Chena Power tests mobile unit in Fairbanks

A mobile power plant designed to generate electricity from low-temperature hot water is on its way to the Lower 48 after a successful first stop in Fairbanks.

The plant, developed by Chena Power, United Technologies, and Quantum Resources with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, operated for several days at the end of August at the Aurora Energy coal-fired power plant in downtown Fairbanks.

“It seemed to work fine,” Aurora Energy President Buki Wright said in an interview Sept. 17. There were a few bugs to work out, but they were simple things like leaking hoses, he said.

Bernie Karl, owner of the Chena Hot Springs Resort and its energy arm, Chena Power, said the first-generation plant installed easily and ran “flawlessly.” The plant used warm water returning from Aurora’s district heating system to generate more than 200 kilowatts of power, which was fed back into the 30-megawatt coal-fired plant. In an interview Sept. 17, Karl said he thinks units like his could generate up to 1 megawatt at the plant, increasing its overall efficiency.

Wright was more cautious. He said he still has to evaluate data from the test, but doesn’t expect the technology to be cost-effective for Aurora because of the energy needed to reheat the water after it’s used. The coal plant does generate waste heat, but not in a form the mobile plant could use, he said.

The Chena plant is welded onto two flatbed trailers and is designed for quick installation. A primary goal is to make power from hot water produced at oil wells. (See “Alaska geothermal test going to Florida,” in July 13, 2008, issue at www.petroleumnews.com/pnads/132232217.shtml.)

Karl said the plant is currently being shipped by boat to the Lower 48. Its first stop is at the Geothermal Resources Council’s annual meeting in Reno, Nev., in early October, where it will be used to power the conference, according to Karl.

After that, the plant will travel overland to the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center near Casper, Wyo., a DOE research site also known as Teapot Dome Oil Field. The unit will be tested there until it is shipped to Jay, Fla., in December for use at an oil field.

Karl said he hopes to start producing the units soon at locations in Fairbanks.

—Stefan Milkowski