This presentation provides an overview of waste heat to power (WHP) policies and incentives in western oil and gas producing states and highlights midstream WHP opportunities through case studies of WHP in a gas processing plant and at a compressor station. WHP systems capture leftover heat in exhaust stacks or pipes and use it to generate electricity without additional fuel, combustion or emissions. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that more than half of U.S. WHP technical potential is in the oil and gas industry. Using waste heat to generate power onsite can improve electric service reliability, reduce risks associated with utility power disruptions, offset costs of purchased fuel and electricity, provide power to remote locations, and reduce a site’s carbon footprint and emissions. WHP can also count toward renewable energy obligations in the nearly twenty states that include waste heat as an eligible energy resource in renewable portfolio standards and similar programs.

Primary Author / Conference Presenter:
Susan Brodie
Executive Director
Heat is Power Association
Littleton, Colorado, USA