Spinning reserve is any back-up energy production capacity which can be made available to a transmission system with ten minutes’ notice and can operate continuously for at least two hours once it is brought online. Spinning is derived from hydroelectric and combustion turbine terminology. Reserve generator turbines can literally be kept spinning without producing any energy as a way to reduce the length of time required to bring them online when needed
The $14.65 billion South Stream project signed in 2007 by Gazprom (50%) and Italy’s Eni (50%) is designed to carry mostly Central Asian gas to Western Europe at a capacity of up to 30 bcm/year. Construction is due to take at least four years and is expected to begin in 2008-2009. This pipeline could have far reaching consequences to both gas producing countries and transit states. It could largely parallel the Nabucco project (the Nabucco pipeline is a project intended to diversify gas supplies to Europe) through southern and central Europe and since the latter has no throughput volumes yet confirmed (with the exception of Bulgaria that signed an agreement to purchase 1 bcm of gas per annum from Azerbaijan), Russia is in an ideal position to pressure the target Caspian countries to make sure they comply with Russian plans. The pipeline is especially being constructed to help Russia reduce its dependence on transit countries including Ukraine and Turkey for its gas destined for European markets.
The 692 km pipeline has been designed to transport gas from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, through Georgia and on to the Georgia-Turkey border. The pipeline will eventually be able to transport 16 bcm of gas per year
A rock from which oil or natural gas is generated from organic materials. Source rocks are geologically rare. 90% of the world’s petroleum is generated in 6 discrete intervals, representing about 30% of post Cambrian geological time. Most petroleum is geologically recent – 67% is generated and trapped in the last 80 million years, whilst some older petroleum accumulations would have been destroyed through geological time by tectonic processes. 25% of the world oil has been generated during the last 5 million years
Catch-all term for all types of combustible fuels (nuclear and fossil fuels, biomass, alcohol, etc.) and renewable energy resources (hydroelectric, wind, tidal, solar, etc.). As competition increases in US energy markets and as global energy markets become more attuned to the need for non-polluting and/or renewable source energy, end-use customers may soon be able to choose their source of electrical supply in many markets based on the source energy used to produce the electricity
Poor quality gas – natural gas containing more than 1-1/2 grains of hydrogen sulfide per 100 cubic feet.
One of the most important parts of gas processing involves the removal of sulfur and carbon dioxide. Because of the rotten smell provided by its sulfur content, this natural gas is called ‘sour gas’. This sulfur can be lethal to breathe and also very corrosive for pipelines or generation facilities. In addition, the sulfur that exists in the natural gas can be extracted and marketed on its own. Sulfur exists in natural gas as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and the gas is usually considered sour if the hydrogen sulfide content exceeds 5.7 milligrams of H2S per cubic meter of natural gas. The process for removing hydrogen sulfide from sour gas is commonly referred to as sweetening the gas
Algerian State owned energy group and is the largest African O&G company, ranking # 12 globally for petrol, 2nd for LNG and 3rd for natural gas exports. Algeria pumps about 1.4 million barrels of oil per day and exports 62 billion cubic meters of gas a year, mostly to Europe
One of 3 common methods to remove nitrogen from natural gas. In solvent recovery processes, the hydrocarbons in the feed stream are absorbed by a chemical solvent and the nitrogen that remains is dispersed by vent. The hydrocarbons are recovered from the solvent through a series of flash operations. Because the process requires that the gas stream be cooled to only -30 degrees, effective separation usually begins within 2 or 3 hours after start-up. In addition, solvent recovery processes provide the benefit of handling one of the problems commonly associated with nitrogen rejection: the presence of natural gas liquid elements in the feed stream. After nitrogen has been removed, the presence of these additional heavy hydrocarbons usually results in a stream with a hydrocarbon dew point that exceeds pipeline requirements. While other processes require an additional plant to remove the natural gas liquids, the solvent process conveniently handles both the separation of the nitrogen and the NGL’s in a single plant. Of course, the recovered liquids can also be sold, enhancing the overall revenue stream of a project.
SolarEdge is developing advanced power-harvesting solutions for photovoltaic arrays. It will lower the average cost per watt in any typical photovoltaic installation via increased wattage and lower costs, provide for easier and cheaper installation, and help make Photovoltaic (PV) installations relevant in more sites. SolarEdge was the first to break into the global market with a unique distributed power harvesting and monitoring system which they say will increase the efficiency of photovoltaic solar arrays. Generally the electrical output from solar rays (usually about 15 solar panels lined up in a row) are controlled by a single device which decides how much voltage and current to use at any given time. Since the panels’ outputs are linked, if one panel is affected by an outside factor like share or malfunction, the entire efficiency of the array is reduced. SolarEdge has pioneered a product which offers individual command and control of each panel. A specially developed power box with specifically designed microchips is attached to each panel which provides constant information which enables individual calibration. In addition to the power boxes, the company has developed more efficient, smaller and lighter inverters, which convert the Direct Current (DC) from the panels to the current used in households, Alternating Current (AC). In addition, the power boxes have been designed to withstand high temperatures in a solar field for 20 years. The individual panel monitoring function will also help improve efficiency and security. Until now, if a drop in efficiency was noted, technicians had to go row by row to check if a panel had been damaged, which can be time consuming with arrays of thousands of panels.
Solar energy can be produced basically from two different technologies. (1) Photovoltaic which converts sunlight directly into electricity. The main advantage of this system is that medium and small size facilities can be established such as on roof tops and electricity can be relatively easily produced at points that are distant from the grid. The main disadvantage is the high cost of this technology. (2) Thermal-solar technology, which operates at a high efficiency is thus relatively cheaper than other solar technologies but requires vast expanse of land. Thermal solar power concentrates the sun’s tremendous heat energy into heat conductors that transfer the energy to conventional steam turbine engines
