisation of
gas, as well as other types of indus-
trialisation, such as agricultural pro-
duction, nished products, etc.”
John Prado, Siemens Country CEO
of Bolivia believes that bringing reli-
able electricity to urban and rural
areas, while improving supply to in-
dustrial sectors, will help the econo-
my to grow. This will in turn present
further opportunities – in Bolivia and
the rest of the region.
“This project also helped Argentina.
Argentinean customers witnessed
what was being implemented in Bo-
livia and wanted the same technology
to benet from the exibility and ef-
ciency it offers. Other countries like
Colombia have also visited the Bo-
livia power plants to adopt similar
models.”
He concluded: “This type of col-
laboration with the government and
other entities is a great model to fol-
low in other regions of the world to
develop and implement electricity
for generations. With our innovative
technologies and our huge project
expertise we improve the quality of
life for people all over the world.”
Electricity for generations:
Fulfilling a country’s vision
A stable power infrastructure ensuring reliable supply of electricity is
indispensable for every economy. Together with our partners we co-create
and fulfill energy concepts for countries and regions elevating their power
supply to a new level.
Since 1990, Siemens has completed over 500 turnkey power plants with
total output exceeding 155,000 megawatts. With the right ideas,
innovations, and know-how, we are the partner of choice for our customers.
By generating reliable electricity for generations we help driving the
socio-economic development of a country – and the future of its people.
Source: World Energy Outlook 2018
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
11
Energy Industry Data
Solar PV levelised cost of electricity, 2017
Growing needs and range of options for exibility
Flexibility in the global power system, 2017
World Energy Outlook 2018, © IEA/OECD, Figure 7.15, page 297
World Energy Outlook 2018, © IEA/OECD, Figure 7.20, page 302
World Energy Outlook 2018, © IEA/OECD, Figure 7.19, page 302
For more information, please contact:
International Energy Agency
9, rue de la Fédération
75739 Paris Cedex 15
France.
Email: bookshop@iea.org
website: www.iea.org
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
13
Industry Perspective
M
ost industries have gone
through revolutionary chang-
es over the last two de-
cades. Blockbuster and Hollywood
Video rental stores were disrupted by
Netix. Retail shopping was inter-
rupted by e-commerce, led by Ama-
zon, followed soon by almost every
brick-and-mortar store. The trans-
portation market is in the process of
being disrupted by Uber and Lyft;
the hotel industry by AirBnb; and the
list of examples goes on.
During these revolutions, some in-
dustries end up with extinction of
traditional players while others see
the dust settle with old players
holding a much smaller market po-
sition. Part of the extinction de-
pends on how fast the incumbents
adopt new technologies and inno-
vate on their own. Intel for years
has followed the philosophy of dis-
rupting its own product before any-
one else does and introduces newer
versions of its microprocessor chips
every year or two, for example.
The energy industry is currently
going through its own disruption cy-
cle. The traditional business model
for regulated utilities has been to
build infrastructure for the genera-
tion, transmission and distribution of
electricity and to earn a rate of return
on capital investments. The public
commissions regulate utility prots
by dening the energy rate that gives
them a specic rate of return on their
investment.
Importantly, what is changing in
the energy industry is the availability
of new technology.
First, the presence of renewable en-
ergy resources like solar gave con-
sumers the option to produce their
own energy, which takes revenue
away from the traditional utility
model. Then came the commerciali-
sation of battery storage technology
at scale funded by electric vehicles,
allowing consumers to store the en-
ergy they produce from renewables.
The net effect is a big dent in the tra-
ditional business model of utilities
since their infrastructure costs are
not reduced in the same proportion
as their revenues. As they are a regu-
latory-protected industry, they are
more immune to external pressures
and the threat of extinction as com-
pared to the other independent, un-
protected industries, but they are not
100 per cent safe.
