NEW ENTRY----   Andrew Heath, Rolls-Royce, President - Energy said: "I am delighted that Rolls-Royce technology has again been selected to support the Dolphin Gas Project, one of the largest cross border energy infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the Middle East. The supply of three new Rolls-Royce Trent gas turbines to Dolphin Energy is testimony to the six units already installed on the project. To date, these have recorded over 150,000 operating hours, transporting billions of standard cubic feet of gas to meet the energy needs of the UAE and Oman."

Rolls-Royce will supply Dolphin Energy Limited with three industrial Trent gas turbine compression packages. The three new Trent units, each rated at 52 megawatts, will join six similar Rolls-Royce packages that went into service at Dolphin Energy's Gas Processing Plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar in 2006.
In addition to selecting Rolls-Royce energy technology, Dolphin Energy Limited has signed a TotalCare® longterm equipment service agreement designed to increase equipment availability and reliability

The equipment will be manufactured and packaged at the Rolls-Royce facilities in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Mount Vernon, Ohio, U.S.A. Delivery of the packaged units to Ras Laffan will be in the second and third quarters of 2013.
 

 1. Alstom in India has secured two strategic contracts for the execution of turnkey station control and instrumentation (C&I) for NTPC’s (National Thermal Power Corporation) 660 MW supercritical projects for Solapur and Mouda II located in the state of Maharashtra in India. These contracts worth close to €8.4 million(INR 554 million)  have been awarded to Power Automation & Controls (PAC)Business India.  
The turnkey scope of the projects cover a combined area of complete station control with ALSPA Control systems - to be manufactured in Alstom’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India and Europe. While the automation solutions for the project will be integrated locally by setting up a integration facility in India, the electronic cards and assemblies will be manufactured by Alstom facilities in Europe. Alstom manages the complete engineering, supply, manufacture, delivery to site, installation, commissioning, testing and quality of the package. 
As part of the PAC India R&D setup, Alstom has established a state-of-the-art large thermal Digital Control System (DCS) Reference Platform in India which will ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the products. The Platform is run on a 24x7 basis to subject the system to extreme conditions from a process perspective and ensure robustness of the product over its lifecycle. 
This is the biggest project for Alstom in the C&I segment in India and also the first contract provided to Alstom by NTPC in the C&I 660 MW segment. As per the tender conditions, PAC India is also expected to get awarded an additional order for three units of 660 MW for the Nabinagar site located in the state of Bihar.  
With this contract, a new market segment has opened up for PAC India. Alstom PAC India had collaborated with NTPC in the past for projects in the cities of Kawas and Gandhar. A total of 15.4 GW installed capacity of Alstom power plants in thermal and renewable energy sector in India work with ALSPA control system technologies. 
“Alstom is recognised in India for its state-of-the-art solutions which aim at optimising efficiency, quality, availability and security of power generation plants and fleet. The Power Automation and Controls business is a major component of Clean Power offering of Alstom. With this contract, Alstom has reinforced its commitment towards providing clean power solutions by rising to the challenges posed by ever-surmounting energy needs of the country.” commented, Francois Carpentier, Vice President, Thermal and Renewable Power, Alstom India.

2. Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba JSW Turbine and Generator Pvt., Ltd., a Chennai-based Toshiba Group company, today announced that Toshiba Corporation has been awarded a contract for the supply of two units of 660MW super-critical steam turbine and generator island by Meja Urja Nigam Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture of NTPC Limited, India's largest state-owned energy service provider, and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utapatdan Nigam Ltd. (UPRVUNL) following the contract award of Kudgi Super Thermal Power Project, Stage-I (3x800MW) in February this year. The equipment will be installed in the Meja Thermal Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh State, India. The value of the contract is about USD315 million. The scope of the contract covers engineering, procurement, manufacturing, installation and testing of the steam turbine generator islands. Setting up a local manufacturing facility and a phased manufacturing program with technology transfers in India was a mandatory requirement for the tender. Toshiba embraced this, and established Toshiba JSW in Chennai in 2008. The company is a 75% Toshiba-owned subsidiary and the very first Toshiba Group turbine and generator manufacturing facility outside of Japan. Steam turbine and generator for the Meja thermal power plant will be manufactured at Toshiba JSW and at Toshiba's Keihin Product Operations in Japan. Commercial operation of the first unit is scheduled in 48 months from the contract award and the second unit in 54 months. Rapid economic and industrial growth is driving demand in India for increased capacity with equipment that meets the highest environmental standards. Toshiba Group has responded by establishing a network of companies that provides localized one-stop EPC solutions, from plant conceptualization to commissioning. Toshiba India Private Limited in Gurgoan undertakes overall project management; TPSC India in Hyderabad carries out installation and commissioning; and Toshiba JSW, the jewel in the crown, manufactures steam turbines and generators. Toshiba's technical expertise and its strong commitment to localization assured that Toshiba Group secured the order for the Meja Thermal Power Plant against stiff competition. The power generation equipment market in India is expected to see demand growth of more than 16,000MW a year for the next decade. Coal-fired thermal power plants will account for over 60 percent of capacity growth, far surpassing other energy sources, and supercritical power plants will account for approximately 60 percent of new thermal plants. The Indian government recognizes supercritical technology as a major tool for increasing generation capacity and efficiency while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, and is strongly promoting adoption of the technology among India's utility companies. Toshiba Group will seek to support this approach and considers India as a potentially major market for power equipment. Going forward, in addition to India, Toshiba Group, will look to reinforce its presence by making the best use of Toshiba JSW in markets around the world including Asia and the Middle East, where demand for thermal power plants is strong. Toshiba positions the thermal power equipment business as part of a comprehensive power generation portfolio alongside nuclear power and hydro power, and targets USD 1 billion sales in FY2015 for its thermal power business in India.
 
3. The movement of coal to thermal power plants including movement of imported coal is accorded preference by the Railways over similar cargo moving to other customers. The Railways have been successful in meeting the demand for movement of imported coal to thermal power plants. As per Central Electricity Authority (CEA) reports, coal imports to thermal power plants which were at a level of 3.6 million tonnes in the year 2001-02 have increased to a level 45.549 million tonnes in 2011-12, out of which approximate 14.262 million tonnes were moved to shore based power plants which did not require movement by rail. Out of the balance 31.287 million tonnes coal which was imported, the railways evacuated 30.897 million tonnes and only 0.390 million tonnes were available at the ports. 
The capacity of the Railways is adequate to meet the demand for imported coal barring seasonal bunching of imported coal at ports. This has been made possible by a proper planning process wherein a logistics plan linking various ports to various plants has been formulated. 
Adequate measures are being taken by Railways to ease evacuation/transportation of coal on Indian Railway Network. A total of 3077.46 kilometres of new lines, doubling and gauge conversion at cost of Rs. 17988.82 crore have been sanctioned and are in various stages of progress for primarily coal bearing routes. This excludes projects being undertaken on deposit term basis from coal companies. In addition, the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors which are slated to come up by the terminal year of the 12th Plan will primarily cater to both domestic and imported coal movement on the Eastern sector and imported coal movement on the Western sector. In addition, the Railways are substantially increasing their fleet of rolling stock to meet coal movement. In the year 2011-12, 11683 number of coal loading wagons were inducted into Indian Railway. Moreover, the wagons being inducted are cleared for higher pay load and speed. 
 
4. The outlines of a massive solar thermal power plant — the largest ever — are starting to appear in the wilderness outside of Las Vegas. The $2.2 billion project, being built by Oakland, California-based Brightsource, stretches over 3,600 acres near Ivanpah, California. When it’s finished, it will generate 370 megawatts of electricity on sunny days.

But the future of solar thermal power plants is in doubt. That’s in large part because prices for solar panels — which convert sunlight to electricity directly — have dropped quickly in the last few years, causing at least one company to abandon plans to build solar thermal plants in favor of making ones that use solar panels.

Yet solar thermal has at least one great strength: the heat it produces is easy to store, so electricity can be generated even after the sun goes down, and power can be dispatched to the grid whenever it’s most needed.

However, Las Vegas uses 5,600 megawatts on a summer day, as of 2007, according to Forbes. By 2015 that’s expected to hit 8,000.