The Utility Grid May Not Be Your Lowest Emission Option

This article is a follow-on to our blog published on January 15, 2024, Clearing the Air on Oilfield Electrification. This piece takes into account more recent data made available from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released January 25, 2025.

Introduction

Oil and Gas operators are increasingly looking to oilfield electrification as a promising pathway for reducing the emissions footprints of their well sites, production facilities, and gas gathering systems. In some areas, however, securing access to power is the primary driver of demand for self-generation options.

Although there are many strategies an operator can take to electrify its operations, the term “oilfield electrification” is commonly thought of as simply plugging well site equipment into the local utility grid, eliminating the need for diesel powered reciprocating generators.

In our view, the primary objective of oilfield electrification is to reduce emissions by adopting the most emissions-efficient power alternative, which may or may not be the local utility grid.

In this article we take a closer look at the emissions profiles of utility grids serving oil and gas producing regions, and compare them to self-generation options.

Access to Power – Do you have enough?

While much of the motivation to move towards greater oilfield electrification has been related to emissions, another significant driver of this trend is simply securing the power needed for efficient operations. The new administration’s pro-industry stance is encouraging higher levels of drilling activity to meet rising long-term demand for reliable and affordable energy, including the opening of new export markets for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).

Oil and gas production, however, is itself an energy-intensive business, and boosting output will require additional investments in infrastructure and facilities that will require more power. A major challenge for operators in the most active producing regions is securing the power they need.

READ MORE: Fact Sheet on the National Energy Dominance Council

In the Permian Basin, for example, demand for power is rising faster than the utility grid can supply it, noted in our article, What Are Your Options for Oil and Gas Power Generation?

Operators in the Permian Basin faced a two-year wait for a connection to an electrical grid, according to a 2022 report from the Texas Public Utilities Commission.

Hart Energy – 2024

In the same article, Enbridge spokesman Michael Barnes confirmed that “To date, some of our projects and facilities have been impacted by power availability and increased timelines for requests to connect to the electrical grid in the Permian. We have also been impacted by reliability issues at certain locations in the basin.”

As a result of the delays, many operators have turned to self-generation options.

The Utility Grid May Not Be the Low-Emissions Alternative

Many decision makers assume that their best option for oilfield electrification is plugging into the utility grid serving their area. Although doing so has the potential to significantly reduce their Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions reported to the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Reporting Program from what their current levels, the local grid may not necessarily be the optimal solution since many relevant power grids generate higher emissions than competing alternatives.

Relevant Grids

To fully evaluate the emissions implications of oilfield electrification, we must first consider actively producing Oil & Gas regions and the power grids serving them. In this article, we focus on eight grid regions as defined by US EPA eGRID:

• ERCT: ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT)
• SPSO: SPP South
• MROW: MRO West
• RFCW: RFC West
• RMPA: WECC Rockies
• RFCE: RFC East
• NYUP: New York Upper State
• NYCW: New York City West

The chart below illustrates the various regions and displays relative annual nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. (Source: US Environmental Protection Agency eGRID)

Grid Emissions Profiles

Based on data source from the eGRID Data Explorer, we compared the emissions of field power solutions from FlexEnergy Solutions to the relevant grids with a focus on NOx.

Figure 1 below compares the annual NOx emissions for the relevant grids, sorted from highest to lowest (left to right) plotted on the blue bars.

In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, every relevant electric grid serving active Oil & Gas regions reported NOx emissions greater than the Flex Turbine® (orange bar). We note that NYUP does not serve a major fossil fuel producing region, but more on that shortly.

Utility grids serving the most active Oil & Gas development regions, namely SPSO, MROW, RMPA AND ERCT all generate annual NOx emissions more than twice the level of the Flex Turbine®. FlexEnergy Solutions’ self-generation field power options using efficient, clean-burning natural gas turbine gensets, offer a compelling alternative to traditional grid power for oil and gas operations in most regions.

The data is clear – oilfield electrification by plugging into the local power grid in most cases will result in higher Scope 2 emissions than a clean power solution from FlexEnergy.

Grid Resource Mix Drives Emissions

The data begs the obvious question – Why are oilfield electrification solutions from FlexEnergy Solutions cleaner than most utilities? Look no further than the resource mix used to generate power in each grid region for the answer.

Figure 2 below illustrates the resource mix in each of the relevant grid regions for 2023, sorted in order of annual NOx emissions from high to low (left to right).

With one exception, power grids with a heavier reliance on fossil fuels also have relatively higher NOx emissions than those sourcing a greater proportion of their power from emissions-free hydroelectric and nuclear sources. The notable exception is NYCW, which is heavily reliant on fossil fuels but has the second lowest NOx emissions of the group.

Figure 3 helps explain why NYCW is an outlier. Figure 3 compares only the fossil fuel resources (i.e., coal, oil, gas, and other) used in each grid region, again sorted in order of annual NOx emissions from high to low (left to right).

The difference is natural gas. Substantially all of NYCW’s fossil fuel resources consisted of clean burning natural gas, as compared to SPSO that used a higher percentage of dirtier coal (16.6%) and only 44.8% natural gas. The data demonstrates the importance of natural gas as a clean, low-emissions power source.

