ISO New England Dual Fuel Capabilities to Limit Natural Gas and Electricity Interdependencies
- National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States)
Since 2000, natural gas has seen tremendous growth as a fuel source for electricity generation in the United States (U.S.) with annual installations exceeding 20 GW in all but four years. It also accounts for an increasingly significant share of the nation’s electricity generation, growing from around 15 percent in the early part of the 2000s to between 26 and 29 percent in the last three years. (1) Increasing reliance on natural gas has led to concerns that an extreme weather event – which may cause curtailments in gas delivery – or a natural gas infrastructure failure could lead to local or regional electric reliability issues. (2) These concerns stem from differences in delivery methods of natural gas to electric generating units (EGUs) contrasted with the fuel delivery and storage methods for traditional baseload power systems (i.e. coal and nuclear units).1 (3) Although it seems that there is an abundance of natural gas in a post-shale gas world, infrastructure limitations and differences in electric and natural gas markets persist that differentiate natural gas-fired generators from traditional baseload power generators. Such concerns can be partially mitigated by modifying natural gas EGUs for operation on secondary fuels and installing on-site fuel storage for the secondary fuel, thus ensuring continuity of operation in the case of a gas delivery problem.2 This report examines technical, regulatory, and market issues associated with operating power plants primarily fueled with natural gas, on a secondary fuel, such as fuel oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition, a regional case study was completed to identify the current and near-term potential for dual fuel operation in New England, along with a market impact analysis of potential cost savings during an extreme weather event. The New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) was selected as the study area based on a preponderance of natural gas-fired generators contributing to the regional generating capacity mix (nearly 50 percent natural gas), limited natural gas supply infrastructure, and the potential for natural gas delivery disruptions due to cold weather events, exacerbated by the lack of bulk natural gas storage in the region.
- Research Organization:
- National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- OSTI ID:
- 1415774
- Report Number(s):
- NETL-PUB-20750
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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