Enbridge Ridgeline

The planned Enbridge Ridgeline gas pipeline expansion project will feed the new TVA Kingston power plant and will use dual driven Siemens Energy gas compressors with SSS Clutches which will rotate up to 13,000 rpm

Enbridge is working with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on a project that will provide affordable and cleaner energy for the utility’s customers. The Ridgeline Expansion Project is an expansion of the existing East Tennessee Natural Gas (ETNG) system and will provide natural gas to serve TVA’s natural gas replacement of the Kingston coal fired plant.

The project includes the installation of approximately 122 miles of 30-inch pipeline looping the existing pipeline and a new compressor station. There are two compressors being supplied by Siemens Energy, each will be dual driven by an electric motor or Siemens SGT-100 gas turbine.

The compressor has an 68T Encased SSS Clutch at each end, allowing the unit to predominantly operate on electric power to minimise CO₂ emissions but with a gas turbine as the backup power source to ensure continuity of operation.

The SSS Clutches in this dual drive arrangement automatically engage when the input speed of the driver matches the compressor speed, allowing an easy and seamless transfer from the electric motor to the gas turbine or vice versa. This can happen at any speed from 0 rpm to the maximum compressor speed of 13,000rpm. SSS Clutches are ideally suited to this type of high-speed compressor application, as the torque is transmitted through gear teeth and the operation is fully automatic and mechanical.

Note

The new TVA Kingston power plant that this pipeline supplies, uses SSS Clutches to allow the units to operate as synchronous condensers.

Please see our case study on TVA.