How Natural Gas Plants Can Save Money By Building Close To The Source

Power plant construction contractors build plants for increased power all the time. There is just one catch; most of these plants are not built close to the source of fuel. In the case of electrical plants, it is a good idea to build close to water to help generate electricity more cheaply, build close to a turbine farm, or build a plant with hundreds of solar panels on the same property. With a natural gas plant, it helps to build on top of, or very close to, the source of natural gas. Here is how and why this is an effective building plan. 

The Gas Plant Can Save a Lot of Money Building Over or Near the Gas Source

Natural gas plants, for the most part, are built hundreds of miles away from the source of the natural gas. This is a terrible building model because it means that hundreds to thousands of miles of pipeline has to be laid across the country to get the natural gas from its source to the plant. The gas is not a readily usable material once it does reach the plant, resulting in purification of the gas so that it can be used and it can burn efficiently.

It costs the plant owners millions of dollars to construct these pipelines and millions more to construct the gas power plant itself. Instead, they should build the power plant as close to, if not directly over the top of, the underground natural gas reservoir. Then the gas has a very short distance to travel, and the plant can spend millions less on pipelines and laying pipeline over great distances. 

Not a Molecule of Gas Is Lost

Well, at least most of the gas would not be lost. When the gas only has a very short distance to travel, there is less of a chance of it leaking into the atmosphere through a crack or lack of seal in a pipeline. Less gas lost means more gas to process and use for heating, cooling, and powering people's homes and places of business, which in turn equals higher profits for the gas plant. If the plant is already cutting costs by building close to the source of the gas, then the profit margin of saving more gas and doing more to supply power and energy goes way up. Ask plant engineers for an easy-to-read model on this very subject. 


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