Misplaced Pages

#922077

66-509: The company operates the gas supply for Armenia's domestic gas market as also power generation . In April 2006, Gazprom and Armenia signed a contract for 25 years about strategic principles of cooperation in gas and energy projects in the Armenian territory. After this contract Gazprom raised the gas price from the preferential $ 54 per 1,000 m to $ 110 per 1,000 m. The price is fixed on this still preferential level until 1 January 2009. To avoid

132-451: A carbon price , due to their dispatchable generation and because shale gas and liquefied natural gas prices have fallen since they were built. Even in places with a carbon price, such as the EU, existing gas-fired power stations remain economically viable, partly due to increasing restrictions on coal-fired power because of its pollution. Even when replacing coal power, the decision to build

198-484: A gigawatt each. They generate about a third of the world's electricity , but cause many illnesses and the most early deaths per unit of energy produced, mainly from air pollution . World installed capacity doubled from 2000 to 2023 and increased 2% in 2023. A coal-fired power station is a type of fossil fuel power station . The coal is usually pulverized and then burned in a pulverized coal-fired boiler . The furnace heat converts boiler water to steam , which

264-817: A heat recovery steam generator and a steam turbine which use the Rankine cycle . The most common configuration is two gas-turbines supporting one steam turbine. They are slightly more expensive than simple cycle plants but can achieve efficiencies up to 55% and dispatch times of around half an hour. Reciprocating internal combustion engines tend to be under 20 MW, thus much smaller than other types of natural gas-fired electricity generator, and are typically used for emergency power or to balance variable renewable energy such as wind and solar. Relatively efficient gas-fired power stations – such as those based on combined cycle gas turbines – emit about 450 grams (16 oz) of CO 2 per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated. This

330-424: A few dozen hours per year—depending on the electricity demand and the generating capacity of the region. In areas with a shortage of base-load and load following power plant capacity or with low fuel costs, a gas turbine powerplant may regularly operate most hours of the day. A large single-cycle gas turbine typically produces 100 to 400 megawatts of electric power and has 35–40% thermodynamic efficiency . In

396-451: A generator are photovoltaic solar and fuel cells . Almost all commercial electrical power on Earth is generated with a turbine , driven by wind, water, steam or burning gas. The turbine drives a generator, thus transforming its mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction. There are many different methods of developing mechanical energy, including heat engines , hydro, wind and tidal power. Most electric generation

462-645: A generator to rotate. Electrochemistry is the direct transformation of chemical energy into electricity, as in a battery . Electrochemical electricity generation is important in portable and mobile applications. Currently, most electrochemical power comes from batteries. Primary cells , such as the common zinc–carbon batteries , act as power sources directly, but secondary cells (i.e. rechargeable batteries) are used for storage systems rather than primary generation systems. Open electrochemical systems, known as fuel cells , can be used to extract power either from natural fuels or from synthesized fuels. Osmotic power

528-625: A higher prizes level for natural gas, the Armenian government had to make some concessions that the Iran-Armenia Natural Gas Pipeline and the 5th unit of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Station get under control of ARG. Final owner rights must transit till 1 January 2007. As part of the contract, Russia wanted to limit the diameter of the Iran-Armenia Natural Gas Pipeline to 700 mm to prevent

594-408: A huge amount of power from a single unit. However, nuclear disasters have raised concerns over the safety of nuclear power, and the capital cost of nuclear plants is very high. Hydroelectric power plants are located in areas where the potential energy from falling water can be harnessed for moving turbines and the generation of power. It may not be an economically viable single source of production where

660-542: A large number of consumers. Most power plants used in centralised generation are thermal power plants meaning that they use a fuel to heat steam to produce a pressurised gas which in turn spins a turbine and generates electricity. This is the traditional way of producing energy. This process relies on several forms of technology to produce widespread electricity, these being natural coal, gas and nuclear forms of thermal generation. More recently solar and wind have become large scale. A photovoltaic power station , also known as

