POWER

In his January State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama called on Congress to pass legislation that would allow the U.S. to source 80% of its electricity from “clean energy” sources by 2035—including traditional renewable sources like wind and solar as well as nuclear and “clean coal.” That broadened definition of “clean energy” was designed to inspire bipartisan interest, as was widely reported. But, as was also widely pointed out, the speech followed a visit to Washington from Chinese government officials and a series of key agreements aimed at increasing “clean energy” cooperation between the two countries.

New methods of reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) evaluation help facilitate more-accurate plant output and revenue predictions, identify strengths and weaknesses of possible plant configurations, and determine potential improvements and enhancements for integrated gasification combined cycle plants.

Prior to the crash, the renewable energy industry—including wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources—was on a roll. In 2007 and 2008, the U.S. wind power sector alone added over 13,500 MW of new projects, enough to power almost 4 million homes.

France in January announced its contribution to the wave of small and modular reactors (SMRs): a submarine-like nuclear plant that can be submerged in waters 60 meters (m) to 100 m deep and several kilometers offshore.

Steam turbines convert the thermal energy in motive steam to rotating mechanical energy, and the generator converts that energy into electrical power. One important requirement for safe and reliable operation is preventing water induction in the steam turbine and avoiding water hammer in the steam piping system. ASME standards present the design guidelines for removing moisture from steam lines; this article explains a practical design process.

Brazil’s environment agency, IBAMA, in January issued a partial installation license that allows for construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam complex, an 11,233-MW project estimated to cost some 19.6 billion reals (US$11.7 billion), to begin on the margins of the Amazon’s Xingu River. Saying the project is needed to meet soaring electricity demand when completed, as planned in 2015, the government gave license to dam-building consortium Norte Energia to begin clearing 238.1 hectares (588 acres) of forestland.

Europe installed 308 new offshore wind turbines in 2010—a 51% increase in installed offshore capacity over the previous year, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said in new figures released this January. The 883 MW of new capacity—worth some €2.6 billion—were installed at nine wind farms in five countries, bringing the continent’s total offshore installed wind capacity to 2,964 MW.

At the beginning of 2011, German firm E.ON began operation of its new 417-MW Malzenice gas and steam turbine power station in Slovakia’s Trnava region, near the country’s capital, Bratislava (Figure 5). The facility, which is expected to generate more than 300 billion kWh annually, boasts an efficiency of 58%—which E.ON claims is among the “highest in Europe.”

A new article in Bioscience looks again at the connection between economic growth and energy demand, shedding little light on the subject and further demonstrating the limits of neo-Malthusianism. Of course there is a relationship between energy and economic growth, but what is it? No answers here; only a doomsday prediction.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., February 24, 2011 – The most committed global warming alarmists are alarmed by the fact that – contrary to their claims that the science is settled – formidable scientists with worldwide reputations disagree. Credentialed experts such as Richard Lindzen and Roy Spencer do not buy what Jim Hansen, Michael Mann, […]

Progress Energy’s CEO William Johnson, who last month agreed to a merger deal with Duke Energy, on Thursday told attendees at a conference that proposed nuclear power plants in Florida and North Carolina would not be operational until at least 2020.

Dominion Energy last week told ISO New England, the power grid operator for six New England states,  that it could shutter its 60-year-old 738-MW Salem Harbor coal- and oil-fired power plant in Massachusetts by June 2014 to avoid retrofitting the facility with expensive pollution controls required by federal environmental regulations.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday passed, with a 235-189 vote, a short-term government funding measure that cuts more than $61 billion from the remainder of the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget—including a $3 billion slash to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) budget. The continuing resolution (CR) seeks to block the EPA from implementing or enforcing statutory or regulatory greenhouse gas (GHG) rules affecting stationary sources that became effective after January 1, 2011.

