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Wudongde 10.2 GW hydro comes fully online
China Hydropower
The Wudongde (WDD) project is the seventh largest hydropower station in the world, and has the largest capacity single unit in operation. Now, under a year after the commissioning of the first unit, all units are connected to the grid and in commercial operation.
On schedule, the last unit, the last of six 850 MW Francis turbine generator sets and related equipment supplied by GE Renewable Energy, has been successfully connected to the grid and has completed 72 hours of trial operation. Under the contract signed in 2015, GE was responsible for the design, engineering, manufacturing, erection supervision and commissioning of the six generator sets. At 850 MW, these are the world’s largest units ever used in a hydropower plant.
The first unit was connected to the grid in July 2020. The power plant is located in the lower reaches of Jinsha River, and with a total installed capacity of 10 200 MW is an essential part of the West-East Power Transmission project, by which China is developing power resources in the western region and sending
electricity to provinces in the East including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing where the electricity supply is in most demand. It is estimated that energy produced by the WDD plant will save about 12.2 million tons of standard coal per year and reduce emissions of 30.5 million tons of carbon dioxide as well as 104 000 tons of sulphur dioxide. Wudongde is the third joint large-scale national energy infrastructure project of the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) and GE Renewable Energy on a national level. The Three Gorges Project was connected to the grid in 2008, followed by the Xiangjiaba hydropower plant, which was completed in 2014. To realise the project, GE has upgraded local hydropower production capacity. Among other things, the company has managed the project from its site in Tianjin, China, where most of the components were also manufactured. The parts were then assembled at a specially built and dedicated on-site facility in Wudongde. This remote workshop helped improve logistical efficiency while maintaining the required quality standards.
48.9 GW in the UK renewables pipeline
UK Renewable energy Renewables projects labelled as “scoping” currently represents 50% or 48.9 GW of the total viable pipeline capacity, according to the latest analysis from Cornwall Insight. This 48.9 GW total includes 38.6 GW offshore wind, 5.0 GW in battery projects, 3.0 GW of onshore wind and 1.5 GW of solar PV.
This encompasses some of the successful projects in the latest Crown Estate leasing round, representing sites at a much earlier stage in their development than those currently in the pipeline.
Lucy Dolton, Analyst at Cornwall Insight, commented: “While there is no guarantee that all of these projects will ultimately come to fruition, tracking [them] will only become more prudent as we look beyond Allocation Round Four (AR4) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme.
GE signs agreement for green H2-fuelled power plant
USA Hydrogen economy GE and Cricket Valley Energy Centre have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to develop a green hydrogen technology roadmap and advance a demonstration project to reduce carbon emissions at CVEC’s 1.1 GW natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant located in Dover Plains, New York state. This is seen as the first step toward conversion to a 100 % hydrogen fuel capable plant. The project is planned to begin in late 2022. The initial stage will be aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of converting the natural gas-fuelled facility to utilise hydrogen, in support of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandates 100 % zero-carbon emissions in the electricity sector by 2040. The project will be conducted on one of three GE 7F.05 gas turbines currently operating at CVEC by introducing 5 % hydrogen mix with natural gas for several weeks, to make use of GE’s expertise with combustion technology using hydrogen and low-BTU fuels. The agreement is intended to expand to include leading hydrogen providers, along with consultation from New York State and federal agencies to develop policy guidance related to the production, transport, delivery, and storage of hydrogen. The H2 Roadmap will serve as a research and development plan for technical changes necessary to increase the percentages of hydrogen utilisation at the plant as it becomes more readily available, while adhering to applicable operational guidelines.
“The early-stage projects that either were successful in the latest Crown Estate leasing round or those that will be successful in the upcoming Scotwind leasing round later this year are in their infancy and therefore will not be eligible for AR4. However, Cornwall Insight’s analysis indicates an established group of up to 10 GW of offshore wind is likely to compete. In addition, outside of offshore wind, ie Pot 1 (established) and Pot 2 (less established, eg floating offshore wind, tidal, geothermal) technologies, the pipeline of CfD-eligible projects continues to grow.
“With a growing pipeline that is technology and capacity diverse, there are differences in how long it takes for projects to move through their respective planning processes. Nevertheless, the amount of time to progress pipeline projects’ overall through the planning process has reduced across most technology types, including solar PV, battery, onshore wind, and offshore wind. However, this rate of reduction, particularly between submitting a planning application and it being approved, has slowed in recent years, with 79% of pipeline projects across these four technologies being in pre-construction development stages. “This is important because while there is a growing pipeline, the bottleneck of projects at pre-construction planning stages could challenge the wider scale rate of deployment of renewables.
“Key upcoming developments regarding the renewables pipeline in GB will be the outcome of the ScotWind leasing round, and more details regarding AR4 such as the Draft Budget Notice, indicative timeline and the December opening date. What is already clear is that the GB renewables pipeline remains dynamic as we look ahead to the next CfD auction and beyond, with a growing number of early-stage projects in the pipeline.”
www.modernpowersystems.com | July/August 2021 | 5
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