Also, a new class of technology
companies is looking to address an-
other new phenomenon in energy:
opposite swings on the grid. As more
and more homes produce their own
energy with solar and more electric
vehicles get on the road, the grid has
two opposite load swings. In the US,
California’s landmark mandate that
all new homes built starting in 2020
are required to have solar and an In-
ternational Energy Agency estimated
125-220 million EVs worldwide
coming by 2030 are clear signs of
the direction the industry is headed –
putting immense pressure on a grid
that was never built for this model.
Technologies looking to control de-
vices in the home (or so-called
Smart Home) like smart thermostats
that pre-cool the home during off
peak hours, or consumer technolo-
gies designed to motivate people to
run their major appliances, such as
the dryer or pool pumps, when there
is a surplus on the grid, are signi-
cantly changing the energy supply to
the home. What was once a simple
supply of electrons is becoming a
very complex industry where many
other players outside of utilities have
a say in solving the problems – and
adoption of these means utilities
only own a fraction of total energy
supply, essentially reducing their
market share.
Luckily, not all odds are against
utilities. Technology can also be part
of the solution that presents utilities
with new, innovative ways to meet
external pressures and tackle head-
on the shifting industry dynamics.
One major technological change in
the last decade is the arrival of smart
grid. Smart meters, smart routers and
other equipment have been mod-
ernising the grid for reliable power
and automation. There is a treasure
trove of data produced by smart me-
ters that contains information about
the load in each home. But, it is
locked. Will technology come to res-
cue utilities and unlock this data,
which is the key to understanding
each customer and personalising
utility service?
In the age of big data, where large
cloud servers running extremely
complex algorithms using articial
intelligence (AI) and machine learn-
ing solve big problems, it is abso-
lutely possible to unlock this data.
Technologies like energy disaggre-
gation and lifestyle segmentation al-
low the time series, whole-home
consumption data from smart meters
to be analysed and identify appli-
ance-level energy use without the
need for any sensors in the home.
Large appliances like air condition-
ers, heaters, refrigerators, dryers,
electric vehicles, etc., leave their
electronic “ngerprint” when turned
on and off. But, they are not easily
visible because they are often in use
overlapping with each other and
hard to separate from whole-home
consumption waveforms. AI tech-
nology comes to the rescue and ap-
plies algorithms that have been pre-
trained to separate the signatures.
This is similar to how Facebook or
Google pattern recognition technolo-
gy identies faces in an image, and
once tagged, can even identify
whose face it is automatically in the
future. In other words, AI has
learned to recognise this person. For
utilities, faces are replaced with ap-
pliance recognition. Now that utili-
ties can understand the consumption
behaviours of appliances by type,
time and frequency of use, combined
with all the publicly available demo-
graphic information on homes and
weather, they are in a position to per-
sonalise customer engagement à la
the consumer tech giants.
In what ways are utilities using this
newly found information? For start-
ers, energy bills are becoming ite-
mised – just like mobile phone and
credit card statements are – breaking
down for customers where their
spend is going each month. Next, the
$7.5 billion utilities spend on energy
efciency programmes to fund a va-
riety of rebates (like that on smart
thermostats and LEDs), home up-
grades, appliance replacements (re-
frigerators, pool pumps, etc.), can
now be spent more efciently by tar-
geting customers who would benet
the most. No more sending pool
pump rebates to homes without pools.
Lastly, new business models are
enabled through this customer usage
information. Most utilities are start-
ing to upsell other products and ser-
vices like electric vehicle chargers;
system installations and repairs; and
energy efciency products such as
smart thermostats. In the competitive
selling world where consumers
make decisions by looking at user
ratings on Amazon and Yelp, utilities
were at a disadvantage. With the per-
sonalised information, however,
their ability to not only target the
right customers for right offers but
also show them the return on invest-
ment (ROI) when buying a product
or service from their utility gives
them a selling advantage.
While AI has revolutionised many
industries over the last decade, it is
still relatively a new frontier in the
energy space. The myriad ways in
which AI will redene the landscape
for utilities is unfolding everyday. In
the near future, do not be surprised if
electric utilities reach out to custom-
ers to sell them an electric car or a
solar and energy storage system; a
smart thermostat or new energy ef-
cient refrigerator; a security system
or even a vacation package. Utilities
may not know your internet brows-
ing habits like Amazon and Google,
but they surely have found an alter-
nate way of catching up in the game
of survival.
