From Resource Development to Power Output: Opportunities and Challenges in the Shale Gas Power Generation Industry Chain
Shale gas power generation is highly efficient and clean
The pollution caused by coal-fired power generation to the atmosphere has become one of the main causes of smog in China.
Driven by the motivation of alleviating the unprecedented environmental protection pressure, the Chinese government has begun to encourage the "coal-to-gas" transformation and natural gas power generation. Compared with coal-fired power generation, natural gas power generation has many advantages such as low environmental cost, low investment cost, short construction period, small land occupation and quick start-up and shutdown of units, and thus has become the main form of power generation in developed countries.
After more than a decade of exploration and practice, China's shale gas exploration and development have reached a certain scale, and the framework of relevant industrial support policies has also taken shape.
Therefore, shale gas, as a new type of clean energy, will play an important role in the strategic adjustment of China's energy pattern and the development of power.
Progress is made in the exploration of shale gas power generation
Shale gas refers to unconventional natural gas that exists in organic-rich mud shale and its interlayers, mainly in adsorbed or free states. Its main component is methane and it is a clean energy source.
Essentially, both shale gas and conventional natural gas are natural gases, with methane (CH4) as their main component. However, the specific composition of conventional natural gas is relatively complex, with methane accounting for approximately 65%, and the other components being ethane, propane, and butane. The proportion of methane in shale gas can generally reach 70% or even higher (the volume fraction of methane in the shale gas fields in the southern Sichuan Basin of China is about 86.5%), and the remaining components are mainly nitrogen, with small amounts of ethane, propane and carbon dioxide.
Internal combustion gas generator sets feature quick start-up and flexible load regulation (they can be rapidly started, stopped and the load raised or lowered within a few minutes). Gas-fired internal combustion generator sets can be made into small and medium-sized, modular units, which are very suitable for building distributed energy stations. If on-site power generation from shale gas can be achieved, it can meet the local growing peak shaving demand and serve as a power supplement for extraction equipment.
Shale gas in China is mainly distributed in the southern region, North China, Northeast China and Northwest China. Among them, the geological conditions of shale gas in the Sichuan Basin of the Upper Yangtze region in the south, the middle and Lower Yangtze region in the south, and the Ordos Basin in North China and Northeast China are the best. Their geographical distribution is basically consistent with the distribution of China's power load centers (East China, Central China, South China, and North China). Utilizing shale gas for on-site power generation can gradually replace coal-fired power generation units. Alleviate the increasing pressure on energy conservation and emission reduction.
With the continuous maturation of shale gas development technology, the accumulation of experience and further policy support, China will gradually form a shale gas development technology system with independent intellectual property rights. Looking ahead, under the commercial development model that strengthens multi-party cooperation, introduces advanced technologies and reduces development costs, the scale of shale gas development will further increase.
