The Misplaced Hills oil area in California’s San Joaquin Valley has been producing oil since 1910, with important untapped reserves. Operators plan to proceed producing oil for a few years to come back, with the objective of offering dependable, inexpensive, and persistently clear vitality to California clients.
Earlier than the photo voltaic venture, Misplaced Hills, which operates as a waterflood, imported all of its energy from the native utility. {The electrical} vitality load, which is often steady all through the day and all year long, is especially powered by artificial-lift techniques, fluid-processing services, and waterflood injection pumps. Confronted with greater utility vitality payments and tightening rules on greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, the operator launched into a venture to determine alternate options to cut back its vitality prices and decrease its carbon footprint.
After evaluating varied alternate options to self-generation, together with photo voltaic, wind, and varied gas-fired techniques, the choice was made to construct a photo voltaic photovoltaic (PV) plant. That is probably the most economical and technically possible choice. It additionally reduces GHG emissions and creates state Low Carbon Gasoline Commonplace (LCFS) credit, which is able to assist California meet its objective of decreasing the carbon depth of its transportation gas pool by 20%. in 2030.
This paper outlines one of many first efforts by a serious oil and fuel firm to construct a internet exporting, behind-the-meter photo voltaic PV plant to decrease working prices and carbon depth on a big, mature oil and fuel fields. The 29 MWAC (35 MWDC) The Misplaced Hills photo voltaic plant in Misplaced Hills, California, which was commissioned in April 2020, covers roughly 220 hectares of land adjoining to the oil area and is designed to supply greater than 1.4 billion kW-hr photo voltaic vitality for 20 years in oil area and fuel area manufacturing and processing services. Upgrades to the farm’s electrical infrastructure additionally embrace new expertise to cut back the chance of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions, one other potent greenhouse fuel (GHG).
Earlier than photo voltaic, the Misplaced Hills area imported all of its electrical energy from the grid. With the introduction of the Progressive Crude Program as a part of California’s Low Carbon Gasoline Commonplace (LCFS) and the revisions to the California Public Utilities Fee Internet Vitality Metering program, Misplaced Hills is offered with a novel alternative to cut back imported prices. in electrical energy, carbon depth, whereas additionally producing LCFS credit. The plant is designed to function the farm in the course of the day and export extra electrical energy to the grid to assist stability electrical energy purchases at evening.
The photo voltaic plant operates below a Energy Buy Settlement with a photo voltaic PV supplier and, initially, will meet roughly 80% of the oil’s vitality wants. The plans embrace the inclusion of lithium ion batteries, DC-coupled with photo voltaic inverters and have a complete capability of 20 MWh. This vitality storage system will enhance the quantity of photo voltaic electrical energy fed on to the sphere and scale back prices by controlling when the location makes use of saved photo voltaic electrical energy somewhat than electrical energy from the grid. The battery system can even enhance the variety of LCFS credit by 15% of the credit generated by photo voltaic alone. Collectively, solar energy plus vitality storage offers a strong renewable vitality answer.
This venture will create many advantages for the Misplaced Hills oil area by decreasing electrical energy prices, decreasing GHG emissions, producing state LCFS credit and federal Renewable Vitality Certificates, and demonstrating a dedication to vitality transition by way of funding. in renewable expertise. Hopefully, Misplaced Hills photo voltaic will probably be a mannequin for comparable future tasks in different oil fields, not solely in California, however around the globe.
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Discover OnePetro’s SPE 200839 paper right here.
