Enabling the Energy Transition

Predicting the future is a challenging task

But when it comes to the power generation mix, one thing the energy outlook reports agree on is that the penetration of variable renewable energy sources will continue to grow over time.

As costs continue to fall, renewable energy sources will become more competitive in more and more markets. This development will enable not only the reduction in the cost of electrical energy, but also a reduction in fossil fuel usage.

Other power sources will be forced to become ever more flexible, capable of quick starting and rapid load changes on a daily basis, or even more often.

Rolls-Royce sees this as both a natural and necessary development for the world’s economy; the lower cost of energy, with less impact on the natural environment is what people want to see. We recognise the need to drastically reduce carbon emissions, with the ultimate goal of zero net emissions. However, between now and the future of an abundance of renewable energy supply and storage solutions sufficiently large enough to enable 100% renewable dispatch-on-demand power, there will be a power mix consisting of mainly thermal, nuclear, hydro, wind and solar photo-voltaic (PV).

A Rolls-Royce solution

Generating sets based on medium speed reciprocating engines represent a solution to these challenges.

Multiple units arranged in modular power plants in the range 20MW-1GW provide the required flexibility whilst ensuring economical operation at any power plant output level.

The lean-burn spark ignited port-fuel-injection gas engine concept has been in constant development by the Rolls-Royce Power Systems company Bergen Engines AS since 1984, and offers an electrical efficiency of up to 50 %. By further utilising waste heat, in combined cycle or CHP mode, total efficiency can reach over 95%. This is currently used extensively in district heating applications, or industrial applications, where heat is used locally and the electrical power is either consumed locally in a micro grid or exported to the grid.

Designed to run with air excess ratio around 2.0 and above, both our medium speed gas  and liquid fuel engines have excellent capability to meet quick and frequent load changes, which is essential for island-mode operation, such as isolated operation of microgrids. Start times of 3 from start command to rated power output have been committed to, using the Bergen B35:40V20AG2 genset.

A medium speed power plant can be built anywhere, and tailored to meet the specific requirements in every case due to its versatile building blocks. We offer modular and flexible power plant arrangements that have been developed over many years based on experience from a vast range of operating conditions from very low to very high ambient temperatures (-50C to +50C), and from very dry to tropical conditions.

To summarise, Bergen Engines’ power plant solutions enables the energy transition as economical and reliable balance and backup power to the grid, or as the back-bone of microgrids.