Drilling Ahead by Heartland Energy Colorado

Once the drill stem is back in the hole, the bit drills out the cement remaining in the lower part of the casing. It also drills out the guide shoe and begins drilling into the formation below the casing. From this point, the rig and crew may drill the hole to a formation that contains oil and gass. Or the crew of Heartland Energy Colorado may drill the hole to a formation that contains oil an gas. Or they may drill to another predetermined depth and temporarily shopt. Whether they drill to final depth below the surface casing or to an intermediate depth depends on the nature of the formation the bit drills.

Some wells, especially deep ones, usually encounter formations that are easily controlled by using a suitable drilling fluid. Later, however, as the borehole drills into a deeper oil and gas formation, the drilling fluid used to control the upper zones by Heartland energy Colorado is not suitable for the prodcutive formation. The drilling fluid could damage the producing zones so badlythat the operator could not withdraw the hydrocarbons from the zone. To avoid such a pitfall, the team at Heartland Energy Colorado plans the well to be drilled to an intermediate depth above the pay zone. The drilling crew of Heartland Energy Colorado uses drilling fluid formulated to control the formations to the intermediate depth. Then, they stop drilling, come out of the holeand run cement casing. The caseing and cement then seal off the intermediate part of the hole so that the fomrations neither affect nor are affected by subsequent drilling operations by Heartland Energy Colorado.

When Heartland Energy Colorado drills the part of the hole below the surface casing, cewr members propablys wn't make connections as frequently as they did when drilling the surface hole. Deeper formatios tend to be ahrd and drililng is thus slower. Usually, as tom point and time, the bit dulls and the crew of Heartland Energy Colorado have to replace it. To ddo so, they make a round trip, They trip out the dull bid and drill string and install the new bit. Then they trip in the new bit, the drill collars, and the drill pipe and resume drilling. Several round trips may be necessary before the hole reaches an intermediate or final depth.

Xcel SubmitsPlan to Rev Up Renewables

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado - written by Art Mass

Colorado’s largest utility submitted its plan late yesterday to the State Public Utilities Commission outlining steps to increase its production of renewable energy.

The proposal details how Xcel will adjust its energy mix away from coal-fired power production and more toward “green” energy production. The company says it wants to add roughly 980 megawatts of solar and wind power by 2015 and cut carbon emissions by 10 percent. The plan stems from bids Xcel requested for proposals to generate the power the utility will need to serve customers through 2015.

Provisions include:
• Retiring two coal-fired generating units at Xcel’s Cameo Generating Station near Grand Junction by the end of next year and two coal units at Denver’s Arapahoe Generating Station by 2014.
• Adding about 700 megawatts of wind and solar photovoltaic generating capacity and 280 megawatts of “new solar technology.”
• Continued access to about 900 megawatts of existing natural gas-fired resources.

Should the plan be accepted by the Colorado PUC, it would reduce Xcel’s carbon dioxide emissions by about 10 percent from current levels, according to the company.
Xcel said its proposal exceeds the targets set by the PUC in December for renewable-energy production.

“The plan that we filed with the commission puts us well on target to meet the state’s climate action plan,” Tim Taylor, president and CEO for Public Service Co. of Colorado, Xcel’s Colorado unit, said in a statement late Monday. “We believe our resource plan will keep us as one of the leading providers of renewable energy resources – currently ranked as the No. 1 wind provider in the U.S. and the No. 4 solar energy producer.”

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Wind Turbine Company movingo to Denver

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado - Reported by Art Mass

Lured by tax credits and Colorado’s renewable-energy programs, a major wind turbine manufacturer is relocating its headquarters from Portland to Denver. The offical announcement will be made by RePower USA Corp at a 2PM news conference today at the Capitol, with the Governor and Mayor Hickenlooper in attendance.

The company, a subsidiary of German wind-turbine maker RePower Systems AG, is the second business to take advantage of a new job-creation program that gives relocating companies tax credits.The tax credit program became active this month and grants a 3.8 percent state income-tax credit for up to five years to companies that select Colorado over competitors and create at least 20 jobs. RePower will bring with it 25 jobs and is committed to more than tripling that number, according to Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Ritter. He said the tax credit could be worth as much as $700,000.

