Natural Gas Utility
Use Case #1
Winter Peaking
Client
Region
Mid-Atlantic
Date
November 2016 thru March 2017
Services
LNG Supply
Pipeline pressure support
Pipeline peak flow management during Operational Flow Orders (OFO’s)
Turnkey LNG/regas solution including odorization and backup power supply
UTILITY GAS DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT
Stabilis offers turnkey LNG supply and equipment solutions to meet various gas transmission and distribution utility pipeline applications. For utilities, we provide mobile and temporary LNG equipment packages connected to your pipeline to provide supplemental gas supply and/or pressure support to meet the full gas requirements of customers during periods of gas flow seasonal curtailment or limitation, as well as for customers downstream of pipelines taken out of service for maintenance activities.
Winter Peaking Challenge:
A local distribution company (LDC) in the mid-Atlantic region identified demand growth of 4-5% per year on their pipeline system with new residential connections and growth of large commercial users at the end of their distribution network.
The LDC’s upstream transmission company had capacity limitations with high peak pricing and a history of frequent Operational Flow Orders (OFO’s) impacting the LDC’s ability to meet peak demand needs. The LDC explored several options to meet peak demand with solutions such as LNG, additional pipeline capacity, and other fuel sources.
STABILIS Solution:
Stabilis provided a turnkey LNG solution to meet the peak demand needs of the utility. The equipment solution supplied 5,400 dth of LNG storage (approximately 1.5 days of storage at peak demand) and a gas-fired vaporizer solution capable of 280,000 scfh of natural gas supply. Stabilis provided the equipment, labor, and LNG supply to meet the on demand peak needs of the utility. The system operated from November to March during periods of peak demand. Stabilis and the utility worked closely on a weekly basis to ensure the system was dispatched according to the weather forecast. The mobile temporary solution provided a flexible source of natural gas supply to help the utility balance its supply portfolio and to meet the needs of its growing customer base.
Results:
Stabilis supplied this customer with a successful project for the winter of 2016/17 and renewed the service for the following winter. The LNG system operated with a 100% on stream factor and proved to be a cost competitive solution to new pipeline capacity options.
Use Case #2
Winter peaking/ “End-of-Pipe” Large Institutional Customer
Client
Large Public University
Region
New England
Date
Three (3) consecutive winter seasons:
November 2013 thru April 2016.
Services
LNG Supply
Peak flow service
Turnkey LNG/regas solution including odorization and backup power supply
On-site LNG logistics management (on-site storage limitation)
UTILITY GAS DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT
A large commercial or industrial user at the periphery of a utility’s pipeline network can sometimes stress the utility’s capacity, especially during periods of peak flow. More and more of these larger customers have moved to firm supply contracts, thus driving up peak flowrates even faster than the growth of the underlying base gas volumes. Here again, a mobile/temporary LNG solution can augment the utility pipeline network.
Winter Peaking Challenge:
A large New England public university has a 10-MW gas turbine with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to supply both power and steam to its campus. The customer also operates 4- and 2-MW packaged steam boilers that provide steam to (1) expansion turbines for power and (2) the campus for additional heat. The system includes a condensate return system resulting in the overall system operating with a thermal efficiency approaching 85% in colder months.
The university is connected to a gas pipeline of a local utility with interruptible service and maintains backup heating oil supply to fire the turbine and packaged boilers — which are all designed for both fuels — when pipeline service is interrupted. The HRSG however, which produces the final tranche of steam (70,000 lb/hr) required by the campus during extreme cold snaps, can only burn natural gas.
The customer identified LNG as a way of reducing/eliminating purchases of more expensive heating oil as well as being able to provide fuel to the HRSG.
STABILIS ENERGY LNG Solution:
Stabilis Energy supplied two LNG ISO containers with a total energy capacity of approximately 1,982 dekatherms and a gas-fired, 140,000-scfh vaporizer shown to the right. The State of Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board permitted a maximum of 2,480 dekatherms of LNG storage for the temporary facility. At times during the winter, the system would consume over 3,000 dekatherms per day of LNG, thus creating a significant logistical challenge to keep the facility amply supplied with LNG at all times. Stabilis Energy worked closely with the campus to develop and refine a planning model to forecast system LNG demands. This collaborative approach allowed Stabilis Energy to meet the LNG supply logistics challenge.
Results:
Stabilis Energy supplied this customer with LNG for three consecutive winters and never allowed the on-site tanks to run out of LNG. The LNG system operated with an on stream factor in excess of 99.98% of the time.