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News
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LCG, September 30, 2025--Vistra Corp. announced yesterday that it will proceed with the next phase of its capital plan to support grid reliability in Texas. In 2024, Vistra identified over $1 billion worth of potential capital additions in generation capacity within the Texas ERCOT market by 2028 if market conditions were supportive. Now, with West Texas' growing power requirements, particularly the state's expanding oil and natural gas industries, Vistra reached a final investment decision and confirms it will build two new advanced natural gas-fired power units on-site at its Permian Basin Power Plant.
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LCG, September 24, 2025--Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (ERCOT) yesterday announced its new initiative to increase its efforts to fully use and apply innovation and transformation through industry collaboration to best overcome the challenges and opportunities facing future grid operations. The new Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative will advance research and prototyping of emerging concepts and solutions to better understand the implications of rapid grid and technology evolution and position ERCOT to lead in the future energy landscape.
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Industry News
Siemens and Duke Energy Commence Testing of the First SGT6-9000HL Gas Turbine
LCG, April 9, 2020--Siemens Energy and Duke Energy have commenced the testing of the first SGT6-9000HL gas turbine to kick off the long-term, four-year testing phase at Duke Energy's Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station near Denver, North Carolina. Duke will operate the 402-MW unit in simple-cycle mode to assess and modify new technologies in real time.
Siemens states that the HL-class engine design includes an air-cooled four-stage power turbine, hydraulic clearance optimization for higher efficiency at full load while facilitating immediate restart, a steel rotor design with Hirth serrations and a central single tie rod and a "can annular" combustion system.
According to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Division Power and Gas at Siemens, "In order to increase efficiency and improve performance, gas turbines have to be operated at even higher combustion temperatures - that's the key. We identified five levers to make higher firing temperatures possible."
The advanced can-annular combustion system with dual fuel capability allows for higher firing temperatures and more operational flexibility. Twenty-five premix burners improve the fuel/oxygen mixing, and the ACE combustion system allows for gas turbine (GT) turn-down to 30 percent GT load.
The new line of GT's can be adapted to burn 30-percent zero-carbon hydrogen in its fuel mix. Furthermore, by using selective catalyst reduction (SCR) technology, the nitrogen oxide emissions can be reduced to only two parts per million, according to Siemens.
The recent startup at the Duke facility confirms the systems are all working together as designed. During first fire, the SGT6-9000HL ramped up to a pre-determined test speed and the combustion system ignited.
Siemens delivered the unit from its manufacturing plant in Charlotte, North Carolina to the Lincoln Station in November. Duke Energy started construction on its Lincoln expansion project in September 2018. The 16-unit power plant site allowed room for expansion.
The unit will provide Siemens the operating experience to evaluate, tune and optimize the unit performance.
Duke Energy customers will receive the energy during the four-year testing period while only paying some fuel costs. After the test phase is completed in 2024, Duke Energy will begin operating the unit.
The GT's ramp-up rate is approximately 85 MW per minute. This ramp rate and other operational flexibility will be valuable to Duke as it adjusts to the rapidly growing, intermittent renewable generation in North and South Carolina.
Siemens expects increased inspection intervals of 33,000 equivalent base-hours and 1,250 equivalent starts, which should lower life-cycle costs.
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UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
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UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
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UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
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PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
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