Steve Dayney, CEO of REpower USA Corp, said, “Since 2007, we have managed our U.S. wind energy business from a Portland, OR office located near our initial projects in California, Oregon and Washington. Today we are seeing our business grow rapidly to other regions of the U.S.”
All administrative, sales and project management functions will take place in the new Denver headquarters, according to RePower USA. Founded in 2001, the company sells and installs turbines manufactured by its parent firm, with rated outputs between 2 and 6.15 megawatts. RePower Systems AG is the third-largest wind-turbine producer in Germany and reported first quarter fiscal 2009 sales of $428 million, an increase of 30% from the same quarter last year.
RePower has installed 300 wind turbines in the United States with the capacity to generate 600 megawatts of electricity, Dreyer said.

“The company was also attracted to Colorado by the market potential here and the fact that the state is doing a lot with renewable energy.”

Colorado Energy Company: Heartland Energy Colorado

Natural Gas Vehicle Program Unveiled by EnCana

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado

In natural gas-rich Colorado, a major player raises awareness of NG as an alternative transportation fuel

By CEN Staff

DENVER – EnCana Oil & Gas (USA), Inc. announced on Monday the launch of its DRIVE NATURAL GAS VEHICLES (NGV) program.

EnCana says the program is designed to further reduce the company’s environmental footprint while building awareness of natural gas as a transportation fuel and the need for infrastructure to support the transition to natural gas vehicles.

Details of the program include converting several fleet vehicles to natural gas, purchasing natural gas- powered Honda Civic GX vehicles for employee use and embarking on a consumer- and industry-focused education campaign about natural gas as a transportation fuel.

“As one of the largest producers of natural gas in North America, we know natural gas has the potential to expand beyond our homes and offices and into our transportation system,” said Wendy Wiedenbeck, community relations advisor for EnCana. “We are committed to building awareness about domestic natural gas as a reliable, lower cost, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fuel.”

With air quality standards a top concern in all of its areas of operation, EnCana’s DRIVE NGV program reduces the emissions of its fleet vehicles by converting them to natural gas. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy reports that converted vehicles produces 20 to 40 percent fewer greenhouse emissions than standard gasoline vehicles. EnCana has already converted four of its Ford F250 fleet vehicles in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin to run on bi-fuel natural gas and plans to convert the entire fleet of 52 vehicles by 2011.

“Companies like EnCana with large fleets are ideal candidates for conversion to natural gas,” said Wes Biggers of FuelTek Conversion Corporation. “While it is a large investment, the benefits are enormous. Not only are you reducing your environmental impact but you are looking at a significant reduction in fuel costs.”

EnCana is working in collaboration with its fellow operators, contractor companies, and natural gas transportation industry experts to encourage the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. “One of the biggest barriers facing wide-scale adoption of natural gas vehicles is lack of infrastructure,” said Wiedenbeck. “Increasing support for the installation of new natural gas fueling infrastructure is a big part of our program.” To that end, EnCana is sponsoring multiple educational forums hosted by American Clean Cities. The first such forum is schedule for July 22 in Rifle, Colorado.

To provide employees access to natural gas vehicles, the company acquired eight Honda Civic GX vehicles, rated by the EPA as the cleanest vehicle on Earth. These vehicles are utilized across EnCana’s business units including four in Denver; one in Parachute, Colo.; two in Texas; and one for the Wyoming team’s use. Employees can reserve a natural gas vehicle either for business purposes or as a commuter vehicle. Before getting behind the wheel, employees must attend a training session to learn how DRIVE NGV program vehicles differ from traditional fuel vehicles (e.g. refueling) as well as the virtues of natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Colorado Energy Management - Project Development

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado

What sets Colorado Energy Management's project development services apart? In addition to our ability to recognize opportunities and generate ideas to capitalize on them, we offer an end-to-end approach to project development that helps optimize plant performance. The reason is this: our involvement from conception through operation and maintenance means we're able to recognize and recommend ways to improve efficiency and address potential problems at all stages of plant development.
Consider an example. When Public Service Company of Colorado had a request for peaking power on-line in 2002, Colorado Energy Management responded with a low-investment/high return concept using a combination of new and used equipment. A used steam turbine/generator was located in Houston, quickly relocated to Eastern Colorado, and completely refurbished. Two new HRSG's were engineered to be a perfect match to existing simple-cycle gas turbines and the refurbished steam turbine. Today, Public Service Company has the ability to meet extreme demands, and CEM continues to operate this plant at over 98% availability, at designed capacity. Colorado Energy Management had the creativity and resourcefulness to make it possible within the budgetary constraints and timeframe that was available.