2019.12.09
Case Study: Micro-Grid Provides 10:1 Payback for Texas Operator
Power management can be tricky when you don’t have access to a consistent power supply. For many plants, this can end in disaster, with constant equipment breakdowns and surprise outages that drastically affect the bottom line.
So what are the options? How can you make sure that your plant gets all the power it needs without having to spend extortionate amounts of money?
One Texan operator found the perfect solution.
The oil and gas operator was based in West Texas, where it had very limited access to grid power. If you’re trying to produce gas and oil, you know how frustrating this can be - not to mention costly.
Because of their limited supply, more than 16 of the plant’s wells were under developing or shut-in, leading to a slowing of processes and limited production.
They needed a temporary power solution, and they needed it fast. But the types of power available (diesel, LPG, LNG, and CNG) were well out of budget for the plant. There was field gas available, too, but it came in a highly hazardous form of wet-sour gas that flouted all environmental safety regulations in the area, and it was too expensive to implement a permanent solution to clean the gas.
As you can imagine, the plant was in a real pickle. They had a utility upgrade due in six months, so they desperately needed an alternative solution.
Implementing a Better Power Management Strategy
The Texan plant came to us with their woes in the hopes that we could help them build a better power management strategy - and they were in luck.
Our technical specialists jumped at the opportunity of creating a cost-effective solution that cleaned up the toxic wet-sour gas and turned it into a useable fuel source. To do that, we installed a temporary power station that worked in tandem with the grid supply and created a 10:1 payback for the plant.
As well as bringing in huge returns on investment for the Texan plant, the solution also dramatically reduced the H2S levels to 0 PPM, reduced the liquids content of the gas, and was able to fully power an operational site in less than one week.
The extra electricity supply from the temporary power station meant 8 of the under developing wells could be converted from rod pump to electrical submersible pump, increasing operational capacity and allowing the plant to drill new wells for increased performance.
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