Integration of a Gas Turbine (GT) With a Compressed Air Storage (CAES) Plant Provides the Best Alternative for Mid-Range and Daily Cyclic Generation Needs

Abstract

There is a significant emphasis on peaking power, particularly recognized in the US power generation market. Orders for gas turbines are at their peaks, with OEMs taking orders for delivery in the year 2002, or later. Though a simple cycle GT is the recognized power plant of choice for daily cycle and peak power supply, it still has the highest fuel consumption rate per kWh produced (heat rate, Btu/kWh or Btu/kWh) with associated high emissions. The massive additions of GT power plants for primarily peak/cycling applications should generate needs for better utilization of installed capacities. The Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) plant is demonstrated as the best and cost-effective plant for storing significant amounts of the off-peak energy and releasing the peak energy as needed. This paper presents an innovative power plant concept, which is based on the integration of a conventional GT with the unfired CAES, air-bottoming cycle — denoted as GT-CAES. This concept is analyzed and compared to a conventional CAES cycle. Also, the paper presents characteristics of this concept based on ABB’s GT24/26 combustion turbine, the characteristics produced for a number of GT-CAES projects which are in various stages of development.