Abhay Gupta is Founder & CEO of
Bidgely a technology company offer-
ing disaggregation-powered utility
solutions.
In an age where large
cloud servers running
complex algorithms
using articial
intelligence (AI) and
machine learning
solve problems, it is
possible to unlock the
big data produced
by smart meters –
data that contains
information about the
load in each home.
Some believe that
unlocking this data is
key to the survival of
energy companies.
Abhay Gupta
Gupta: The myriad ways in which AI will redene the landscape for utilities is unfolding everyday
Will AI save the utility business?
systems and regulation. It will also be
a challenge for energy storage to re-
duce costs and improve regular access
to clean energy. A new regulatory
framework is needed that can mone-
tise exibility and include battery
storage in different market mecha-
nisms, such as ancillary services.
Recycling materials in batteries will
also be key to ensuring the sustain-
ability of the industry. Recycling
processes for industrial Li-ion batter-
ies remain immature and expensive,
and are not expected to take-off for a
while. While the cost of fully recy-
cling a battery is falling towards €1
per kg (approx. €10/kWh), this is still
approximately three times higher
than what can be expected from sell-
ing the reclaimed materials on the
market.
Additionally, batteries are still too
expensive for households to adopt,
without even counting for battery
pack and balance of plant costs. Ger-
many has achieved success in democ-
ratising access to battery storage
through public funding. Germany
marked its 100 000th home to install
a battery storage system. In the UK,
the total is just a tenth of that number
as subsidies are lower and the case to
increase PV self-generation is less
attractive.
Battery storage represents an excit-
ing opportunity for the energy market
and one that has the potential to radi-
cally reshape power networks and
rapidly accelerate global progress to-
wards a renewable future. However,
swift progress should not be taken for
granted. Its future is dependent on a
complex set of considerations, from
ongoing research and development,
to regulatory frameworks, a new
mindset from commercial providers
and further cost reduction.
The overall case for battery storage
is clear: it will reduce costs, improve
energy security and above all increase
the percentage of renewable energy
sources in the global power mix. The
question now is how to increase the
existing few GWh deployed globally
currently by helping battery storage
enter the mainstream market. A bat-
tery powered energy future will not
create itself: it will take conscious,
co-ordinated efforts across the public
and private sectors to become reality.
Marianne Boust is Expert in Renew-
able Energy Technologies, Energy
Storage and Utilities Transformation,
Capgemini Invent. For further re-
search on the role of battery storage,
read Capgemini’s Solar and storage:
a roadmap for successful utilities.
R
enewable energy sources are
estimated to account for over
30 per cent of the global pow-
er supply by 2040, with this gure
rising to as high as 50 per cent in ad-
vanced markets such as Europe.
Yet if the potential of renewables in
playing a larger role in the global
energy mix is to be achieved and
contribute to a global reduction in
carbon emissions, several technologi-
cal barriers must be overcome. Chief
among these is the challenge of
matching renewable energy supply
with consumer demand and xing the
intermittency of solar and wind en-
ergy sources. How can power supply
be rendered reliable, even when the
sun isn’t shining and the wind is not
blowing?
Recent improvements in battery
technology offer hope of a compre-
hensive answer to this problem. If
energy generated from intermittent
sources can be stored cost-effectively
and at scale, one of the primary fac-
tors holding back renewable energy
development will have been resolved.
As such, while the renewable energy
debate has long been focused on
competing means of supply, the cost
and capacity of storage is now fast
rising up the agenda. Over $600 bil-
lion of investment into energy storage
is expected between 2018 and 2040,
according to ndings from Bloom-
berg NEF. This is already taking ef-
fect. In the United States, utilities are
investing in grid-scale storage rather
than building new power plants. Over
2018, battery storage grew by 27 per
cent, with 431 MWh installed. US
storage capacity is expected to triple
in 2019 to 1233 MWh.
