Siemens to Build “First of Its Kind” Natgas Turbine for Duke NC Plant

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Siemens, the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with its headquarters in Germany, sought out and has cut a deal with Duke Energy to build a brand new, “first of its kind” advanced natural gas-combustion turbine for Duke Energy’s proposed 400-megawatt expansion at its Lincoln County Combustion Turbine Station near Charlotte. Siemens will build a single turbine able to generate 400 megawatts essentially on demand, as needed, for those times when extra electricity is needed (called “peaking” for peak demand). The project will be built in three phases beginning in 2018, with lots of testing, and won’t be ready until 2024. In return for allowing Siemens to build this new tech and test it out, Duke is getting a sweetheart deal on the price, although the price has not been publicly disclosed. So what does this have to do with the Marcellus/Utica? Long before 2024 there will be, at a minimum, Marcellus/Utica gas flowing to that region via the forthcoming Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. And by that time, seven long years from now, who knows? We expect there may be more pipelines built and in place not even conceived or announced–yet. This will be one more (added to the already 130 announced) power generation projects coming in the PJM region (see today’s companion story, Important New Report on Pipelines & Powergen in Marcellus/Utica). Here’s the exciting news about a brand new technology coming along to leverage abundant, clean-burning natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica and beyond…

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