Special Focus: POWER-GEN Europe 2013
Innovation and integration key to keeping Europe’s power flowing
With plans well underway for POWER-GEN Europe 2013, conference director Nigel Blackaby examines some of the key themes that will drive the debate in Vienna, with system flexibility and integration being critical to meeting Europe’s long-term generation challenge.
Con planes en marcha para la feria POWER-GEN Europe 2013, el director de la conferencia, Nigel Blackaby, examina algunos de los temas clave que abrirán el debate en Viena, con la flexibilidad e integración del sistema pueden ser críticas para superar el reto generacional europeo a largo plazo.
Die Pläne für POWER-GEN Europe 2013 kommen gut voran und Konferenzleiter Nigel Blackaby nimmt einige der Schlüsselthemen in Augenschein, die die Debatte in Wien bestimmen werden. Dabei sind Systemflexibilität und -integration entscheidend, um die langfristigen Herausforderungen der Stromerzeugung in Europa zu meistern.
R
apid growth in renewable infrastructure is placing considerable pressure on Europe’s power system. Renewables predominately generate power intermittently, meaning
their increasing prominence in the energy mix poses new challenges in respect of security of supply. System flexibility, back-up and storage are therefore pressing priorities. In particular, intermittency of supply means backup generation is critical to ensuring consistent stability in load at all times. Power generation technology development has focused heavily in the area of flexible gas-fired solutions, with manufacturers designing gas turbines to be fast ramping in order to achieve maximum load as quickly as possible and with the capability to operate efficiently in part-load conditions. Similarly, manufacturers of gas engines are
looking to improve the efficiency in which their engines can be operated. For example, power plants are now being
constructed with a dozen fast-starting gas engines, which provide the plant operator with the capability to use a small number where necessary and quickly fire-up additional ones should demand increase.
More in store Tere have also been significant advances in storage technologies. Hydro power pump storage in particular is gaining traction in countries such as Austria and Switzerland. Here, the electricity generated by renewables can be used to pump water from a lake at the bottom of a mountain to another lake or storage facility at the top.
When needed, the water is then released back down the hill and passes through a hydro turbine
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