Gas-fired Power Plants

Production and Distribution of Electricity and Heat

Natural gas is currently the most used fuel for electricity generation after coal, with a global share of 23.3% in 2019. Gas-fired power plants includes two main technologies: open-cycle gas turbine plants (OCGTs, based on a simple air-compressor/gas-turbine group) and combined-cycle gas turbine plants (CCGTs, based on a top compressor-turbine group coupled with a bottom steam cycle using the gas turbine exhaust as the heat source). Currently, the aggregate installed power of natural gas-fired plants in operation is about 1700 GW, of which about 500 GW are in the United States, 220 GW in the Middle East and 96 GW in China.

In Europe, natural gas is the third largest source of electricity generation with a share of 19.2%, surpassed by renewables (wind and PV, 21%) and nuclear power (23.3%). About 800 gas-fired power plants are currently in operation in the EU countries with a total 184 GW installed capacity, and 2.7 GW under construction.

Italy is the EU country with the largest installed capacity (43 GW, of which about 3.7 GW OCGT and 39.6 GWE CCGT), followed by the United Kingdom (34 GW), Spain (27 GW) and Germany (23 GW): in Italy, gas-fired capacity has the potential to produce approximately half of the electricity demand, of which 87% from CCGT plants. The phase-out of coal, foreseen in 2025, is also pushing for the conversion of coal-fired power plants into CCGTs, as in the case of the Fusina and Torrevaldaliga Nord power plants

22-07-2022

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