Notably, SPSO generated 34.6% of its power from renewables wind turbines (1.3%) and solar (33.3%). However, because wind turbines don’t generate power on calm days and solar panels are inefficient on cloudy days, these renewable sources tend to be intermittent sources of energy that are not suitable for supplying base load power without heavy investments in battery storage.

Takeaways

As we previously noted in our article What Are Your Options for Oil and Gas Power Generation? we noted how Oil & Gas operators are leveraging oilfield electrification as a strategy to both reduce their emissions footprint and generate the power that utility grids are unable to provide fast enough.

• Looking at just the Permian Basin, S&P Global estimated the region must add approximately 1,500 MW of capacity every year for the next several years to meet growing demand. Further, S&P Global estimated this dramatic grid expansion would result in a surge in industrial power usage in the Permian, mostly in the upstream sector, from 66% to over 90%.
• The two grids that serve the Permian Basin region, SPSO and ERCT, are just not growing power generation capacity fast enough, forcing operators to adopt self-generation alternatives. Access to clean, cost-effective and reliable field power is a critical factor for operational success.
• As it turns out, plugging into the grid may reduce Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions, it merely shifts emissions produced from the oilfield back to the grid. In most cases, NOx emissions for the most relevant power grids are higher than available gas turbine alternatives because of their reliance on dirtier burning fuels like coal and crude oil.

It bears repeating that pursuing oilfield electrification by plugging into the local power grid in most cases will result in higher Scope 2 emissions than an off-grid power solution from FlexEnergy Solutions.

READ MORE: Best Practices for Oil & Gas Field Power Options

Off-Grid Power Options for Oil & Gas

Sturdy enough for extreme conditions—including cold weather, high elevation, hazardous climates, and offshore environments—the modular, transportable Flex Turbine is the foundation of our off-grid power solutions for both brownfield and greenfield Oil & Gas projects.

Power an Existing Distribution Network. Brownfield operations already equipped with a power distribution system can unplug from the utility grid and into a FlexGrid microgrid. A FlexGrid microgrid serves as your power plant, untethered from the constraints and potential unreliability of the local utility and providing clean, high-quality power.

Create a New Microgrid and Distribution Network. For greenfield projects involving ongoing drilling programs and bringing on multiple wells, pads and facilities online over time, FlexEnergy Solutions can design a scalable FlexGrid microgrid and distribution system that can scale up as power needs grow and then back down over the life of the asset.

Single Site Deployment. Large production pads in remote areas may find it easier to deploy one or more Flex Turbines, or our larger GT2000S 2-Megawatt turbine on site.

LEARN MORE: Off-Grid Power Solutions from FlexEnergy

The FlexEnergy Advantage

The advantages of choosing FlexEnergy Solutions for your field power meets the best practices outlined above and provides meaningful advantages:

Flex Turbine® GT333S Microturbine. The GT333S is a microturbine offering high reliability, low emissions and wide fuel tolerance in a scalable/modular design that is quick and simple to deploy. With more than 20 years of engineering and manufacturing experience, coupled with over a decade of operating a lease fleet, the Flex Turbine is proven, dependable and delivers 333 kilowatts of continuous clean power.

GT2000S Gas Turbine Generator (Powered by Siemens). The GT2000S delivers up to 2 MW of clean electric power, capable of powering large projects with the operational simplicity of one unit.

Scalable. The modular design of the Flex Turbine allows special and custom turbine configurations to be built ranging from 200kW to multi-Megawatts, including microgrids. Individual main components can be modified or designed out of custom turbine configurations.

Remote Monitoring Capability. Turbines from FlexEnergy Solutions come equipped with remote monitoring capabilities, enabling real-time performance tracking, predictive maintenance, performance reporting and rapid service response, ensuring maximum uptime and efficiency.

Service Locations. Flex Energy has service locations strategically positioned in key oil and gas regions, including North Dakota (Bakken), Texas (Permian Basin), Grande Prairie, Alberta (Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin), Pennsylvania and Southern California, guaranteeing swift and efficient support.

Leasing Option. FlexEnergy provides a leasing option, offering cost-effective access to their reliable and efficient power solutions.

Ultimately, FlexEnergy provides a cleaner, faster, more reliable and less expensive option than the utilities.

Benefits of Field Power Options from FlexEnergy Solutions

Off-grid power options from FlexEnergy Solutions deliver multiple operational, economic and environmental benefits to Oil & Gas operators, including:

• Lower Emissions than the Grid. FlexEnergy Solutions off-grid systems typically outperform relevant grids (Scope 2) in terms of emissions.
• Lowest Scope 1 and Scope 3 Emissions. Maximize emissions reduction with the lowest Scope 1 and 3 emissions of any off-grid option.
• Reduce Flaring and Venting. Significantly mitigate or even eliminate routine flaring and venting of associated gas and tank vapors.
• Maximize Production. Increase uptime with 99+% mechanical availability and only one 8-hour scheduled maintenance interval annually.

Oilfield electrification is a promising strategy for reducing emissions from Oil & Gas operations and infrastructure, but before plugging into the grid make sure you have analyzed all your options. In most cases, grid emissions will be significantly higher than an off-grid power solution from FlexEnergy Solutions.

Contact FlexEnergy Solutions to learn more about our reliable, clean and simple field power solutions at sales@flexenergy.com or +1 (720) 826-0708.