The transaction includes the manufacturing of conventional island equipment for new nuclear power plants as well as related maintenance and upgrade activities for existing nuclear plants outside of the Americas. As part of EDF, this business will be called Arabelle Solutions

GE Vernova retains a services-focused Steam Power business, including services for more than 100 GW of nuclear turbine islands in the Americas region. It also retains GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a lifecycle provider for reactor islands, global nuclear fuels, and services, which is working to deploy commercial, grid-scale SMR technologies. GE Vernova said it remains committed to the nuclear sector and continues to invest in next-generation technology.

Financial terms are not being disclosed, the companies said.

As coal and gas plants are taken offline to be replaced by wind and solar, grid stability and system strength can become serious challenges. This is due to the inherent inertia provided by rotating assets. To compensate, various approaches have evolved to provide the inertia, system support and stability the grid needs. These include capacitors, static VAR compensators, static compensators, a new batch of advanced electrical systems and transforming aging generators into synchronous condensing units.

Inertia and grid stability

Generators, motors and turbines provide inertia as they rotate at the same frequency as the electricity grid. Their presence acts as a buffer against power spikes and changes in frequency. During the evening peak, for example, frequency falls as people turn on air conditioning, heating, lighting and appliances. During the course of the day, frequency highs and lows must be balanced by grid operators to stay in the correct range (60 Hz for the U.S).

“In extreme cases, rapid changes in frequency can even take an entire neighborhood offline to maintain grid integrity,” said Morgan Hendry, President of SSS Clutch. “Failure to do so could damage equipment and if the situation worsened, lead to a regional blackout.”  

The potential for grid events has increased in recent years due to the growing presence of wind and solar. According to Industrial Info Resources (IIR), just five years ago the number of planned power generation projects to be built in the U.S. broke down to 57% renewables and 41% natural gas. This year, IIR reports that new-build power generation projects scheduled to begin construction in the United States between January 2024 and December 2028 will almost all be for renewable energy – 94%. That equates to 482 GW of new renewable generation by 2028.

Unfortunately, the addition of wind and solar coupled with the removal of coal and gas plants increases the potential for grid stability and disruption. In wind, for example, frequency converters operate between wind turbines and the grid that prevent the kinetic energy of the wind blades rotating mass from providing inertia. There is also the factor of the many ups and downs in available wind and solar energy capacity. At some points in the day, there are massive amounts of capacity and at others, capacity falls away. This causes havoc for those dealing with grid stability who are tasked with maintaining voltage and frequency values across their networks. To do this, they must balance electricity production with consumption. Frequency rises if energy production is greater than the energy consumed and declines when more energy is consumed than produced. Such ups and downs make the grid susceptible to events such as sudden generation loss, load variation, ability to arrest frequency changes following a disturbance, grid frequency instability, lack of system strength or even cascading failures.

Peaking plants are on standby to take up the slack as a primary approach to maintaining grid stability. But the presence of rotating assets by itself also acts to slow any potential surges or plunges in grid frequency.

“Inertia is energy stored in a generator or motor which keeps it rotating,” said Steve Scrimshaw, Executive Director Siemens Energy UK & Ireland. “It helps slow the rate at which the grid frequency changes, as rapid changes can create instability in the system.” 

Another challenge to overcome is the location of wind and solar assets. Many U.S. wind and solar farms are far from load centers. Their output needs transmitted over long distances and that leads to system losses as well as reactive power issues. Reactive power can be regarded as the form of electricity that creates or is stored in the magnetic field surrounding a piece of equipment. It is measured in volt amperes reactive (VAR).

“Long transmission lines operating at heavy loads consume VARs,” said Hendry. “Failure to replace the lost reactive power leads to conductor heating, voltage failure, system instability or collapse, motor damage and electronic equipment failure.”

Improving the grid

There are a great many technologies and approaches in existence to address lack of inertia, grid instability, and reactive power while providing overall system support.