726-457: A new battery storage power station together with solar power or wind power is cheaper in the long-term than building a new gas plant, as the gas plant risks becoming a stranded asset . As of 2019 a few gas-fired power plants are being retired because they are unable to stop and start quickly enough. Despite the falling cost of variable renewable energy most existing gas-fired power plants remain profitable, especially in countries without

SECTION 10

#1733086187923

792-536: A prime source of power within isolated villages. Total world generation in 2021 was 28,003 TWh, including coal (36%), gas (23%), hydro (15%), nuclear (10%), wind (6.6%), solar (3.7%), oil and other fossil fuels (3.1%), biomass (2.4%) and geothermal and other renewables (0.33%). China produced a third of the world's electricity in 2021, largely from coal. The United States produces half as much as China but uses far more natural gas and nuclear. Variations between countries generating electrical power affect concerns about

858-441: A scale of at least 1 MW p . As of 2018, the world's largest operating photovoltaic power stations surpassed 1 gigawatt . At the end of 2019, about 9,000 solar farms were larger than 4 MW AC (utility scale), with a combined capacity of over 220 GW AC . A wind farm or wind park, or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity . Wind farms vary in size from

924-467: A simple cycle gas-turbine, also known as open-cycle gas-turbine (OCGT) generators, hot gas drives a gas turbine to generate electricity. This type of plant is relatively cheap to build and can start very quickly, but due to its lower efficiency is at most only run for a few hours a day as a peaking power plant . CCGT power plants consist of simple cycle gas-turbines which use the Brayton cycle , followed by

990-533: A small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an extensive area. Wind farms can be either onshore or offshore . Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in China, India, and the United States. For example, the largest wind farm in the world , Gansu Wind Farm in China had a capacity of over 6,000  MW by 2012, with a goal of 20,000 MW by 2020. As of December 2020,

1056-465: A solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power . They are different from most building-mounted and other decentralized solar power because they supply power at the utility level, rather than to a local user or users. Utility-scale solar is sometimes used to describe this type of project. This approach differs from concentrated solar power ,

1122-500: A variety of energy sources are used, such as coal , nuclear , natural gas , hydroelectric , wind , and oil , as well as solar energy , tidal power , and geothermal sources. In the 1880s the popularity of electricity grew massively with the introduction of the Incandescent light bulb . Although there are 22 recognised inventors of the light bulb prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison , Edison and Swan's invention became by far

1188-399: Is a thermal power station that burns natural gas to generate electricity . Gas-fired power plants generate almost a quarter of world electricity and are significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions . However, they can provide seasonal, dispatchable energy generation to compensate for variable renewable energy deficits, where hydropower or interconnectors are not available. In

1254-462: Is a possibility at places where salt and fresh water merge. The photovoltaic effect is the transformation of light into electrical energy, as in solar cells . Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight directly to DC electricity. Power inverters can then convert that to AC electricity if needed. Although sunlight is free and abundant, solar power electricity is still usually more expensive to produce than large-scale mechanically generated power due to

1320-478: Is about half that of coal-fired power stations but much more than nuclear power plants and renewable energy . However, the more flexible simple-cycle turbines have a significantly higher emissions intensity, frequently as high as 670 grams (24 oz) of CO 2 per kWh, and some older gas turbines can have emissions intensities comparable with even the most emissions intensive coal power stations. However, full Life-cycle emissions of gas-fired power stations

1386-500: Is an important part of the energy transformation required to limit climate change . Vastly more solar power and wind power is forecast to be required, with electricity demand increasing strongly with further electrification of transport , homes and industry. However, in 2023, it was reported that the global electricity supply was approaching peak CO2 emissions thanks to the growth of solar and wind power. The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered in

SECTION 20

#1733086187923

1452-468: Is based upon the local power requirement and the fluctuations in demand. All power grids have varying loads on them. The daily minimum is the base load , often supplied by plants which run continuously. Nuclear, coal, oil, gas and some hydro plants can supply base load. If well construction costs for natural gas are below $ 10 per MWh, generating electricity from natural gas is cheaper than generating power by burning coal. Nuclear power plants can produce

