Caterpillar introduced the G3512E, an advanced natural gas–fueled generator set that was designed for maximum efficiency in extended-duty distributed generation and combined heat and power (CHP) applications. Driven by a Caterpillar electronically controlled, lean-burn gaseous-fueled reciprocating engine, the G3512E generator set offers high power density and fuel efficiency while maintaining tight NOx control. It provides […]

A recent trend in nuclear power plant upgrades has been the replacement of the motor-generator (MG) sets that drive the reactor circulating pumps with variable-frequency drives (VFD). Siemens’ first application of VFDs in this industry began in 2000 with an installation of six VFDs at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. The use of the VFD continues to expand, and upgrades were recently completed at several U.S. plants, including the Hatch Nuclear Plant in Georgia.

ESAB Cutting Systems launched the Falcon FXA, a small gantry-cutting machine that is designed for improved cutting performance. The machine features heavy-duty gantry, rack-and-pinion drives, digital AC drive amplifiers, and AC brushless motors. It comes with three tools—two oxy-fuel torches and one plasma—and covers a 6-inch by 12-inch working area. These process tools allow the […]

Since the collapse of Enron and the wholesale power markets, the vitality of competition in retail markets for electricity has waned in most regions of the U.S., with the exception of Texas. At KEMA’s 21st annual Executive Forum in late March, 300 attendees converged on Dallas to discuss and debate the dynamics and changes now facing residential and commercial customers in most regions of the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 1927, KEMA is a global provider of business and technical consulting, operational support, measurement and inspection, and testing and certification for the energy and utility industry. A summary of the many presentations follows.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., May 26, 2010 — A breathless article in today’s New York Times outlines ties between U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and, today’s chief villain, British Petroleum. Turns out that BP dropped half-a-billion dollars on Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory for work on alternative fuels when Chu ran the lab. When he got […]

The Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday unanimously approved an air emissions permit granted to Dominion Virginia Power’s 585-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, a coal-fired plant that is 63% complete.

Michigan regulators on Friday denied Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative’s air quality permit for a new 600-MW power plant, fueled primarily by petroleum coke and coal, in Rogers City. The state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) decision was based on findings of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which said the company failed to demonstrate the plant was needed to meet future supply.

Nonprofit Ohio utility American Municipal Power (AMP) last week said it would begin shutting down the 213-MW Richard H. Gorsuch Generating Station (RHGS), a 1950’s vintage coal-fired power plant located near Marietta, Ohio, as part of a New Source Review (NSR) settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Renewables will be the fastest-growing source of energy throughout the world over the next 28 years, helping to meet a projected 49% increase in world energy use, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). But, the agency also found in its International Energy Outlook 2010 released on Tuesday that fossil fuels could meet more than three-fourths of total energy needs in 2035, if current policies remain unchanged.

The U.S. Energy Department last week offered French firm AREVA a conditional $2 billion loan guarantee to facilitate financing of a uranium enrichment facility planned for development near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Monday said completing one of two unfinished units at the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in north Alabama would be preferred over building a new Westinghouse AP1000 reactor there, or taking no action.

New Jersey’s largest utility, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) on Tuesday filed an Early Site Permit (ESP) application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a possible nuclear power plant adjacent to the company’s Salem and Hope Creek Generating Stations in that state.

GE on Monday said it had struck a deal with the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo ) to provide direct-drive wind turbines and maintenance services for the Ohio company’s 20-MW proposed freshwater offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week released action plans developed by 16 utilities describing measures the facilities are taking to make their coal ash impoundments safer.

By David E. Wojick, PE, Ph.D. Washington, D.C., May 22, 2010 — Listed below are the National Research Council panel members who wrote the so-called National Academies of Science report on climate science, published this month. Several are old time anthropogenic global warming (AGW) proponents, like Bob Corell of the Heinz Center, Warren Washington of […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., May 21, 2010 — Thanks to the far-reaching and meticulous online research for which he is justifiably famous, my friend Glenn Schleede has answered the conundrum that stands in the way of widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies. Writes Glenn, “I haven’t been able to verify this, but I’ve heard […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., May 29, 2010 — File this in the “empty threat” folder: Gary Pierce, a member of the five-person, elected Arizona Corporation Commission, the state’s utility regulator, has suggested that Arizona should block a move by the city of Los Angeles, Calif., to boycott the Grand Canyon State by cutting off […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 13 finalized the so-called "Tailoring Rule," regulations that would implement certain Clean Air Act (CAA) permitting programs for electric power plants, refineries, and other major "stationary sources" that emit at least 100,000 tons per year of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Last week brought news about new nuclear power projects from Turkey, Jordan, and Mexico.

The UK’s Liberal Democrats—a party long-opposed to nuclear power—last week said it would abstain from voting against construction of new nuclear power plants in that country, as long as they are privately funded.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the State of California on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to coordinate procedures and schedules for review of hydrokinetic energy projects off the California coast.

The Arkansas Supreme Court last week upheld a state appellate court decision that had previously overturned, on technical grounds, a permit authorizing construction of Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s (SWEPCO’s) 600-MW John W. Turk Jr. coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County. The decision could pose a serious setback for the project—the nation’s first ultrasupercritical plant—that is under construction and almost a third complete.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., May 16, 2010 — Will Happer, noted Princeton physicist, and a veteran of Washington’s bureaucratic wars, has an intriguing suggestion about how to reconcile the views of raving advocates for climate controls with the objections of skeptics, when both sides are populated by reputable scientists. He wants the government to […]

The U.S. Energy Department on Friday announced it would grant $62 million to 13 concentrating solar power (CSP) projects. The funds are expected to support improvements in CSP systems, components, and thermal energy storage and accelerate the market-readiness of the renewable energy technology.

An evaluation of Powerspan Corp.’s ECO₂ post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture technology by global engineering firm WorleyParsons Group at FirstEnergy Generation Corp.’s R.E. Burger Plant near Shadyside, Ohio, concludes that the 1-MW pilot test facility is well-designed and instrumented. The results can be reliably used to design, build, and predict performance of a larger, commercial size plant, the group reportedly said.

Researchers at Spain’s Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ICMAB-CSIC, and Spanish firms Labein Tecnalia and Nexans, and Endesa, have constructed a 30-meter superconducting electric cable that they say could reduce energy loss by 50% and even 70% in some parts of the distribution network.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) today rolled out a draft of the American Power Act, long-awaited climate and energy legislation developed with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The 1,000-page-plus bill covers a variety of issues, from a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to expanded nuclear power and boosts for carbon capture and sequestration.

Barely three months after Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA) and CPS Energy negotiated a $1 billion settlement that reduced the San Antonio municipal utility’s share in the proposed nuclear expansion of the South Texas Project (STP), Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said on Monday it would take a 9.24% stake in the Bay City project.

UK-based National Grid on Friday agreed to buy power from the $1 billion Nantucket Sound Cape Wind project, a 468-MW offshore wind farm expected to be operational in 2012 that had garnered approval from the U.S. Interior Department just nine days earlier.

Dominion Virginia Power on Friday said it had selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI’s) U.S-specific version of the Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (US-APWR) for its proposed unit at North Anna Power Station in central Virginia. The selection was the result of a competitive process launched by the utility last year.