Capacitor Banks  

Drive by any electrical substation and you will see rows of capacitor banks (or shunt capacitors as they are sometimes known). They are inexpensive and reliable, hence their widespread deployment. But they aren’t enough. They eat up real estate, can only supply reactive power (not absorb it) and don’t do well on large load or voltage drops.

Static VAR Compensators (SVC) 

SVCs are basically switches that consist of a series of shunt capacitors and other electrical devices that improve voltage control capabilities compared to regular capacitors. Static VAR compensating devices can be placed close to power load to lower reactive current demand on the transmission system. They can absorb or supply reactive power. But they don’t respond rapidly to sudden changes in the grid and their reactive power output varies according to the square of the voltage. Hence, they struggle when addressing voltage instability or collapse. Some recent versions, though, are faster and more sophisticated as they can be customized to expected grid conditions and requirements. Hitachi Energy’s SVC control system, for example, can be utilized to control external shunt banks. GE’s SVCs, too, can be customized based on the utility’s technical requirements.

Static Compensators (STATCOM)

STATCOMs use power electronics and have a response time of a few microseconds compared to the slower mechanical solutions like capacitors. They are pricy compared to other options, but effective. American Superconductor’s Dynamic VAR (D-VAR) system scales from 2 MVAR and has overload capabilities of three times its rated capacity for up to three seconds. Hybrid systems combine SVC and STATCOM functions in one device. Hitachi Energy’s SVC Light Enhanced offers power quality and grid stabilization technologies as well as reactive power support.

Synchronous Condensers

A synchronous condenser is usually a large piece of spinning machinery composed of a generator and often paired with a flywheel to provide rotating inertia without generating any power. These machines spin at grid frequency to contribute to system stability by dampening frequency fluctuations and providing voltage stability through reactive power.

“Synchronous condenser is the name given to a synchronous machine that is connected into an electrical network to help in maintaining the system voltage,” said Dr. James F. Manwell, Emeritus Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “The synchronous machine is essentially a motor to which no load is connected.” 

Vendors like GE Vernova, Siemens Energy and Hitachi Energy provide different approaches to synchronous condensing. Siemens Energy’s solution is comprised of a horizontal synchronous generator connected to the high-voltage transmission network via a step-up transformer. It is started up and stopped with a frequency-controlled electric motor (pony motor) or a starting frequency converter. When the generator reaches synchronous speed, it provides reactive power to the transmission network as well as inertia and active power injection or absorption during sudden load unbalance events. GE’s synchronous condenser/flywheel combo is air cooled and rated up to 300Mvar+.

Using Existing Generators

With so many steam and gas turbines being decommissioned, a popular approach to grid stability is to maximize the investment in these rotating assets by fitting them to operate as synchronous condensers. Instead of discarding these machines, a synchronous self-shifting (SSS) clutch can be added to disengage the generator from the turbine. The turbine brings the generator up to speed so it synchronizes with the grid, at which point the turbine disconnects from the generator and shuts down. The generator then uses grid power to keep spinning, constantly providing leading or lagging VARs as well as other forms of grid support and the needed inertia. When active or real power is needed, the SSS Clutch automatically reengages for electric power generation. This feature is useful in renewable focused grids where there may be a sudden need for peaking power.

“For coal plants being closed down, the steam turbine generator can be easily converted to a synchronous condenser by removing the turbine and adding an acceleration drive with an SSS Clutch,” said Hendry.

New gas-fired power plants being built can also be configured to operate as a synchronous condenser. Hendry listed 45 recent clutch orders intended for GE LM6000 PF+ Sprint models. In those cases, the clutch is built into a load gear as the unit operates at a higher speed than 3,600 rpm, which is needed for a 60 Hz. As result, a gear is needed to create synchronization with the grid.

By far the biggest recipient of these clutched LM6000 PF+ units is the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). It has received 10 SSS Clutches so far and another 20 are on order. Reason: The TVA is in the midst of rolling out 1 GW of wind turbines and solar PV in Tennessee and decommissioning coal and other rotating assets. Its new order of LM 6000s are there for peaking power to support. By enabling them to run as synchronous condensers, the TVA is ensuring it has enough inertia, system stability and reactive power support. Far from being a novel arrangement, the SSS Clutch being connected to the load gear is a well-established practice.

