The Emerging Electrical Markets for Copper
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- Market Forecasts and Impact on Copper
- Carbon Capture and Storage
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Lead sheathing has been found to be entirely unsuitable for dynamic cables, and copper is thought to be a superior option to aluminium. In the major Gjøa offshore oilfield project off Norway in 360 metres of water, the cable connection between the platform and the seabed has a corrugated welded copper sheath. The dynamic cable connection, to be installed in 2010, is 1.5 km in length, linking in to a 100 km static cable connecting the platform to the shore. The cable has a 3-phase 115 kV AC construction. The manufacturer believes that the corrugated copper sheathing design is also applicable to DC cables. Energy Storage As an alternative to managing the demand side of the electricity equation and the physical and information structure of the grid itself, energy storage is another means of ensuring network integrity. There are two aspects to the energy storage business. One is the provision of short term bursts of power exactly when it is required to preserve power quality. The other, a market still in its infancy, is long term storage to supply supplementary power for periods of hours rather than seconds or minutes. Better energy storage and power compensation devices are required to fully integrate distributed power sources. Short Term Power Compensation: A family of devices based on power electronics, often referred to as FACTS devices (Flexible AC Transmission System) can be used to enable better utilization of transmission lines and transformers. The simplest of these devices are the thyristor controlled capacitor and reactor banks (SVC) that have been widely used to provide quick reactive power compensation at critical locations in the transmission grid. Another commonly used device is thyristor-controlled series capacitors (TCSC) that can provide reactive compensation as well as damping of power system oscillations. More sophisticated use of power electronics is employed in what is called static synchronous compensators (STATCOM), which deliver reactive power based on the variations of the system voltage fluctuations. Beyond the immediate and short term potential of power electronics, some form of mechanical or chemical storage device is needed. We discuss this market in Section 4, 3, 6 of this report. Basically, there are devices capable of delivering large amounts of power for short periods. These include high speed flywheels and ultra-capacitors. Then there are the devices intended for longer term storage. To date, most of this market has been supplied by huge banks of lead acid batteries, but this is far from being an ideal option. Technologies currently being developed include li-ion batteries, fuel cells, flow batteries and compressed air storage. None of these technologies has been fully commercialised, each being costly, with limited output power and duration. We are still a long way from the situation where electricity can be released from intermittent sources to satisfy peak energy requirements. Current developments are promising, however, with Saft in cooperation with ABB recently releasing a battery system that it says can be adapted to deliver 50 MW of electricity for 60 minutes or more. Market Forecasts and Impact on CopperClearly, the link between electricity distribution and consumption, covered in this Section, is an important one in the emerging energy economy. There are some important developments within it, which will undoubtedly create opportunities for copper. Individually, these opportunities are not really quantifiable, and discrete “emerging markets” very difficult to identify. It is more appropriate to look at this area of business as one with strong growth prospects, in which specific opportunities are highly likely to arise. Specific points of interest include the following: Power Electronics: We have identified specific market opportunities in power electronics in this Section and provided forecasts in Section 4.3.4. Additional to this, there is likely to be strong growth in power electronics related to electricity grid power quality management. Electronics Generally: The Smart Grid will have a high ICT content, with an inevitable spin off for electronic components. HVDC Systems: Longer transmission distances and higher voltages create a growing interest in DC transmission. Even where the transmission itself is by aluminium conductor, probable in terrestrial locations, large inverter stations are likely to have a high copper content, in windings and also in power electronics. Dynamic and Other Copper Sheathed Cables: Copper’s fatigue resistance characteristics make it an ideal sheathing product for free-moving cables between floating platforms and the seabed. This could become important as offshore development moves into deeper water in relatively small floating installations, and wind farms also move further offshore. Cable Replacement: Better load management may slow the necessity for cable replacement. On the other hand, the requirement for a better electricity grid should push replacement programmes forward, and favour underground installation relative to overhead in order to reduce transmission losses. Transformer Replacement: A similar logic applies to transformer replacement as to cable replacement. Increased loads on the final distribution transformer coupled with a large disparity between the efficiency rating of existing units and those now being required by legislation, however, create a larger potential market in transformer replacement. Sector BackgroundWhile most of the focus on CO2 is about alternative energy sources and lower use of energy, the third option, the capture and storage of CO2 from fossil fuel burning facilities is often ignored. It is clear, however that carbon capture and storage (CCS) does have a major role to play in CO2 abatement. In its review of CCS potential in Europe, McKinsey found that 47% of all CO2 emissions are potentially addressable by CCS. The amounts that can be addressed coming from power stations and from industry are roughly equal, with oil refineries, iron and steel plants, and cement works each having a very large potential. Figure 84: European CO2 Emissions Addressable by CCS25 
Just how far government and private initiatives will go to address this potential is open to date. In its (optimistic) “Blue Map” scenario, the IEA forecasts that CCS will account for more than one-fifth of total CO2 abatement by 2050. From small beginnings, the progress of CCS is expected to start well before 2020, and to become a commercial proposition soon after. The development of CCS really comprises of three different elements, these being the “capture” of CO2 (its separation from other gases), its transport and its storage. All three of these elements have undergone development, and there are schemes already in place for each individually and in combination. In Europe, the largest storage scheme in place has been in operation since 1996. This is Statoil’s storage of CO2 in a saline aquifer underneath its Sleipner gas field off Norway. To date, many of the projects in place have been designed to enhance recovery from oil fields (EOR) and gas fields (EGR), by increasing the pressure to bring the hydrocarbons to the surface. Existing CCS projects are heavily focused on North America (the United States and Canada), with Europe coming second. Figure 85: CCS to Deliver One-Fifth of the Lowest Cost CO2 Reduction by 205026 
Other than the enhancement projects, the status of CCS is primarily for demonstration rather than commercialisation. Over the forecast period, the status of CCS is expected to move towards commercial, and to cover mainstream fossil fuel burning power plants on a large scale, with some penetration into industrial installations also. Directory: wordpress -> wp-content -> uploads -> 2017 uploads -> Professor rona s beattie and dr david bamaung glasgow caledonian university email for corresponding author uploads -> Best Offensive Players: qb #19 keenan reynolds, N, ’16. Lg #57 E. K. Binns, N, ’16 uploads -> Smart Supervision Research Partner Orientation Course fy13 and fy14 Grantees September 29- october 1, 2015/San Antonio, tx uploads -> Autonomous Control for a Reliable Internet of Services (across) 2017 -> 6 Thai Market Analysis 2017 -> Birchwood intermediate school 2017 -> Operation corporate 2017 -> This document is written for the amateur radio operator that will be using the PiGate as an emergency communications device in a disaster situation Download 10.26 Mb. Share with your friends:
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