POWER

The UK government on Tuesday said it would push forward with legislation to create a new independent statutory body to regulate the country’s nuclear power industry. The new agency, the “Office for Nuclear Regulation” (OCR), will carry out regulatory functions performed currently by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department for Transport.

A strategic plan to accelerate development of offshore wind energy, released by the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Interior (DOI) on Monday, focuses on overcoming the relatively high cost of offshore wind energy; the technical challenges surrounding installation, operation, and grid interconnection; and the lack of site data and experience with project permitting processes.

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.

Canadian companies TransAlta Corp. and TransCanada Corp. are at odds over TransAlta’s abrupt notice on Tuesday that it will close and destroy its Sundance 1 and 2 coal-fired units near Edmonton, Alberta. TransCanada, which buys power from the units under a power purchase agreement (PPA) agreement, said today it had not received validation of TransAlta’s determination that the plants were so corroded that they could not be economically restored to service.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., February 5, 2011 – We are all familiar, sometimes too much so, with utility regulation. As customers, we encounter the results regulation every day. Many of us, in our business lives, work with (or against), ponder, and praise (or damn) utility regulation. But none of us has given more thought, […]

New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie (R) on Friday made effective controversial state legislation that promotes the construction of new power plants with a total capacity of up to 2,000 MW by offering developers long-term, ratepayer-subsidized energy contracts. On Monday, in response to the measure, a group of major utilities asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to protect “the integrity of competitive power markets.”

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last week voted 2-0 to approve an air permit for the 1,300-MW Las Brisas Energy Center. The approval for the $3.2 billion petroleum coke–fired project planned for Corpus Christi, Texas, comes despite objections from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and recommendations by two administrative law judges against the permit’s issuance.

A California Superior Court judge in San Francisco has provisionally ruled that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) did not adequately comply with requirements from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The tentative decision could prevent implementation of a statewide cap-and-trade program due to start next year until CARB addresses those requirements.

Canada’s Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) last week completed the third and final phase of the pre-project design review for the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000), making it the first third-generation reactor in the world to have passed that milestone in Canada. The CNSC’s findings mean there are no fundamental barriers to licensing the reactor design from the crown-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a company whose future ownership is ambiguous.

A massive winter storm on Wednesday that blustered over more than 30 U.S. states, from New Mexico to Maine, shut off the lights for millions around the country. Regional grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) instituted an energy emergency and instructed utilities to begin rotating blackouts throughout Texas to compensate for 7,000 MW of power plants that were shut down as a result of the cold snap.

Mississippi Power last week announced that its new integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant under construction in Kemper County, Miss., will be named in honor of David M. Ratcliffe, recently retired chairman, president, and CEO of its parent company, Southern Co.

The past week brought a flurry of news from across the nation about challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) measures to curb greenhouse gases (GHGs). Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) are spearheading separate measures to delay or block the EPA’s authority, and Arizona withdrew its support for the EPA in a massive legal challenge concerning its “endangerment finding.”

A common concern for gas turbine power plants is treating exhaust gases to comply with laws restricting pollutants present in the gases that are emitted into the ambient atmosphere. The challenge for designers is to control the exhaust gas operating temperature within a range that maximizes performance of the oxidation and reduction catalysts.

One important factor in power plant control system performance is the response time of the process measurement used in the control system. The response time of boiler steam temperature sensors and thermowells is examined, as is those sensors’ and thermowells’ effect on desuperheater temperature response time and, therefore, steam temperature control performance.

In the 1950s, temperature-equalizing columns were commonly used in steam drum differential pressure–based devices for measuring water level. However, these columns are problematic because a portion of the reference leg can flash to steam on a pressure decrease (load increase), and this will result in a temporary, false, high-level measurement, which adds to the swell effect. The columns can also result in measurement inaccuracies. It’s time to replace these antiquated instruments with a more modern reference leg.

Compared with other solid fuel–fired plants, the systems and components required for handling and processing biomass appear quite familiar, but important fuel differences must be considered. A successful biomass plant design must provide flexibility for handling the expected wide range of biomass fuel properties and characteristics.

A recent Washington Post article attacks coal as a fuel with a dim future. The author points to the large number of plant retirements as evidence of its impending demise. Checking the actual data reveals a much different story.

Wheelift Systems introduced its self-propelled trailers (SPT) in capacities up to 100 tons. They were developed for in-plant operation in congested, confined areas and in narrow intersecting aisles. Highly maneuverable, the Wheelift SPTs feature computerized independent steering, on-center rotating front axles, remote control operation, low-profile design, and on-board power generation. Each SPT has two on-center […]

Efficient boiler operation requires boiler auxiliary equipment to operate in harmony. The air preheater, for example, though it has few moving parts, is vital to maintaining efficient boiler performance. In this second installment of our Power 101 series, we examine performance degradation caused by corrosion and fouling of the air preheater that results from the combustion of coal plus the effects of ammonia and sodium bisulfite injection for SO₃ mitigation.

Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design hit several milestones in recent months, prompting speculation that it could take the coveted lead in the charge to deploy the world’s third-generation nuclear power plants.

HD Electric Co.’s new PRX-500 Proximity Voltage Detector is an addition to its voltage detector product line. With nine selectable voltage ranges from 120 V to 500 kV, the PRX Proximity Voltage Detector features an easy-to-use electronic touch pad with large buttons. The PRX provides an audible and visual indication of voltage detected from elbow […]

San Miguel Electric Cooperative selected and installed an automatic sootblowing system for its Unit 1 to minimize clinkers in the boiler that caused semi-annual unscheduled outages. New boiler surface-cleaning equipment and intelligent cleaning software eliminated these expensive outages.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in late December approved—for the ninth time since October 2010—a solar power project to be built on federal lands.

John Deere Power Systems (JDPS) introduced extended generator drive emergency stationary power ratings for its PowerTech E 6.8L diesel engine—the first John Deere engine to carry both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 Emergency Stationary and European Union Stage III A certification, with dual frequency ratings of 1,800 and 1,500 rpm. The 212-kW rating at […]

President Obama’s Jan. 25th State of the Union address proposed that the nation commit itself to developing "clean energy" sources of electricity over the next two decades. A critical assessment of his proposal finds that it’s just a rehash of previously rejected legislative proposals. In fact, to me, it sounds like Waxman-Markey all over again. I have a better idea.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), the tiny landlocked country in Southeast Asia of just 6.3 million people, in December inaugurated the 1,070-MW Nam Theun 2 Power Station, a hydropower project in Khammouane Province.

Spirax Sarco launched the TD120M Thermo-dynamic Steam Trap, a product engineered for pressure ratings of up to 3,190 psig that is ideal for draining saturated and superheated steam mains. The steam trap has a maintainable disc and seat, which means it can be serviced in-line—a considerable benefit to customers with welded installations. The trap has […]

Duke Energy and Progress Energy announced January 10 that they are combining to create the nation’s biggest electric utility. The $13.7 billion deal is likely to draw tough scrutiny from federal and state regulators—and some protests from big power buyers—given the companies’ overwhelming market dominance in North Carolina and more modest operational overlap in South Carolina.