“The mounting arrangement in the load gear is the same as nearly 300 Frame 5 and 6s gensets GE has done in the past for synchronous condensing,” said Hendry.

About the Author: Drew Robb has been working as a full-time freelance writer in engineering and technology for the last 25 years. For more information, contact drew@robbeditorial.com.

These new units are expected to expand the power plant, currently powered by five LM6000 PC gas turbines. Two of these units were installed and commissioned in 1999, and three units were installed ten years later, in 2009. When the expansion will be completed, the Anadarko Plant is expected to deliver up to 350 MW with a total of seven LM6000 gas turbines.

These aeroderivative units are derived from jet-engine technology. GE says they can ramp up to full power in five minutes.

“We selected GE Vernova’s LM6000VELOX units due to their fast start and quick ramp up/down capabilities,” said Justin Soderberg, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative. “Rapid renewable energy growth presents system operators and energy providers with the increasingly difficult task of continuously ensuring stability of the grid and a reliable power supply, as renewable generation assets like wind turbines and solar farms are slightly less predictable by their very nature.”

WFEC has been working with Sargent & Lundy (S&L) as the engineer for the expansion of the plant. S&L is an engineering firm based in Chicago, Illinois. S&L has worked with WFEC staff on selecting technology for these new units and developing a turbine specification. Fagen, Inc. has been selected as the EPC contractor. The works are expected to start in late 2024 and be completed in late 2026.

The new units are expected to deliver up to 850 MW of electricity, which TVA says will help enhance the reliability of the energy grid once installed at the Complex on the Clinch River arm of Watts Bar Reservoir near Kingston, Tennessee.

“The Kingston Energy Complex highlights the way diverse generation works together to ensure TVA can provide more reliable, resilient and affordable power,” said TVA Chief Operating Officer Don Moul.  “These aeroderivative units will help us meet demand during peak energy usage and supplement solar generation on days when sunshine is limited.” 

GE Vernova’s LM6000VELOX packages, expected to start operation in 2028, feature dual-fuel capability to operate on natural gas or on liquid fuels, if needed. Additionally, GE Vernova says the DLE combustor configuration is capable of meeting environmental regulations and emissions limits.

TVA has reduced emissions by 57% from 2005 levels. Nearly 60% of TVA’s energy comes from carbon-free sources including nuclear, hydropower, storage, and solar.  

“This milestone project marks GE Vernova’s commitment to supporting TVA’s efforts to ensure affordability and reliability of electricity while focusing on more efficient and sustainable energy generation,” said Dave Ross, President of GE Vernova’s Gas Power in the Americas region. “TVA is actively integrating more renewables into the system, investing in new technologies, and retiring older, less efficient generation and they are doing this in a holistic way that helps to ensure affordability, reliability, and resiliency for their 10 million customers.” 

GE Vernova’s LM6000VELOX package, announced in October 2023, features enhancements aiming to reduce site construction time. The solution features a “quick package installation” in a simple cycle configuration, with an expected reduced installation and commissioning schedule.

In a tremendous blow to the offshore wind industry and an even heftier one to New York’s renewable energy goals, NYSERDA has announced the conclusion of its third offshore wind solicitation without granting final awards to any projects.

On October 24, 2023, NYSERDA provisionally awarded three offshore wind projects, subject to the successful conclusion of contract negotiations. These provisionally awarded projects, totaling more than 4 GW of clean energy, were supposed to begin commercial operation around 2030. They were:

Attentive Energy One: A 1,404 MW project developed by TotalEnergies, Rise Light & Power, and Corio Generation intended to benefit historically marginalized communities by retiring 1960’s fossil generation in New York City and reusing its physical and electrical infrastructure to cost-effectively deliver offshore wind power. Attentive Energy One was supposed to advance a community-driven initiative to repurpose the Ravenswood Generating Station into a clean energy hub.

Community Offshore Wind: A 1,314 MW venture developed by RWE Offshore Renewables and National Grid Ventures located 64 miles offshore that was supposed to deliver $3.3B in economic benefits and power more than 500,000 homes.

