Turbine

Natural gas-fired power plants are becoming increasingly efficient in the United States, according to a new analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The average utilization rate, or capacity factor, for the U.S. fleet of combined-cycle natural gas turbine (CCGT) plants has increased from 40% in 2008 to 57% in 2022, EIA noted. More…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently granted a Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) team of scientists $1.2 million to build an integrated computational and experimental framework for manufacturing ultrahigh-temperature refractory alloys.  These refractory alloys would contribute to an increased operating temperature on top of higher efficiency in natural gas turbines.  The DOE’s Advanced Research…

A major U.S. microturbine maker has found a new niche market for its onsite combined heat-and-power generating systems. Los Angeles-based Capstone Turbine Corp. is finding rapid growth for its products in the oil and gas patch.

FERC Wednesday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of National Fuel Gas Supply Corp.’s Line N 2012 expansion project that would increase the takeaway capacity from the Marcellus Shale basin to serve Northeast markets.

New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. said Friday its subsidiaries in Mississippi and Arkansas have agreed to purchase two combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants from divisions of Houston-based KGen Power Corp. The company also said it had completed its purchase of a third CCGT facility in Louisiana from Acadia Power Partners LLC.

Southern California Gas said Friday the loss of 300 MMcf/d of storage injection capacity due to emergency turbine repairs at its Aliso Canyon facility had ended as expected.

Gulf South said Tuesday it had begun unscheduled maintenance on Turbine Unit T6 at the Carthage Junction Compressor Station that it expects to complete by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Capacity through the compressor station to the 42-inch diameter expansion pipeline could be reduced to a maximum of 1.1 Bcf/d during this work, Gulf South said. Due to the unscheduled maintenance, it declared a force majeure event effective Wednesday until further notice for Expansion Capacity Allocation Area 16. TGT said the Carthage Junction work had the potential to impact its lease capacity on Gulf South at four locations.

Due to forecasts of cold weather and a turbine outage on its system, MRT will implement a System Protection Warning (SPW) at the start of Wednesday’s gas day. See the bulletin board for SPW conditions.

Northern Natural Gas declared a force majeure situation Thursday after detecting a leak upstream of the Plains Turbine on the Hobbs 26 suction line. The segment containing the leak must be isolated to facilitate repairs, which will require shutting in the Altura Gaines receipt point, Northern said. Upon isolating the affected area, eight other receipt points and four delivery points could be impacted and/or allocated, it added. See the bulletin board for further details.