The generation of power at or near the point of use is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. With low costs and an environmentally friendly solution, it gives businesses and communities around the world the ability to generate reliable and efficient power at anytime — on the grid or off it. This revolution will help solve some of the world’s most pressing power needs.

A whisky distillery in Scotland uses mash residue to power its factory and produce steam for distilling while a brewery in Germany uses its waste water to generate the electricity, steam and hot water needed to make its products. Throughout Southeast Asia, oil palm plantations use palm kernel shells as solid fuels for the steam boilers in their mills and the steam generated is then used to run turbines for electricity production. 

These solid fuels alone are able to generate more than enough energy to meet the demands of the palm oil mill, with the excess being sold back to the grid. Even poultry farms are getting in on the game, building plants that serve to both extract energy from chicken manure as well as serve as a viable remedy for farm pollution fouling up nearby waterways.

Throughout the world, more and more communities and companies are using everything from tree bark, sewage sludge and even rubbish from landfill to generate power, a phenomenon that has become known as “distributed power”.

In a nutshell, distributed power is the generation of power at or near the point of use. These are decentralised, modular and more flexible technologies that typically use renewable energy sources such as small hydro, biomass, biogas, solar power, wind power and geothermal power. With distributed power, you are able to collect and store energy from many sources, which may help lower the environmental impact (compared with the traditional power generation) and improve the security of supply.

In addition, it is the perfect solution for remote areas, which are too costly to connect to the grid. Globally, 1.3 billion people lack access to the electricity grid and are forced to rely on dangerous, unhealthy, inefficient and expensive fuel-based alternatives. In Central America, for instance, 20% of the population, that is, 7.8 million people, are without access to the grid.

According to General Electric’s figures, distributed power is growing at twice the pace of traditional power generation models globally. By 2020, investment in distributed power technology will rise from US$150 billion to US$206 billion. GE has responded by launching a new distributed power business and announcing US$1.4 billion of investment globally to help meet the demand for on-site power.

“In the Asean region, there is a lot of demand for fast power. Some areas in countries such as Myanmar and Indonesia are facing a scramble for power and that’s where GE is looking to provide quick solutions,” says GE’s regional manager for distributed power John Alcordo.

And in an emergency situation, Alcordo adds, the most expensive alternative is to have no power at all, nor any means of access to it.

Why are distributed power systems becoming so popular? For starters, they cost less and can be deployed rapidly.

Its small size also ensures that setting up a distributed power source requires less capital and it is scalable according to customer needs, which means that regions with capital constraints such as many parts of the developing world, can still access power. Distributed power technologies can also help reduce wastages by matching small power demands with the right supply — something which large central power stations cannot offer. 

Distributed power systems are modular and scalable. Customers can start small and add capacity as demand grows. They are also flexible in terms of the fuel they use and the diverse ways they can be applied. 

Basically, GE has three main product offerings in terms of distributed power: aeroderivative gas turbines, the Jenbacher and the Waukesha. 

The aeroderivative gas turbines are essentially jet engines, says Alcordo. “This same technology that produces thrust for planes was reconfigured to a land-based machine that drives a generator.”

Turbines that are used for generating electrical power can be small enough to be mounted on trucks for mobile implementation or be used in enormous projects that take months to build. A good example would be the GE TM2500+, which is ideal for providing a base-load bridge to permanent power installations or for generating backup power in support of natural disaster relief, plant shutdowns or equipment maintenance.

“This aviation technology, pioneered by GE, was chosen for this powergen application because by its very nature it was designed for exceptional reliability, with the ability to carry out rapid acceleration and frequent start-stops, with no additional impact on maintenance costs,” Alcordo points out.

The Jenbacher and Waukesha gas engines are reciprocating gas engines. “The Jenbacher gas engines run on a wide range of organic gases, and are widely used in power generation applications, such as waste to energy. One example would be landfill gas power generation, where methane is extracted to power the engines; gas from organic waste such as livestock farms is also a prime fuel source for Jenbachers,” says Alcordo.

Another application for Jenbacher engines is the Combined Heat and Power (CHP), where the engines not only deliver electricity but also process heat and carbon dioxide.

Distributed power started to take off in 1994 and Jenbacher engineers have managed to carve their niche in this sector by delivering the highest efficiencies. In fact, the J920, which is the latest model, can deliver an electrical output of 9.5MW, with electrical efficiency of close to 50% and CHP (Combined Heat and Power) efficiency of over 90%.

The Waukesha engine, named after the city of Waukesha in Wisconsin, is a staple in the oil and gas industry and much sought after for being the most robust gas engine for compression applications. Waukesha gas engines are known for their durability and performance in harsh, remote environments, involving mission-critical situations throughout oilfield power generation, gas compression and mechanical drive.

According to US-based strategic consultancy Bain and Co, the popularity of distributed energy can only continue to grow, fuelled by rising energy prices, growing environmental concerns and increasing regulatory pressures. Germany, for instance, has committed to deriving 80% of its power from renewable sources by 2050 and many of those sources are likely to be distributed. In the UK, the Renewable Heat Incentive pays generators for heat they produce themselves, creating attractive economics for running small boilers with biomass fuel rather than oil. In developing countries such as India, distributed energy is an option to expand the electrical system into locations that are not on the grid. 

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