Excelsior Wind: A 1,314 MW Vineyard Offshore undertaking 24 miles off Long Island intending to generate enough power for 700,000 homes. The project could’ve avoided 1.1 million tons of carbon pollution annually, equivalent to taking nearly 225,000 cars off the road.

NYSERDA also provisionally awarded a $300 million chunk of New York State grant funding to GE Vernova and LM Wind Power for nacelle and blade manufacturing in New York’s Capital Region, which was associated with the provisionally awarded projects. These funds will be made available through a future competitive solicitation to continue the development of the offshore wind supply chain in New York.

“Subsequent to the provisional award announcement, material modifications to projects bid into New York’s third offshore wind solicitation caused technical and commercial complexities between provisional awardees and their partners, resulting in the provisionally awarded parties’ inability to come to terms,” reads NYSERDA’s release.

“Of note, GE Vernova’s offshore wind turbine product pivot away from the initially proposed 18 MW Haliade-X turbine platform to a 15.5/16.5 MW platform caused material changes to projects proposed into ORECRFP22-1. Given these developments, no final awards will be made, ORECRFP22-1 has been concluded, and NYSERDA will look to advance a future competitive solicitation.“

“NYSERDA remains committed to advancing New York’s offshore wind industry in pursuit of the State’s Climate Act goals and pursuing next steps in alignment with Governor Hochul’s 10-Point Action Plan. These next steps will be announced in the near future,” concludes the statement from the NYSERDA Offshore Wind Team.

2023 was a record year for wind power; the world installed 117 gigawatts of new wind capacity in 2023, a 50% increase from the year before, making it the best year for new wind projects on record, according to the latest Global Wind Report.

However, the offshore wind industry has been grappling with uncertainties recently; multiple PPAs have ended and developers and utilities have backed out of some projects.

Rhode Island Energy recently pulled out of its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the Revolution Wind 2 offshore project — citing higher interest rates, increased expense, and questionable federal tax credits, concluding that the project had become uneconomical.

In July 2023, Avangrid agreed to pay $48 million to pull out of a PPA with Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil for another offshore wind project, the 1,223 MW Commonwealth Wind located 20 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island Energy, meanwhile, terminated its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the offshore wind farm Revolution Wind 2.

Last year, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved LG&E and KU’s plans to retire two aging coal units and build a new combined-cycle plant at its Mill Creek Generating Station. The commission also approved solar energy projects, battery storage, and a suite of energy efficiency programs.

Mill Creek 5 (MC5) is expected to have an output of approximately 645 MW and will feature GE’s 7HA.03 gas turbine. The company said the turbine will have the ability to use up to 50% hydrogen (by volume) as H2 becomes more available in the future.

GE will also provide a STF-D650 steam turbine along with a W86 generator, a Vogt Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) and its integrated Mark VIe control system for gas turbine performance management.

The performance of the new 7HA.03 gas turbine includes a ramp rate of 75MW/min as validated at GE Vernova’s Test Stand 7 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Mountain Peak Power (MPP) plant will be built in Weld County, Colorado and is expected to come online in 2025. The 162 MW plant is will be operated by Kindle Energy and serve the United Power electric cooperative.

Each LM2500XPRESS power package includes an LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbine, a distributed control system (DCS) and a Dry Low Emissions (DLE) combustion system, which can reduce emissions without the use of water, a scarce resource in northeast Colorado. 

GE said the units can perform multiple daily starts and stops and start in as little as five minutes from cold iron. These units will be assembled at the company’s Gas Power Manufacturing Excellence Center in Veresegyhaz, Hungary.

In addition to the power generation equipment, GE has provided co-development funding to speed up development and construction.

Colorado has committed to reducing overall GHG emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 and 90% by 2050. This includes exiting coal by 2031. As of early 2023, seven coal-fired electric power generating facilities were operating in Colorado — until one was retired and converted to natural gas. The remaining plants are scheduled to either close or be converted to natural gas to provide peaking power.

