Sessions

Dominion Energy Innovation Center's DEIC Accelerate program introduced 15 startups to dozens of business units across Dominion Energy in its first two years. In this session, Adam Sledd of DEIC and Michael Beiro of Linebird will discuss how the program creates value for both the utility and the startups.  They will cover how a startup can maximize its opportunity to quickly build customer relationships, and how the utility benefits from creating a formal framework to engage startup companies.

Renewable energy has disrupted the energy marketplace. Fuel is free for renewables, and coupled typically with “must run” governmental requirements, they are the first to dispatch on the power grid. Wind and solar are a function of the weather and can experience rapid swings in load. The result of this type of highly variable power demand is that gas turbine power plants must effectively respond to the load swings and capture periods of profitability. It’s called “chasing renewables” and is highlighting operational limitations of the installed base of gas turbine power plants in a time where reducing maintenance cost are more critical to maintain profitability. Alternative fuel combustion offers the potential of a low-cost energy source for power generation. Some of these fuels, such as those produced as by-products at petrochemical plants and refineries, can be readily available, and absent the ability to ‘flare this gas’, it awaits the implementation of robust gas turbine combustion systems to harness their energy in a meaningful way. Additionally, Hydrogen also has the ability to be a ‘battery fuel’ as excess energy produced by wind and solar can be used to produce hydrogen through electrolysis. Pertaining to gas turbine combustion, hydrogen is a highly reactive fuel and presents challenges for industry standard dry low NOx combustors to switch between natural gas and hydrogen fuel blends while remaining stable and with NOx emissions always below stringent emission limits. Significant concerns regarding emissions compliance, combustion dynamics and stability must be addressed prior to operation on these fuels. This presentation will highlight successful retrofit solutions for both small and large heavy-duty combustion turbines that are in commercial operation today, offering significant benefit to the operator’s profitability and the environment. • Transformational changes in the way power is being generated today • Operational Flexibility of gas turbines in a renewable dominated grid • Challenges of hydrogen as a fuel for gas turbines • Technology platforms proving safe combustion of hydrogen fuel mixtures • Solutions established today and in active development

Take 5 for a drink and a quick chat at our cantina receptions located throughout the exhibit hall.

Networking Bar Locations:

Company	Booth Name
Black & Veatch	4811
Flanders Electric	6045
PTMW	3745
Qualus Power Services	3827

The displacement of fossil fuels with low carbon fuels in existing end-use applications will be critical for achieving net zero carbon emissions. This panel will focus on low-carbon fuel conversion pathways for gas turbines (GT). Gas turbines could be ready for wide-scale commercial operation with low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen within the next 10 years, but broad deployment will likely depend on successful, near-term field demonstrations. The degree to which the existing GT power generation fleet ultimately transitions to blended fuels may depend upon equipment/hardware capability, policy changes, financial incentives, and the availability of sufficient quantities of hydrogen at an acceptable price. Technical hurdles must be addressed to allow for safe and reliable operation of combustion assets with blended fuels. Many lab- and pilot-scale studies have previously focused on combustion characteristics and results suggest fuel blending could be accomplished with modifications to existing equipment. However, full-scale testing is needed to ensure that operation behavior is understood over the range of conditions that these machines, especially F-class and above GTs, are expected to operate within. Testing at full-scale would also provide necessary information on impacts to BOP equipment, environmental control technologies (for example, selective catalytic reduction systems), operations and controls, and material capability and durability. As most GTs currently fire liquid fuels and/or natural gas, the panel will consider the technical hurdles that must be overcome for low-carbon fuels conversion. It is recognized that there are many GTs currently designed to operate on hydrogen up to 100% (by volume) by design. However, these GTs are typically under 100 MW and require water injection into the combustor for NOx control. Designing new and/or converting all existing fossil fuel GTs to fire on 100% hydrogen or other low carbon fuels remains a key challenge. The proposed panel will discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with utilizing hydrogen as a low-carbon fuel for gas turbine applications. The panel will include gas turbine experts representing OEMs that serve the power generation and industrial markets, as well as electric utility representatives to provide end user perspectives. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Rob Steele, an EPRI Technical Executive and gas turbine subject matter expert.

Dominion Energy Innovation Center's DEIC Accelerate program introduced 15 startups to dozens of business units across Dominion Energy in its first two years. In this session, Adam Sledd of DEIC and Michael Beiro of Linebird will discuss how the program creates value for both the utility and the startups.  They will cover how a startup can maximize its opportunity to quickly build customer relationships, and how the utility benefits from creating a formal framework to engage startup companies.

Sponsored by Baker Hughes: Hydrogen is experiencing unprecedented momentum and is considered a critical pillar in the energy transition. More than 200 hydrogen projects have been announced and around $80B of mature investment have been estimated. Transport and storage costs will play a significant role in the competitiveness of hydrogen. If hydrogen can be used close to its point of production, these costs can be maintained relatively low. However, if hydrogen fuel must travel a long way before it can be used, the costs of transmission and distribution can be three times higher than the cost of hydrogen production. Hydrogen compression is a fundamental step in the transportation and storage of hydrogen and continuous improvements are required to enable the hydrogen economy to scale up. The greatest technological challenges when it comes to hydrogen compression are certainly the high pressures that are required for the various fields of use, the need to maintain a clean gas and therefore free from contamination, and to use materials that are not subject to embrittlement. Challenges and opportunities in the enabling role that turbomachinery plays in lowering the cost of production will feature in this presentation including the latest Baker Hughes compression and turbine innovation including case studies.

Company	Booth Number
UBC Millwrights	5117
WEG Electric Motors	5025
S T Cotter Turbine Services Inc.	4139
Industronic Inc	4333
Tuff Tube Transition	4765

Join your colleagues for a drink on the exhibit floor! Thanks to our sponsors there will be bars available throughout the exhibit hall located at each sponsor's booth.

The fostering and nurturing of young talent is a central pillar of Initiate, whether an undergraduate or postgraduate student or a young professional at the beginning of their career.

Join us for the POWERGEN & DISTRIBUTECH Joint Networking Party, Power Play. Network with your industry peers at our sports-themed event.