1518-975: Is driven by heat engines. The combustion of fossil fuels supplies most of the energy to these engines, with a significant fraction from nuclear fission and some from renewable sources . The modern steam turbine , invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884, currently generates about 80% of the electric power in the world using a variety of heat sources. Turbine types include: Turbines can also use other heat-transfer liquids than steam. Supercritical carbon dioxide based cycles can provide higher conversion efficiency due to faster heat exchange, higher energy density and simpler power cycle infrastructure. Supercritical carbon dioxide blends , that are currently in development, can further increase efficiency by optimizing its critical pressure and temperature points. Although turbines are most common in commercial power generation, smaller generators can be powered by gasoline or diesel engines . These may used for backup generation or as

1584-511: Is fundamentally the opposite of distributed generation . Distributed generation is the small-scale generation of electricity to smaller groups of consumers. This can also include independently producing electricity by either solar or wind power. In recent years distributed generation as has seen a spark in popularity due to its propensity to use renewable energy generation methods such as rooftop solar . Centralised energy sources are large power plants that produce huge amounts of electricity to

1650-481: Is increased by methane emissions from gas leaks associated with gas production and distribution pipelines as well as from significant venting of waste CO 2 after amine gas treating if carbon capture and storage is employed. Very few power plants have carbon capture and storage . Gas-fired power plants can be modified to run on hydrogen , and according to General Electric a more economically viable option than CCS would be to use more and more hydrogen in

1716-577: Is provided by batteries. Other forms of electricity generation used in niche applications include the triboelectric effect , the piezoelectric effect , the thermoelectric effect , and betavoltaics . Electric generators transform kinetic energy into electricity. This is the most used form for generating electricity based on Faraday's law . It can be seen experimentally by rotating a magnet within closed loops of conducting material, e.g. copper wire. Almost all commercial electrical generation uses electromagnetic induction, in which mechanical energy forces

1782-468: Is rated in megawatt-peak (MW p ), which refers to the solar array's theoretical maximum DC power output. In other countries, the manufacturer states the surface and the efficiency. However, Canada, Japan, Spain, and the United States often specify using the converted lower nominal power output in MW AC , a measure more directly comparable to other forms of power generation. Most solar parks are developed at

1848-429: Is then used to spin turbines that turn generators . Thus chemical energy stored in coal is converted successively into thermal energy , mechanical energy and, finally, electrical energy . Natural gas is ignited to create pressurised gas which is used to spin turbines to generate electricity. Natural gas plants use a gas turbine where natural gas is added along with oxygen which in turn combusts and expands through

1914-650: The Three Mile Island accident , Chernobyl disaster and the Fukushima nuclear disaster illustrate this problem. The table lists 45 countries with their total electricity capacities. The data is from 2022. According to the Energy Information Administration , the total global electricity capacity in 2022 was nearly 8.9 terawatt (TW), more than four times the total global electricity capacity in 1981. The global average per-capita electricity capacity

1980-545: The kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. Other energy sources include solar photovoltaics and geothermal power . There are exotic and speculative methods to recover energy, such as proposed fusion reactor designs which aim to directly extract energy from intense magnetic fields generated by fast-moving charged particles generated by the fusion reaction (see magnetohydrodynamics ). Phasing out coal-fired power stations and eventually gas-fired power stations , or, if practical, capturing their greenhouse gas emissions ,

2046-442: The pumped-storage method. Consumable electricity is not freely available in nature, so it must be "produced", transforming other forms of energy to electricity. Production is carried out in power stations , also called "power plants". Electricity is most often generated at a power plant by electromechanical generators , primarily driven by heat engines fueled by combustion or nuclear fission , but also by other means such as

Gazprom Armenia - Misplaced Pages Continue

2112-496: The 1218 MW Hornsea Wind Farm in the UK is the largest offshore wind farm in the world . Individual wind turbine designs continue to increase in power , resulting in fewer turbines being needed for the same total output. A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity . Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating

2178-470: The 1820s and early 1830s by British scientist Michael Faraday . His method, still used today, is for electricity to be generated by the movement of a loop of wire, or Faraday disc , between the poles of a magnet . Central power stations became economically practical with the development of alternating current (AC) power transmission, using power transformers to transmit power at high voltage and with low loss. Commercial electricity production started with

