Siemens Energy has secured a contract from Northeast Energy Center and Chart Energy & Chemicals to supply a gas/electric hybrid drive system for NEC’s LNG plant being built in Charlton, Massachusetts.
According to a statement by Siemens Energy, the NEC project would be the first LNG facility in the world to feature a system of this type, which offers a “significant advance in efficiency no matter the weather or temperature”.
Siemens Energy will serve as the single-source supplier of the integrated drive, providing all rotating equipment and associated control systems.
Moreover, the hybrid drive system will combine a Siemens Energy industrial gas turbine, integrally geared compressor, and electric motor-generator.
This would ensure stable and efficient operation of the plant’s main refrigeration/liquefaction train throughout the year while slashing emissions, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency, Siemens Energy claims.
The NEC project is “strategically important” to the security of energy supply of New England that depends on imported LNG.
According to Siemens Energy, the NEC facility would produce a baseload of 170,000 gallons of LNG per day for Boston Gas under a firm contract and up to 250,000 gallons per day to other utilities.
The gas turbine’s output would decrease when LNG production increases to 250,000 gallons per day on hot summer days when the motor-generator would function as a motor to supply additional power to the compression system, it said.
Also, the plant has an onsite LNG storage capacity of 2 million gallons.
The LNG produced will be available for delivery by truck and used as a feedstock for utility distribution companies and power generation facilities.
Siemens Energy did not provide the price tag of the contract.
