Energy News - Geothermal Power

Wind to be used to make green hydrogen in Uzbekistan. Green hydrogen turned into ammonia for fertilizers etc.. we need this in our wind corridors

Major power companies break ground on first-of-its-kind power plant: ‘[It] holds immense potential to transform our energy landscape’ (msn.com)

The winds of change are blowing in Central Asia. As Reuters reported, Uzbekistan recently broke ground on the region’s first green hydrogen-wind plant, a major milestone in the fight to reverse the effects of Earth’s rising temperature.

The plant will ultimately use power from a new wind farm to produce 3,000 metric tons (more than 6.6 million pounds) of green hydrogen per year, according to a news release. Once the wind farm is complete, its clean energy should be enough to manufacture 500,000 tons of ammonia fertilizer annually, eliminating the need for 33 million cubic meters (more than 1.1 billion cubic feet) of polluting natural gas.
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The potential impact? Cleaner air, more jobs, and lower bills for families in Central Asia. Green hydrogen (hydrogen fuel created using a clean energy source) even promises to slash fertilizer costs for the region’s farms and food suppliers. That spells progress that both the planet and its inhabitants can get behind.

So, while some nations still rely heavily on dirty energy, and Uzbekistan still relies heavily on its oil and gas, innovations for the future, such as the new wind-hydrogen plant, prove cleaner choices can empower communities. From construction to crops, it’s a triple bottom-line win, creating economic, social, and environmental value.

 

down under, they are building the southern hemisphere's largest battery bank and pairing that with wind and solar to take the place of a large coal plant that they will close.

New report leads to closure of massive coal power plant: ‘No reason why the taxpayer should be on the hook’ (msn.com)

“There is no reason why the taxpayer should be on the hook for multiples of hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Eraring open,” Buckley told the Guardian. The 2,880-megawatt Eraring station is now set to close in August 2025.

There are multiple reasons why the Aussies are ready to move on from coal, a major one being that New South Wales is “leading the world in the financing, approval, and construction” of new battery storage systems, according to the report, as the Guardian summarized.

Numerous battery energy storage systems are in the works, including the Waratah Super Battery. Once complete, it is expected to be the largest standby network battery in the Southern Hemisphere, according to a government source quoted by Cosmos Magazine.

Wind energy is also picking up the slack. Squadron Energy began construction on a 414-megawatt wind farm, and the state’s planning department just recommended approval of another wind farm, per the Guardian.

 

Waratah Super Battery | EnergyCo (nsw.gov.au)

To ensure NSW continues to have reliable energy supply following the anticipated closure of the Eraring Power Station in 2025, the NSW Government is delivering the Waratah Super Battery (WSB) project. The WSB project is a System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) designed to act as a 'shock absorber' in the event of any sudden power surges, including from bush fires or lightning strikes.

WSB project components:

• A SIPS Service provided by a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) located at the former Munmorah coal-fired power station that is capable of providing a guaranteed continuous active power capacity of at least 700 MW and a guaranteed useable energy storage capacity of at least 1400 MWh.
• Paired Generation Services provided by multiple generators across NSW that are capable of providing technical services to support the SIPS.
• Network Augmentations and SIPS Control provided by Transgrid in its role as Network Operator that includes the SCADA, telecommunications, minor augmentations and control scheme equipment required to operate the SIPS.

The WSB project provides a virtual transmission solution that unlocks latent capacity in the existing transmission system, allowing electricity consumers in the Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong demand centres to access more energy from existing generators.

 

Hawaii has now deployed a monster Tesla battery and closed its last coal plant. wonder what the carbon footprint of the battery is. good to see this being implemented on a scale this large to capture more renewables


Tesla battery system officially replaces state’s last remaining coal power plant: ‘This is a landmark milestone’ (msn.com)



The company claims it’s “the most advanced grid-scale battery energy storage system in the world.” Specifications include 135 megawatt (MW) / 540 megawatt-hours (MWh) of capacity and energy; 50 MW/25 MWh of additional “fast frequency response” to help maintain the stability of the electric grid stable; “‘virtual inertia’ to replicate the power-smoothing function of a spinning turbine;” and “‘black start’ capabilities, which will support grid recovery in the event of a blackout.”
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Per the press release, modeling done by Hawaiian Electric found that the plant will allow the utility to reduce curtailment of renewable energy by 69% and integrate 10% more new utility-scale renewables in its first five years while also providing for the continued growth of personal rooftop solar.

 

is he an innovator or a motivator/facilitator? is he posing questions that engineers can solve or is he engineering the solutions himself?