In response to a federal court order, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued final Clean Air Act standards for large and small boilers and incinerators that burn solid waste and sewage sludge. The EPA said, however, that it would reconsider the rules because “certain issues of central relevance” arose after the period of public comment.

Following President Obama’s $97 million budget request last week to support research into small modular reactors (SMRs), Westinghouse introduced a 200-MW class integral pressurized water reactor modeled on the company’s third-generation AP1000 reactor. The company also said it was preparing to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Energy’s SMR demonstration program.

The past week brought important news from state legislatures regarding nuclear power plants. Minnesota voted to lift a 17-year ban on new nuclear plants; a bill that would allow utilities to recoup costs for early site permits advanced in Missouri; and the Indiana Senate is preparing, amid controversy, to vote on a key measure that could incentivize development and construction of new nuclear generation in that state.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., 22 February 2011 – NRG Energy’s South Texas two-unit nuclear project, which has been on life support for months, may soon win a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to several industry sources. But the money for the loan guarantee may get tangled up in Congress’s current […]

Connecticut, New York, and Vermont are suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), challenging a recently effected rule that makes it legal to store used nuclear fuel on-site for up to 60 years after a plant shutdown.

Ontario on Friday said it would not approve or accept any new offshore wind projects until more scientific research has been done on the installation of turbines in freshwater lakes.

No initial evidence had been found that the Texas power market had been manipulated when grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on Feb. 2 ordered rolling blackouts, but investigations would continue, Texas regulators told legislators on Tuesday. The blackouts were necessary as some 82 power plants—out of 550 on the grid—went down for various reasons while freezing temperatures caused a record-breaking demand spike, ERCOT said.

Jacksonville, Fla., municipal utility JEA last week signed an agreement with Duke Energy that gives it the option to buy up to 20% of the power generated by Duke Energy’s planned 2,234-MW Lee Nuclear Station when it becomes operational in 2021.

The rupture of a 6-inch steam pipe at Unit 1 of the 1,884-MW coal-fired Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County, Pa., last week tripped the unit and sent six workers to area hospitals with burns.

The power sector saw steady, modest growth of merger and acquisition activity during the last three months of 2010, recently released analysis from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows. The largest 25 announced deals decreased 37% in value, to $19.3 billion, compared to $30.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, but financial buyers maintained investments in power deals in 2010 while corporate buyers continue to lead deal activity due to large amounts of cash to invest, PwC said.

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday issued its first loan guarantee for a transmission project, committing $343 million to develop the One Nevada Transmission Line (ON Line) project. Jointly owned by Great Basin Transmission South and NV Energy, the proposed 500 kV AC transmission line is expected to carry 600 MW nearly 235 miles from Ely, Nev., to just north of Las Vegas.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) today announced it has signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin. The two U.S.-based companies will join forces to design and build what they say will be the world’s most advanced digital control systems and nuclear reactors.

President Obama’s $29.5 billion Department of Energy (DOE) budget for fiscal year (FY) 2012 increases priority for renewable and nuclear energy technology research while cutting subsidies to fossil fuel energy. It also calls for a $1.3 billion cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., February 15, 2011 – Can Energy Secretary Steven Chu learn to lobby? The fate of the Obama administration’s budget for his department hangs in the answer to that question. So does the fate of the tattered remnants of the strategy the administration brought to Washington to deal with its apocalyptic […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) last week released additional details of its “SunShot Initiative,” a program that seeks to reduce the total costs of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems by about 75% before 2020 so that costs for PV systems can compete with other forms of energy without subsidies.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the selection of Basin Electric Power Cooperative to receive a loan guarantee to construct more than 100 wind turbines to produce 151.5 MW of electricity. The loan guarantee will provide financing for engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the PrairieWinds wind farm energy project in central South Dakota.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson were questioned by panels of the House’s Subcommittee on Energy and Power this morning as part of a discussion on draft legislation that seeks to strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs). The legislative hearing’s witnesses also included other major players in the climate change regulatory debate, such as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.