Operación y Mantenimiento | Operation & Maintenance www.futurenergyweb.es 64 FuturEnergy | Julio July 2018 150.300 M$ en programas de eficiencia energética en países como Reino Unido, Italia, España, Francia y Alemania. Según la AIE, en 2011 las inversiones para fomentar la eficiencia energética fueron equivalentes a desplazar la demanda energética de un continente, una proeza que se estima en 310.000 M$. Incluso economías mundiales de rápido crecimiento como China toman medidas para mejorar su eficiencia en la producción de energía. Su 13º Plan Quinquenal para el Desarrollo Social y Económico deja poco margen para el desarrollo de nuevas centrales de carbón y se centra más bien en mejorar las ya existentes, a la vez que acelera su investigación en el ámbito de las energías limpias. La necesidad de eficiencia Tecnologías obsoletas Aunque ha habido una tendencia al alza en la eficiencia de las centrales eléctricas de carbón a escala mundial, todavía hay algunos aspectos sin resolver en la infraestructura de centrales anticuadas. Las plantas más antiguas están aquejadas de ineficiencias en la fiabilidad y la conversión de energía derivadas de unas tecnologías desfasadas. En Australia, un 90% de la tecnología para la generación de energía con carbón se considera obsoleta, un factor que contribuyó a que en 2014 este país fuera uno de los 10 principales emisores de CO. En EE.UU., la infraestructura energética fue calificada de “pobre” con una D+ en el Report Card for America’s Infrastructure de 2013, de la American Society of Civil Engineers. Los equipos anticuados han provocado un aumento de las interrupciones de suministro, muchos de los cuales se atribuyen a fallos en el funcionamiento del sistema. El potencial de eficiencia energética Debido al aumento de la competencia a la vez que cae el coste de la electricidad, se incrementa el riesgo y los propietarios y operadores de centrales hacen bien en creer que deben aceptar el reto. Para satisfacer la futura demanda de energía, las compañías eléctricas deben superar los problemas de gestión del ciclo de vida para mejorar su nivel de eficiencia. Los beneficios de hacer esto pueden ser amplios, y van más allá de la mejora de eficiencia en sí. Un enfoque integrado para conseguir la eficiencia operativa Para empezar a conseguir la eficiencia operativa, es importante comprender los aportes y los resultados del sistema, realizar un examen exhaustivo de toda la red de centrales y adoptar un enfoque integrado en la gestión del ciclo de vida de la central. resulting in expensive restoration costs and increased inspection costs. Not even power plants in developing countries are exempt from issues. For example, the operational efficiency of India’s power plants is the lowest of any country analysed by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, largely due to an ageing power plant fleet. The problem is so severe that the country aims to shut down a number of the ageing power plants that make up 12% of its capacity, to reduce both emissions and the inefficient use of fuel. Given this scenario, power plant operators around the world are stepping up efforts to improve their efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. Since 2000, utilities worldwide have collectively invested a total of US$150.3bn on energy efficiency programmes in countries such as the UK, Italy, Spain, France and Germany. According to the IEA, in 2011 investments in boosting energy efficiency were equivalent to displacing a continent’s energy demand, a feat said to be worth US$310bn. Even rapidly growing economies like China are takingmeasures to improve their energy production efficiency. Its 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development gives little room for the development of new coal-fired plants, instead focusing on cleaning up its existing plants while accelerating its search for clean energies. The need for efficiency Obsolete technologies Although there has been an upwards trend in the efficiency of coal-fired power plants globally, there are still issues that remain unresolved in ageing power plant infrastructure. The oldest plants are afflicted by inefficiencies in reliability and energy conversion stemming from outdated technologies. In Australia, 90% of coal power technology is considered to be obsolete, a contributing factor to that country being ranked among the world’s top ten global emitters of CO2 in 2014. In the US, the energy infrastructure was graded “poor”with a D+ in the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ageing equipment has caused a rise in power disruptions, many of which are attributed to system operations failures. The potential of energy efficiency Due to increasing competition along with falling costs in electricity, the stakes have been raised and power plant owners and operators are right to believe they must step up to the challenge. To meet future energy demands, utility companies must overcome life cycle management issues to improve their efficiency levels. The benefits of doing so can be vast, going well beyond improvements in efficiency in itself. An integrated approach to achieving operational efficiency To start achieving operational efficiency, it is important to understand the inputs and outputs of the system, to perform a comprehensive review of the entire plant system and to adopt an integrated approach in managing the plant life cycle. Synergising the plant system Power plants assembled from components and built in different project phases tend to lack the synergy of a system designed as a whole, as each component is built as an independent unit.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Njg1MjYx