Wärtsilä released a white paper recently which looks at the adequacy of South Africa's proposed energy crisis mitigation measures, and the role that gas could play in helping us overcome the shortage of generation capacity. Energize spoke to Håkan Agnevall, the president and CEO of Wärtsilä, about South Africa’s readiness for gas as a source of primary energy for electricity generation.
Agnevall says that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is working on a gas utilization master plan. It is, he said, a comprehensive plan which is based on simulations, engineering, and facts using modeling. The plan is likely to give gas a major place in the country’s electricity future.
While renewable energy is the cheapest source of energy in terms of running costs, one needs balancing power which today is best provided by gas. In the future, battery storage will have a big part to play too.
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Although South Africa is on a path of transitioning away from fossil fuels to cleaner generation technologies, one must bear in mind that this transition will take decades. It is to be a just transition that must consider the social dimension of this transition, which is very important.
Regarding gas supplies, he said that South Africa has ample gas resources under development. This means that long term, South Africa could have most of its own gas for its own power system. Perhaps not for base load, but certainly for balancing power.
Click here to read Wärtsilä's white paper
Gas discoveries would also make it possible and viable for existing diesel-powered peaking plants to be converted to gas. Wärtsilä’s new plants have dual fuel capability. Thus, they can run on both gas and diesel, in the future they will have multi-fuel capabilities, and they will also be prepared for future green fuels like ammonia and hydrogen.
Wärtsilä would love to assist Eskom to convert some of its coal-fired power stations to gas, he added.
The company has contributed to other utilities in other parts of the world. One example is Baker Inlet in South Australia, which we often use as an example because the customer has shared the data publicly. Wärtsilä converted gas turbine power into engine power with a much higher level of flexibility to the benefit of the whole grid and the stability of the whole grid. And this is what the firm could achieve in South Africa.
Since gas is, like coal, a fossil fuel, Wärtsilä would not propose to use gas for baseload, but for balancing power in combination with other cleaner technologies. The sun doesn't always shine, and the wind doesn't always blow, so, one needs balancing power. Gas can provide that balancing power now, but over time, green fuels like hydrogen or ammonia could fuel balancing power generation.
There will be more developments in energy over the next ten years than the previous 30 or 40 years, and it's all evolving on around decarbonisation. It's not a quick fix. It's a journey. But it's a change that is happening, and it will accelerate. Wärtsilä can provide power solutions that make a significant contribution to the industry and ultimately to the world.
Fortunately, the use of green gases is not far away. Many Wärtsilä engines can run on blends from 10 to 25% Hydrogen. The company has some pilots running in Portugal in the US, so the technology for blending already exists. Naturally, this would be a gradual ramp-up – it will not be zero one day and 100% the next – but a trajectory over a decade. Coal will be with us for a long time yet, but we need to grow renewables and we need balancing power because with these technologies we will get more accessible power, we will get more stable power, and we will get cheaper power, he concluded.
About Wärtsilä Energy
Wärtsilä Energy leads the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. We help our customers in decarbonisation by developing market-leading technologies. These cover future-fuel-enabled balancing power plants, hybrid solutions, energy storage, and optimisation technology, including the GEMS energy management platform. Wärtsilä Energy’s lifecycle services are designed to increase efficiency, promote reliability, and guarantee operational performance. Our track record comprises 76 GW of power plant capacity and 110 energy storage systems delivered to 180 countries around the world. https://www.wartsila.com/energy
Contact Wayne Glossop, Wärtsilä, Phone 021 511-1230, wayne.glossop@wartsila.com , www.wartsila.com