Acquisitions, including Shell’s re-
cent purchases of Sonnen and Lime-
jump, also indicate a market that is
turning its attention to batteries and
energy management solutions.
As batteries start to play an active
role in national energy infrastructure,
the role of batteries in powering the
renewable revolution is shifting from
concept to reality. That in turn raises
questions over what happens next,
and how developments to date can be
catalysed into meaningful, long-term
progress.
Batteries are attracting increasing
investment and interest for a number
of reasons, the rst of which is their
versatility regarding the number of
possible applications across the ener-
gy supply chain. Batteries have a role
to play both at grid-scale, plugging
gaps and creating exibility in critical
energy infrastructure, and behind the
meter, giving individual enterprises
and households more control over
their renewable energy supply.
Secondly, the cost of battery storage
has been reducing rapidly, down ve-
fold over a decade, and is expected to
continue falling. From $200/kWh in
2017, the cost of a battery cell is ex-
pected to decrease another 66 per cent
by 2030, according to Capgemini’s
‘World Energy Market Observatory’
report.
Thirdly, we are approaching a tech-
nological breakthrough that would
transform the potential of battery
storage. Currently, most battery stor-
age relies on the lithium ion model
that was developed in the 1980s. Over
the last decade, strides have been
taken towards the development of
solid state batteries, which replace the
liquid electrolyte that facilitates con-
duction within lithium ion models
with a comparable solid.
This allows for improved energy
density, increasing the storage poten-
tial of each battery at the same time as
reducing its weight, and ultimately
bringing down its cost further. Solid
state batteries will also be able to
charge more quickly, and require
charging less frequently. And, by re-
placing a ammable liquid for a solid,
there is potential for safety to be im-
proved too. The solid state battery’s
increased tolerance for heat will obvi-
ate the need for cooling systems that
add both bulk and cost.
Manufacturers vary on how soon
the solid state battery will be ready for
use, with Panasonic and Toyota
among those warning that it cannot be
expected to enter the mainstream for
another decade. But the prospect of
such a signicant breakthrough, on
top of the already notable progress
made on cost and capacity with exist-
ing technology, points towards a
market that will before long have
storage of renewable energy as its
fulcrum. So what’s next for an indus-
try that can see its future, but can’t yet
access the technology that would re-
alise the vision?
In recent years, developments in
battery technology have largely been
led by Asian battery manufacturers
seeking to unlock the electric vehicle
(EV) market. Players such as Pana-
sonic and BYD have been competing
to develop the battery that will keep
an EV on the road for the longest time
between charges at the lowest cost.
That has led to a benecial spill over
effect on the energy market and a
slow take-off of the EV market, with
Tesla leading a project to create the
world’s largest lithium ion battery in
South Australia, an area which has
been consistently affected by extreme
weather and blackouts. The installa-
tion has a storage capacity of 129
MWh. In its rst year it delivered cost
savings estimated at $40 million, and
contributed to improved grid security
in the aftermath of a major lightning
strike. Similar projects are now under
way, as a keystone of the South Aus-
tralian government’s target to source
100 per cent of power from renewable
sources by 2025.
Now the wider industry is starting to
follow, and both carmakers and utili-
ties are jumping in. Utilities are up-
ping their investments in energy
storage, with the UK’s ScottishPower
recently announcing a £2 billion in-
vestment programme. In Germany,
Volkswagen recently partnered with
the battery production startup North-
volt, to create a new consortium to
advance batteries for EVs in Europe.
For that potential to be realised,
some challenges must be addressed.
Primarily, there is a mismatch be-
tween the design of current energy
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2019
Energy Outlook
14
The case for battery storage is clear: it will reduce costs, improve energy security and above
all increase the percentage of renewable energy sources in the global power mix. The
question is how to increase global deployment. Marianne Boust
A battery-powered
renewable future
Boust: there is a mismatch between the design of current
energy systems and regulation
