GE's Jenbacher Gas Engines to Help China Meet Energy, Environmental and Economic Goals
29 May 2006
GE Engines ecomagination-Certified for Coal Mine, Landfill Methane Gas-to-Energy Projects
In support of China's efforts to expand cost-effective alternative power generation and curtail industrial emissions, GE is supplying its ecomagination-certified Jenbacher engines configured for operating on methane gas from coal mine and landfill gas to its Chinese customers.
During an official announcement of GE's ecomagination program in China May 29, GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt cited the Jenbacher gas engine technology as a prime example of how GE is able to help customers around the world address their escalating environmental challenges.
Jenbacher engines operate on either natural gas or a variety of specialty fuels, including landfill and coal mine gas or alternative fuels like biogas, sewage gas and combustible, industrial waste gases. The engines provide both onsite power and regional grid support.
"GE's innovative Jenbacher engines give customers in China the ability to significantly reduce potent sources of greenhouse gas emissions - including methane from coal mines and landfills - and simultaneously expand the country's alternative power generation capacity," Immelt said. "This technology provides access to existing and cost-effective sources of alternative energy."
Methane is released during hard coal mining and from landfills, and has 21 times the greenhouse warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas most closely associated with climate change. By using the methane to generate power, less of the greenhouse gas needs to be vented or flared from mines and landfills.
The Jenbacher coal mine methane (CMM) product line was certified as a GE ecomagination product in late 2005.
In April 2006, GE's Jenbacher landfill-gas-to energy application received ecomagination certification after completing the company's rigid environmental and operational evaluation process.
Ecomagination is GE's commitment to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water. Under ecomagination, GE will invest $1.5 billion annually in research in cleaner technologies by 2010.
The multi-tiered review process is concluded with an independent, third party audit to ensure accuracy and thorough documentation of technological performance.
GE offers its specially modified Jenbacher engine systems, providing the right combination of durability, advanced combustion and monitoring capabilities, to manage the challenging conditions of changing fuel quality and supply and make coal mine methane and landfill gas projects not only environmentally, but also economically, attractive.
The growth potential for coal mine and landfill energy applications is considerable, given China's challenging goals of curtailing emissions and increasing its power independence.
China is the world's largest coal producer with about 28,000 mines and is committed to improving the environmental performance and workplace safety levels of the mining industry.
In January 2006, GE provided its authorized engine distributor in China, Jebsen & Co Ltd. of Hong Kong, two containerized Jenbacher generator sets to operate on coal mine gas pumped from the active mine Xieqiao in Huainan, 150 kilometers north of Hefei, the provincial municipal city of Anhui Province. Jebsen & Co supplied the units to the Huainan Mining (Group) Corporation Gas Utilization Branch, the owner and operator of the Huainan coal mine plant.
Commissioned in early May 2006, the two 1.4 MW JGC 420 GS-S.L generator sets' electricity is fed into the regional grid, based on a power purchase agreement with the local power distribution bureau.
The Huainan plant is an excellent example of utilizing coal mine methane in Jenbacher gas engines in China. The Huainan Mining (Group) Corporation Gas Utilization Branch was honored for its commitment to improving the environment during GE's ecomagination launch in China.
Currently, there are about 100 Jenbacher units running on CMM worldwide. This installed fleet generates approximately 1.5 billion kWh of electricity a year. Generating this amount of power with CMM instead of natural gas saves the equivalent of about 13 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually. In addition, converting coal mine gas in Jenbacher gas engines into power can reduce the release of methane into the atmosphere by about 85%, compared to venting the gas; this corresponds to CO2 savings of about 30,000 to 40,000 tons per year and MWel.
Meanwhile, the country's fast growing cities are creating larger amounts of waste in landfills, where the waste gradually decomposes to form methane gas. To reduce landfill methane emissions, cities in China are developing modern municipal solid waste collection centers featuring power plants fueled by methane.
Worldwide, there are more than 1,050 Jenbacher gas engines with a total capacity of 991 MW that run on landfill gas, generating 7.9 billion kWh per year, which is sufficient to power 4.2 million Chinese city homes.
Based in Jenbach, Austria, GE Energy's Jenbacher gas engine business is a global manufacturer of reciprocating engines, packaged generator sets and cogeneration units. It is one of the only companies in the world focusing exclusively on gas engine technology.
