FERC removes obstacles to natural gas projects

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie (ferc.gov)

By THE STAR STAFF

At a time when Puerto Rico wants to increase natural gas projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has announced several actions to remove regulatory obstacles to speed up the construction of natural gas infrastructure projects.

The FERC said its actions on Tuesday put into place an immediate waiver of FERC’s Order No. 871 and establish a process for permanent repeal to avoid delaying natural gas infrastructure projects that the FERC has found are needed.

The FERC also acted to temporarily raise the cost limits under which natural gas companies are allowed to undertake pipeline modifications or construction without the need for further case-by-case certificate authorization by the commission. The change will give natural gas companies increased flexibility and lessen regulatory burdens for certain activities related to their natural gas facilities.

“New and expanded natural gas infrastructure is essential to help America avoid a grid reliability crisis,” FERC Chairman Mark Christie said. “As the demand for electrical power continues to grow, getting more natural gas generation built is critically important and that means we must get natural gas infrastructure to supply that generation built more quickly as well, so that we can provide consumers with reliable power.”

The news comes at a time when island Energy Czar Josué Colón Ortiz has expressed the need for the construction of a gas pipeline to transport natural gas. The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau is evaluating modifications to power plants, such as Cambalache, so that they can use natural gas.

Some of the specific actions taken by the FERC include an order granting a two-year temporary waiver to increase blanket certificate cost limitations to expand certain activities that a natural gas company may undertake without the need to obtain a case-specific certificate, and a notice of inquiry seeking comment on permanently adjusting the blanket certificate cost limitations.

The actions also include an order granting a one-year waiver of the FERC rule that precludes the issuance of authorizations to proceed with construction activities for natural gas facilities while certain requests for rehearing are pending before the commission, and a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to remove the rule from FERC regulations.

Energy equipment supplier receives order for gas turbines in PR

Separately, energy equipment manufacturing and services company GE Vernova announced this week that it has secured an order for six of its LM2500XPRESS aeroderivative gas turbine packages from the Puerto Rican Equipment Procurement and Construction company RG Engineering (RGE) to help bring fast and reliable power in Puerto Rico. The six units are expected to modernize the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) generation plants at Daguao, Jobos and Yabucoa managed by the private operator of PREPA’s legacy plants, Genera PR .

Puerto Rico’s energy challenges stem from natural disasters with hurricanes Maria in 2017 and Fiona in 2022, which significantly weakened the island’s power grid. The six new gas turbine units are estimated to provide some 244 megawatts (MW) in total with the goal of ensuring a more robust energy system for the island, support possible peak summer demand and provide emergency power.

In addition, flexible and highly efficient natural gas-fired plants can help Puerto Rico increase its energy security while continuing to expand its development of renewable energy resources, including solar and wind, proponents of natural gas point out. Under the 2019 Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act, the island set an ambition to obtain 60% of its electricity supply from renewable resources by 2040, and 100% by 2050 (EIA).

“These plants are being equipped with new, more efficient generation units, as part of a larger project to replace older, less efficient equipment,” said Winnie Irizarry, president & CEO at Genera PR. “This renewal is part of a larger initiative to modernize Puerto Rico’s power grid, focusing on improving generation capacity and reliability to ultimately strengthen electrical availability during high demand peaks and improve the quality of life for the Puerto Rican people. With GE Vernova’s aeroderivative solutions, we can feed in electricity quickly and flexibly at the request of the transmission grid operator and thus help to stabilize the grid on the island.”