2244-572: The Northern America in the 1920s in large cities and urban areas. It was not until the 1930s that rural areas saw the large-scale establishment of electrification. 2021 world electricity generation by source. Total generation was 28 petawatt-hours . Several fundamental methods exist to convert other forms of energy into electrical energy. Utility-scale generation is achieved by rotating electric generators or by photovoltaic systems. A small proportion of electric power distributed by utilities

2310-583: The United States, fossil fuel combustion for electric power generation is responsible for 65% of all emissions of sulfur dioxide , the main component of acid rain. Electricity generation is the fourth highest combined source of NO x , carbon monoxide , and particulate matter in the US. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), low-carbon electricity generation needs to account for 85% of global electrical output by 2040 in order to ward off

2376-508: The ability to store the flow of water is limited and the load varies too much during the annual production cycle. Electric generators were known in simple forms from the discovery of electromagnetic induction in the 1830s. In general, some form of prime mover such as an engine or the turbines described above, drives a rotating magnetic field past stationary coils of wire thereby turning mechanical energy into electricity. The only commercial scale forms of electricity production that do not employ

2442-487: The atmosphere. Nuclear power plants can also create district heating and desalination projects, limiting carbon emissions and the need for expanded electrical output. A fundamental issue regarding centralised generation and the current electrical generation methods in use today is the significant negative environmental effects that many of the generation processes have. Processes such as coal and gas not only release carbon dioxide as they combust, but their extraction from

2508-405: The companies equity capital. On 27 October 2006 Gazprom's Executive Board approved acquire additional issues of ARG, which is most likely part of April's controversial deal. According to Karen Karapetyan , Gazprom will pay $ 118.8 million to have the commanding share of ARG. In January 2014 Gazprom agreed to purchase another 20% of ARG bringing Gazprom's ownership to 100% of the company. The company

2574-616: The cost of the panels. Low-efficiency silicon solar cells have been decreasing in cost and multijunction cells with close to 30% conversion efficiency are now commercially available. Over 40% efficiency has been demonstrated in experimental systems. Until recently, photovoltaics were most commonly used in remote sites where there is no access to a commercial power grid, or as a supplemental electricity source for individual homes and businesses. Recent advances in manufacturing efficiency and photovoltaic technology, combined with subsidies driven by environmental concerns, have dramatically accelerated

2640-477: The coupling of the dynamo to the hydraulic turbine. The mechanical production of electric power began the Second Industrial Revolution and made possible several inventions using electricity, with the major contributors being Thomas Alva Edison and Nikola Tesla . Previously the only way to produce electricity was by chemical reactions or using battery cells, and the only practical use of electricity

2706-567: The deployment of solar panels. Installed capacity is growing by around 20% per year led by increases in Germany, Japan, United States, China, and India. The selection of electricity production modes and their economic viability varies in accordance with demand and region. The economics vary considerably around the world, resulting in widespread residential selling prices. Hydroelectric plants , nuclear power plants , thermal power plants and renewable sources have their own pros and cons, and selection

Gazprom Armenia - Misplaced Pages Continue

2772-725: The devices they power—often an electric generator —and the secondary-energy equipment that is used to recover residual energy (largely heat). They range in size from portable mobile plants to large, complex systems weighing more than a hundred tonnes housed in purpose-built buildings. When the gas turbine is used solely for shaft power, its thermal efficiency is about 30%. However, it may be cheaper to buy electricity than to generate it. Therefore, many engines are used in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) configurations that can be small enough to be integrated into portable container configurations. Gas turbines can be particularly efficient when waste heat from

2838-469: The early 2020s batteries became competitive with gas peaker plants . A gas-fired power plant is a type of fossil fuel power station in which chemical energy stored in natural gas, which is mainly methane , is converted successively into: thermal energy , mechanical energy and, finally, electrical energy . Although they cannot exceed the Carnot cycle limit for conversion of heat energy into useful work,