 

A single new particle allows this tech to split the CO2 from the exhaust stream to generate clean hydrogen fuel. Another materials advancement with potential for material change. Going to be built to scale at Wyoming coal plant to capture the exhaust stream and split the CO2 off and turn it into hydrogen. This one will be interesting to watch

E101-3260-BrightLoop-for-H2-Steam-or-Syngas-Production.pdf (babcock.com)

The BrightLoop™ process from Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) is a versatile and f lexible technology which can be used for a wide range of applications. We’ve demonstrated that BrightLoop can effectively separate carbon dioxide (CO2) while producing hydrogen, steam and/or syngas, as well as being ready for commercial scale-up. A particle breakthrough made it happen. Our proprietary particle is an extremely versatile oxide in terms of application, cost and abundance making chemical looping possible for practical implementation in a low-carbon world.

HYDROGEN FROM MULTIPLE FEEDSTOCKS B&W’s BrightLoop chemical looping technology utilizes a variety of solid and gaseous fuels as feedstock to produce a stream of nearly pure hydrogen separate from a stream of CO2. This greatly reduces the amount of energy and fossil fuel required to produce hydrogen from hydrocarbons while also effectively and inexpensively isolating carbon dioxide.

COMPETITIVE HYDROGEN COST BrightLoop chemical looping can produce low-carbon hydrogen at a cost better than current large-scale hydrogen generation technologies such as steam methane reforming (SMR) with carbon capture or electrolysis.

HIGH RATE OF CARBON CAPTURED Inherent CO2 isolation without the need for expensive carbon separation equipment is part of the process. Generally, BrightLoop also has much lower Carbon Intensity (CI) scores as compared to other hydrogen production methods when combined with carbon capture due to the inherent separation of CO2 and the wide range of feedstocks available. It has the potential to allow the continued use of solid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly way, while still contributing to net-zero goals

State and utility companies proceed with using game-changing technological innovation to update severely outdated power plant: 'We will be forging a new path' (thecooldown.com)

Power Magazine reports that South Dakota-based Black Hills Energy, which serves 1.3 million customers, will be working with the Ohio-headquartered Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) after the Wyoming Energy Authority awarded the duo $16 million to transition its state “from a traditional ‘mineral’ economy to a higher value ‘molecule’ economy.”

Once the project is complete, the Neil Simpson Power Plant in Gillette, Wyoming, is expected to begin pumping out 15 metric tons (about 16.5 tons) of hydrogen every day using its already existing 90-megawatt coal-fired unit.

B&W’s BrightLoop technology is what makes the initiative more environmentally friendly than many other forms of hydrogen production.

 

thanks. he seems to be an idea man that surrounds himself with people who invent the things to make the ideas work. the most successful people are usually the ones that surround themselves with people that are smarter than they are and create an environment to allow/encourage them to flourish.

 

fertilzier isn't necessarily bad unless it is over applied and the excess ends up in runoff.

 

60% during the cloudy months and during peak demand cold season. impressive but note that includes nuclear. surprised they got that big of a boost from solar. looks like they have added 33% to their total solar power in just the last year. cheap panels are now really advancing the utility scale installations.

From 2018 through 2022, solar generation capacity in Europe expanded by 86% to 236.5 gigawatts (GW), and is expected to have notched up a new record in terms of installations in 2023.

That 2018-22 growth rate compares to 34.4% in wind, 8% in bioenergy, and 3.1% in hydro generation capacity.

Over the same period, Europe's power firms cut coal-fired generation by more than 38 GW, or by 15.6%, Ember data shows.

 

Newly completed solar and battery project, the largest of its kind in the U.S., comes online: ‘This is a pretty big deal’ (msn.com)

The largest solar and battery storage project in the United States has just come online. The 4,660-acre project — named Edwards & Sanborn and developed, owned, and operated by Terra-Gen — is located in the Mojave desert in Kern County, California. It consists of 875 megawatts (MW) of solar and 3,320 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage, reports Electrek.

In total, the massive Edwards & Sanborn consists of 1.9 million First Solar PV panels, 120,720 LG Chem, Samsung, and BYD long-duration energy storage batteries, and 400 miles of wire.
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“In aggregate, these projects are going to make a huge difference. I hope all the big power companies in the US have these systems in mind. Generating and storing energy is much more versatile than generating alone,” wrote another.

“Very impressive,” a third chimed in. “Apparently Tesla is not the only company that makes battery storage products. The competition is coming.”

 

another advanced thermal power plant being brought online by Google. cold water goes into horizontal well drilled through hot rock, steam comes out, power turbines. cools into water that goes through well. Always on, closed loop, no carbon.

Google is revolutionizing its potential with a first-of-its-kind power plant in the desert: ‘To meet a significant portion of global energy demand’ (msn.com)

Google “made an early bet on enhanced geothermal technology, which has the potential to give us access to always-on carbon-free energy,” the narrator says, because solar panels and wind turbines are dependent on the sun and wind and can’t collect energy 24/7.

Furthermore, Earth holds enough heat below its crust “to meet a significant portion of global energy demand,” the video reports.

Terrell, citing the U.S. Department of Energy, stated that by 2050, geothermal energy could provide 120 gigawatts of “reliable, flexible generation capacity … and generate over 16% of the U.S.’ anticipated electricity needs.”