Market Segment - Power Generation

Throughout North America, natural gas is increasingly replacing diesel in off-grid and off-pipeline heat and power generation applications, including remote utilities, mining and quarrying operations, and more. Despite current oil price trends, managers of remote operations are switching to natural gas fuel to take advantage of the environmental and price stability advantages over oil.

Join us for the Natural Gas for High Horsepower Summit to gain insight on:

• Innovative supply chain solutions that are being developed and implemented from the northern Yukon territories to the Caribbean to support projects well beyond the reach of a traditional natural gas pipeline
• Recently identified opportunities to deliver LNG to 23 power generation and 58 industrial customers in Canada’s North, projects that will result in $2.1 billion in cost savings and more than 11 million tonnes of CO2 emission reductions
• Insight from end-users on the challenges, benefits, and considerations associated with the development of off-pipeline natural gas remote power generation
• How ongoing environmental regulations, carbon programs, and sustainability initiatives will continue to drive investments in natural gas technologies across the marine, rail, mining, E&P, and off-pipeline industrial sectors
• An overview of the progressive and comprehensive training programs being implemented to ensure personnel safety and achieve operational success and maximum project results
• Efforts to supply lower carbon LNG to the HHP market via innovative LNG production plants powered by renewable energy and the use of renewable natural gas (RNG) sources
• Innovative fuel transport methods, including ISO containers, tube trailers, and rail cars, and key decision points when choosing a fuel provider and fuel delivery method

Project Highlights: Natural Gas for Remote Power Gen

Hauling Fuel to Remote Regions & Islands
From the Caribbean islands to the Northern Yukon, natural gas powered equipment has become an increasingly appealing energy source to reduce fuel costs and emissions, and to ensure compliance with the phase in of more stringent emission standards. Natural gas is particularly important for operations where large amounts of energy must be hauled long distances in order to reach its end use, and existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure is either limited or absent. Early adopters of natural gas fueling understand that making the switch include:

• Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company will begin construction in 2018 of a third LNG-fueled power plant. New Fortress Energy has supplied LNG to JPS since late 2016. In January 2018 New Fortress Energy entered in to a deal with Norwegian shipping company Golar LNG Partners to deploy a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to Jamaica for up to 15 years.
• Yukon Energy utilizes LNG to replace diesel for peaking and back-up transmission at its Whitehorse power plant in Canada. FortisBC trucks fuel in from its Tilbury plant, providing cleaner and lower cost power for residents in the region.
• Northwest Territories Power Corporation’s natural gas power plant in Inuvik, Canada is fueled using LNG hauled by truck from FortisBC’s plant in Delta, British Columbia. Here, gas is used for heating and power generation for the local community.
• Hawaiian Electric and the Hawai’i Gas Company have committed to importing LNG to replace crude oil and syngas. As the most fossil fuel dependent state in the country, Hawai’i has a significant opportunity to reduce its power and fuel costs by shipping LNG from the mainland.
• The Interior Energy Project will bring increasing volumes of natural gas to customers in Fairbanks and Interior Alaska, drastically reducing fuel costs in these remote, off-pipeline communities. The Alaska Railroad will ship liquefied natural gas by rail to reduce costs and improve gas deliverability for this project. Additionally, natural gas will reduce pollution in regions where heating systems traditionally burn wood and oil.
• Barrick Gold is converting its Dominican Republic power plant to LNG fuel, which provides electricity to its Pueblo Viejo Mine. By replacing heavy fuel oil with LNG, Barrick Gold will significantly reduce operating costs. The company also plans to convert the fuel supply at its lime kilns to LNG by 2017.
• Wellgreen Platinum has deployed GE Jenbacher gas engines for a complete power generation and transmission network operating from the Platinum Group Metals’ nickel-copper mining project in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Ferus supplies the LNG to power these generators, which will also allow Yukon communities to benefit from this lower-cost fuel.
• Stornoway Diamond Corporation is taking delivery of LNG from Gaz Metro to fuel multiple Caterpillar natural gas generators used to power the Renard Diamond Mine.
• NG Advantage, a Clean Energy company, is supplying CNG transported by trucks from Vermont, to help New England with its shortage of available pipeline natural gas during the cold winter months.

Power Generation Solutions for Domestic Power Plants

Pipeline natural gas reliability issues in the Northeast were exposed during the Polar Vortex event of 2014, when record-low temperatures increased demand for residential gas for heating. This disrupted supply to generators, causing 40,000 MW of forced outages and near-blackout conditions for much of the region. In response to these reliability concerns, the two Regional Transmission Organizations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, PJM Interconnection (PJM) and ISO New England (ISO-NE), imposed stringent market rules to ensure a consistent power supply. During declared periods of scarcity, generators are obligated to provide their share of energy or face stiff penalties. On-site storage of LNG is swiftly becoming a feasible solution to these natural gas reliability issues and associated penalties. LNG storage is capable of supplementing and in some cases, replacing on a short-term basis, natural gas delivered from the interstate pipeline. LNG provides a much better alternative to oil in terms of availability and environmental impact from emission limitations.

For the latest information on the accelerating deployment of natural gas engines in power gen operations, join us at this year’s High Horsepower (HHP) Summit.