2904-425: The early 2020s. In March 2018, GE Power achieved a 63.08% gross efficiency for its 7HA turbine. Aeroderivative gas turbines can also be used in combined cycles, leading to a higher efficiency, but it will not be as high as a specifically designed industrial gas turbine. They can also be run in a cogeneration configuration: the exhaust is used for space or water heating, or drives an absorption chiller for cooling

2970-533: The electricity through high voltage transmission lines to a substation, where it is then distributed to consumers; the basic concept being that multi-megawatt or gigawatt scale large stations create electricity for a large number of people. The vast majority of electricity used is created from centralised generation. Most centralised power generation comes from large power plants run by fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, though nuclear or large hydroelectricity plants are also commonly used. Centralised generation

3036-404: The environment. In France only 10% of electricity is generated from fossil fuels , the US is higher at 70% and China is at 80%. The cleanliness of electricity depends on its source. Methane leaks (from natural gas to fuel gas-fired power plants) and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-based electricity generation account for a significant portion of world greenhouse gas emissions . In

3102-402: The excess heat, ie the difference between the chemical energy used up and the useful work generated, may be used in cogeneration plants to heat buildings, to produce hot water, or to heat materials on an industrial scale. Industrial gas turbines differ from aeronautical designs in that the frames, bearings, and blading are of heavier construction. They are also much more closely integrated with

3168-448: The gas turbine fuel. Hydrogen can at first be created from natural gas through steam reforming , or by heating to precipitate carbon, as a step towards a hydrogen economy , thus eventually reducing carbon emissions. However others think low-carbon hydrogen (such as natural hydrogen ) should be used for things which are harder to decarbonize , such as making fertilizer , so there may not be enough for electricity generation. Sometimes

3234-420: The generators. Although there are several types of nuclear reactors, all fundamentally use this process. Normal emissions due to nuclear power plants are primarily waste heat and radioactive spent fuel. In a reactor accident, significant amounts of radioisotopes can be released to the environment, posing a long term hazard to life. This hazard has been a continuing concern of environmentalists. Accidents such as

3300-494: The ground also impacts the environment. Open pit coal mines use large areas of land to extract coal and limit the potential for productive land use after the excavation. Natural gas extraction releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere when extracted from the ground greatly increase global greenhouse gases. Although nuclear power plants do not release carbon dioxide through electricity generation, there are risks associated with nuclear waste and safety concerns associated with

3366-458: The heat input is from the process of nuclear fission . Currently, nuclear power produces 11% of all electricity in the world. Most nuclear reactors use uranium as a source of fuel. In a process called nuclear fission , energy, in the form of heat, is released when nuclear atoms are split. Electricity is created through the use of a nuclear reactor where heat produced by nuclear fission is used to produce steam which in turn spins turbines and powers

SECTION 50

#1733086187923

3432-435: The inlet air and increase the power output, technology known as turbine inlet air cooling . Another significant advantage is their ability to be turned on and off within minutes, supplying power during peak, or unscheduled, demand. Since single cycle (gas turbine only) power plants are less efficient than combined cycle plants, they are usually used as peaking power plants , which operate anywhere from several hours per day to

3498-454: The most successful and popular of all. During the early years of the 19th century, massive jumps in electrical sciences were made. And by the later 19th century the advancement of electrical technology and engineering led to electricity being part of everyday life. With the introduction of many electrical inventions and their implementation into everyday life, the demand for electricity within homes grew dramatically. With this increase in demand,

3564-425: The other major large-scale solar generation technology, which uses heat to drive a variety of conventional generator systems. Both approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but to date, for a variety of reasons, photovoltaic technology has seen much wider use. As of 2019 , about 97% of utility-scale solar power capacity was PV. In some countries, the nameplate capacity of photovoltaic power stations

3630-546: The pipeline under Russian control would only deepen that dependence and that the agreement could be seen as a big geopolitical victory of Russia in the Transcaucasian region. Power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy . For utilities in the electric power industry , it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission , distribution , etc.) to end users or its storage , using for example,

