BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. said in a statement today that a “state-of-the-art power generation system designed to increase electrical efficiency and reduce emissions” will be installed at BP's gas-to-liquids test facility” in Nikiski.
The Siemens Westinghouse "solid oxide fuel cell" unit that will convert natural gas directly into electricity through an electrochemical process similar to that used in a battery.
BP said that the technology, which is not yet commercially viable, could have “far-reaching implications for power generation in remote areas like villages in rural Alaska … (and) offshore oil and gas platforms.”
The project is expected to cost about $6.5 million and begin operating by mid-2003.
Using natural gas as feedstock, BP said its Nikiski fuel cell project will generate 250 kilowatts of electricity - roughly the consumption of 50 average homes - and power the warehouse and administration building at the GTL facility.
The fuel cell will be connected to the local electrical grid operated by Homer Electric Association to study operating characteristics and costs. Homer Electric and Chugach Electric will share operating information.
BP's $86 million GTL demonstration plant is expected to begin operating in the first half of 2002.
