Gas Turbines on the Isle of Man: A Case Study between the Manx Electricity Authority and Cranfield University. IDGTE paper at Cranfield, Thursday 19 March.

In the volatile energy market effective use of the available technological, energy and financial resources is now, more than ever, highly pursued. In a combined cycle power plant, gas turbines are the prime mover of power generation. Therefore, detailed understanding and monitoring of gas turbine performance, health condition and associated costs have a deep impact in the decision making process concerning the plant’s operational and maintenance strategy.

In this context, research collaboration between Manx Electricity Authority (MEA) and Cranfield University has been carried out since 2001 and a series of technologies and software have been and are still being developed at Cranfield University and some of them have been integrated into MEA Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plant in Pulrose, Isle of Man. During this constructive and successful collaboration period, the University has been fortunate to acknowledge the industrial needs and make significant academic contributions through ongoing research projects jointly supported by both MEA and EPSRC. On the other hand, MEA has valued the complexity of asset management concerning the gas turbine and the combined cycle, therefore enhancing its trading and operational capabilities through the application of developed performance, diagnostic, trading and economic analysis software.

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"Green Grid" – Excellent article in New Scientist by David Strahan (The Last Oil Shock) on HVDC supergrids

Articles “Green grid” A version of this article was published in New Scientist on 12 March 2009. Original is here (This article was in part stimulated by the last Claverton conference held at Wessex Water, Bath where Dr Czisch spoke, and various discussions, (various discussions2),   (various discussions3)  (varous discusions4) on this website.  Graeme Bathhurst is […]

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"UK Energy Risks – Uncertain but not Unimaginable" – Global Energy Advisory

On the 23rd of February it was reported that one of the large six utility companies in the UK lost £172.5mn, in just three months, by trading a gas position. This loss could have been against a background of relatively low gas price volatility; presumably this “increase in wholesale cost” will now be passed on to end consumers? Who trades and who pays? Who invests and who pays?
The new Energy & Climate Change Committee is today taking oral evidence from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Rt Hon Edward Miliband MP, in the House of Commons in London. The independent Global Energy Advisory White Paper entitled: Investment Failure, Fails Customers, was circulated to the Committee earlier this week.

The paper discusses the potential risks to UK energy security which are well known within the Industry. It also asks pertinent questions regarding the costs and consequences of the energy investment/trading decisions being taken at the current time.

This discussion will be continued at the Global Energy/Advisory Super Derivatives Seminar in London on March 5th – see below for full details.

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"Real energy security" – Prof. David Elliott, Open University

(Originally Letter to Guardian Newspaper)     With the battles continuing over the EU’s access to Russia’s gas supplies via transit arrangement across the Ukraine, it may be worth looking to the future, when a different set of energy options may change the geopolitical realities.  Currently we are fighting over the dwindling and increasingly expensive oil and […]

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