3696-479: The potential for profit was seen by many entrepreneurs who began investing into electrical systems to eventually create the first electricity public utilities. This process in history is often described as electrification. The earliest distribution of electricity came from companies operating independently of one another. A consumer would purchase electricity from a producer, and the producer would distribute it through their own power grid. As technology improved so did

3762-585: The process of centralised generation as they would become vital to the entire power system that we now use today. Throughout the middle of the 20th century many utilities began merging their distribution networks due to economic and efficiency benefits. Along with the invention of long-distance power transmission , the coordination of power plants began to form. This system was then secured by regional system operators to ensure stability and reliability. The electrification of homes began in Northern Europe and in

3828-431: The productivity and efficiency of its generation. Inventions such as the steam turbine had a massive impact on the efficiency of electrical generation but also the economics of generation as well. This conversion of heat energy into mechanical work was similar to that of steam engines , however at a significantly larger scale and far more productively. The improvements of these large-scale generation plants were critical to

3894-480: The turbine is recovered by a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to power a conventional steam turbine in a combined cycle configuration. The 605 MW General Electric 9HA achieved a 62.22% efficiency rate with temperatures as high as 1,540 °C (2,800 °F). For 2018, GE offers its 826 MW HA at over 64% efficiency in combined cycle due to advances in additive manufacturing and combustion breakthroughs, up from 63.7% in 2017 orders and on track to achieve 65% by

3960-444: The turbine to force a generator to spin. Natural gas power plants are more efficient than coal power generation, they however contribute to climate change, but not as highly as coal generation. Not only do they produce carbon dioxide from the ignition of natural gas, the extraction of gas when mined releases a significant amount of methane into the atmosphere. Nuclear power plants create electricity through steam turbines where

4026-413: The use of nuclear sources. Per unit of electricity generated coal and gas-fired power life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions are almost always at least ten times that of other generation methods. Centralised generation is electricity generation by large-scale centralised facilities, sent through transmission lines to consumers. These facilities are usually located far away from consumers and distribute

SECTION 60

#1733086187923

4092-542: The use of the pipeline to transport bigger amounts of gas to other countries like Georgia . However, the pipeline was built with the diameter of 1,200 mm. The Hrazdan Thermal Power Stations is the biggest power station of the Armenian energy complex. The incomplete but modern 5th unit should be completed and equipped with gas turbine engine up to 140 MWt. During a visit to Moscow at the end of October 2006, Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan announced, that Gazprom will buy additional ARG-shares and then controls 58% of

4158-672: The worst effects of climate change. Like other organizations including the Energy Impact Center (EIC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the IEA has called for the expansion of nuclear and renewable energy to meet that objective. Some, like EIC founder Bret Kugelmass, believe that nuclear power is the primary method for decarbonizing electricity generation because it can also power direct air capture that removes existing carbon emissions from

4224-691: Was about 1,120 watts in 2022, nearly two and a half times the global average per-capita electricity capacity in 1981. Iceland has the highest installed capacity per capita in the world, at about 8,990 watts. All developed countries have an average per-capita electricity capacity above the global average per-capita electricity capacity, with the United Kingdom having the lowest average per-capita electricity capacity of all other developed countries. Gas-fired power plant A gas-fired power plant , sometimes referred to as gas-fired power station , natural gas power plant , or methane gas power plant ,

4290-569: Was for the telegraph . Electricity generation at central power stations started in 1882, when a steam engine driving a dynamo at Pearl Street Station produced a DC current that powered public lighting on Pearl Street , New York . The new technology was quickly adopted by many cities around the world, which adapted their gas-fueled street lights to electric power. Soon after electric lights would be used in public buildings, in businesses, and to power public transport, such as trams and trains. The first power plants used water power or coal. Today

4356-443: Was renamed Gazprom Armenia. The agreed was signed by Chairman Alexey Miller ( Gazprom ) and Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan. Since Armenia fully depends on gas import from Russia via Georgia, the Iran-Armenia Natural Gas Pipeline was intended to decrease the dependency on Russia. The 1.1 bcm of gas per year had given Armenia a considerable bargaining power against Gazprom. Critics now say that placing

#922077