“In a region with an increasing power demand due to planned coal-fired plants retirements and increased renewable energy generation, a mix of flexible and efficient energy sources will be necessary to achieve the carbon emissions goals of Colorado, while ensuring the reliability of power supply,” said Lee Davis, CEO of Kindle Energy.

GE Vernova said the MPP plant is the company’s second dispatchable peaking project in Colorado.

Kindle Energy currently manages and operates nearly 10.2 GW of generation located in Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio, according to the company’s website.

The New Jersey-based company is currently building a 700 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle plant in Iberville Parish, Louisiana. The Magnolia Power Generating Station will provide electricity directly to five rural utility cooperatives across the state starting in May 2025.

The Magnolia Power Project would include a GE 7HA.03 gas turbine, a GE STF-A650 steam turbine and a triple pressure with reheat Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG). The company’s Mark VIe control system would provide turbine generator control, data collection and performance visibility.

GE has also said the Magnolia plant would have the eventual ability to blend up to 50% hydrogen.

With the latest NRC approval of GNF’s fuel fabrication license amendment, the company said its manufacturing facility in Wilmington, North Carolina is the first commercial facility in the U.S. to hold a license to fabricate fuel enrichments up to 8 weight percent. The NRC issued a Certificate of Compliance allowing GNF to ship nuclear fuel bundles up to 8 weight percent utilizing the company’s RAJ-II shipping container. The NRC has also approved licensing topical reports for advanced nuclear methods that enable GNF to analyze fuel with enrichments greater than 5 weight percent.

GE Vernova said higher enrichment fuels are expected to improve nuclear fuel cycle economics, including power uprates for existing boiling water reactors and also for the next generation of reactor technology including advanced and small modular reactors.

Late last year, GE announced that it plans to spin off its energy business, GE Vernova, in the beginning of the second quarter of 2024, subject to final approval from the company’s board and other customary conditions.

Following the completion of the planned spin-off, shares of GE Vernova will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “GEV.”

GE’s existing energy portfolio will fall under GE Vernova following the split. Its portfolio includes natural gas, hydro, nuclear and steam power technology and services; offshore and onshore wind services and turbine manufacturing; grid modernization software; grid equipment, services, and systems; solar + storage solutions; and accelerator and research services.

The order is the largest single onshore wind turbine order ever received by GE, both in terms of number of turbines and gigawatts of power generation.

The over 3.5 GW SunZia Wind project is expected to be the largest wind project in the West. Construction began in late-2023 after more than 17 years of navigating permits and approvals. The project also includes a 550-mile ± 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW across Western states.

GE’s 3.6 MW turbine with a 154-meter rotor is what the company refers to as the 3.6-154. GE said its 3.6-154 turbine delivers the highest efficiency in the market and is built on the back of the 2.8-127.

The company said the product is expected to bring recent innovations in turbine and blade design, including the digital blade certificate, an AI-trained blade manufacturing process designed to produce industry leading quality.

GE Vernova and Pattern Energy’s collaboration on SunZia spans the last 18 months and has included collaborative development and supply chain work to optimize site layouts and performance. GE also provided Pattern Energy with consulting and financial services in support of this deal.

The project will be supplied through GE Vernova’s nacelle facility in Pensacola, Florida, as well as tower manufacturing facilities in Belen, New Mexico, Pueblo, Colorado, and Amarillo, Texas.

The company announced the limited early release of its CERius software as a pilot for its current customers. The software uses reconciliation algorithm and Digital Twin technology powered by machine learning and data analytics.

GE Vernova said CERius is engineered to more accurately calculate greenhouse gas emissions and suggest recommendations for reduction efforts by offering scenario analysis, team collaboration and standardized reporting based on emission protocols.

“We’ve had the opportunity to directly validate that CERius provides 33% greater accuracy for scope 1 emissions on today’s gas turbines,” said Scott Reese, CEO of GE Vernova Digital. “That direct validation gives us great confidence that we can help utilities in reporting and reducing their emissions.”

The company said CERius will be more widely available in early 2024.

More on the software here.