POWER

GE-Hitachi (GEH) Nuclear Energy last week said it had submitted a final design certification document for the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The submittal allows the regulatory agency to proceed with its evaluation of the third-generation reactor design.

An innovative project that uses algae to mitigate carbon emissions from a coal-fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS) has received a $70.5 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Exelon, the largest nuclear generator in the U.S., on Thursday signed a $1.2 billion contract to purchase separative work units (SWUs) from USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant to fuel its reactors starting in 2012.

By Kennedy Maize Companies that offer health insurance plans to their employees – and that covers most power companies – need to pay close attention to the Washington debate on national health insurance plans now current in Congress. So far, most of the sound and fury over the Obama (and congressional) plans are bogus, kicked […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed to throw out three aspects of the Texas clean air permitting program because they do not meet requirements of the federal Clean Air Act. Rejections could include the state’s flexible permit system, which allows power plants, factories, refineries, and other industrial plants to exceed emission limits in certain areas as long as they stay within overall limits.

Dominion Virginia Power said last week that a state air permit relating to mercury emissions for its Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center had been amended, and that the permit was now compliant with an order from the Richmond Circuit Court.

Japanese electronics company Toshiba Corp. could reportedly bid for French state-owned AREVA’s lucrative transmission and distribution (T&D) business. Toshiba, which acquired U.S. nuclear reactor maker Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2006, will likely enter a $5 billion bid, vying against a Chinese sovereign fund and other companies.

Last week saw several important developments concerning coal plants in Germany, Michigan, and Canada.

Two companies have announced setbacks to demonstration projects seeking to develop and commercialize enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technology. California-based AltaRock Energy shelved a project for which it had secured $36 million from the U.S Energy Department and had the backing of several large venture capital firms, citing “geologic anomalies.” Geodynamics Ltd., meanwhile, encountered a new set of technical difficulties and is reevaluating a 1-MW pilot project in the Australian outback.

By Kennedy Maize Look out, the political wobbles are beginning for Senate climate legislation. The wheels could come off anytime soon now. The Energy Daily reported that the Senate’s schedule for taking up climate legislation won’t begin on Sept. 8, as originally announced. Instead, said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Environment and […]

Delays plaguing Europe’s first EPR nuclear power plant, the Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, could cost AREVA €2.3 billion, and the French state-owned nuclear engineering firm now says that it will only complete the plant’s construction if the plant’s buyer, Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), agrees to the company’s hardball proposals.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week issued an Early Site Permit (ESP) and Limited Work Authorization (LWA) to Southern Nuclear Operating Co. for its two proposed Plant Vogtle units in Waynesboro, Ga. The ESP, valid for 20 years, is the fourth issued by federal regulators—but the first based on a specific technology, the Westinghouse AP1000.

The U.S. Energy and Treasury Departments on Tuesday announced stimulus fund awards worth $502 million to energy companies to spur investments in renewable projects and provide “cash assistance” in lieu of earned federal tax credits.

The FutureGen Alliance on Tuesday said it had signed a $17.3 million cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy that covers preliminary design activities through the end of 2009, allowing for the continued development of the Illinois gasified coal power plant and carbon capture initiative.

Reports from the past week allege that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson is readying to release a formal “endangerment finding” that could regulate carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles—as well as from power plants and other stationary sources. These have prompted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to urge the EPA to hold a public hearing on the evidence—or face litigation.

The federal government and the state of Illinois on Thursday filed a suit against Midwest Generation, alleging that the company violated the Clean Air Act by making “major modifications” to six coal-fired power plants without installing required pollution control equipment.

NRG Energy is the latest power generator to solicit government funding for a proposed carbon capture demonstration unit. It is also the newest member of the Energy Department’s National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), an industry-based cleaner coal technology research center.

The Appeals Court in D.C. has struck down a Bush administration 2007 ozone rule, sending the issue back to the Environmental Protection Agency for a mulligan. What will this mean in the future?

The world’s first supercritical circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) steam generator began successful operation at the Lagisza power plant in Poland early this July, according to power equipment and engineering firm Foster Wheeler. The new CFB — believed to be the world’s largest — replaced 1960s-era pulverized coal units at the power plant owned by Polish utility […]

Industrial productivity solutions provider Atlas Copco Compressors introduced a new generation of integrated refrigerant dryers for use with the company’s GA, GA+, and GA variable-speed drive 50 to 125 hp oil-injected screw compressors. Compared to conventional dryers with similar cooling capacity, the new R410A refrigerant dryers (ID 95-285) reduce direct power consumption by up to […]

The National Academy of Public Administration faults the U.S. Department of Energy on human resource management, contract controls, and financial management.

There are a number of reasons why your plant might be looking at new water pretreatment equipment in the near future. One common reason is the addition of new generating capacity. Regardless of the type of new generation, you can be sure that it will require additional high-purity water for processes ranging from direct steam generation to power augmentation, NO_x control, and washing the blades of the combustion turbines.

Emerson Process Management has enhanced its Rosemount Analytical OCX8800 oxygen and combustibles transmitter for advanced functionality and reliability in coal-fired applications, helping to improve burner efficiency and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The device, which features oxygen and combustibles measurement capabilities in a single design, now includes an improved sensor technology that reduces drift. Adaptable to […]

The economic downturn hits Entergy Corp. and Bruce Power.

"If you build it, they will come" — the litigants, that is. The lawsuit involving the construction of Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s (SWEPCO) John W. Turk Jr. ultrasupercritical coal-fired power plant in Arkansas gives new meaning to that popular quote from the movie Field of Dreams.

Gardner Denver Nash launched the NASH Vectra XL 750 as part of its liquid ring pump and compressor series. The NASH Vectra XL 750 offers vacuum pump operation of up to 28.5 in. HgA and compressor operation to 30 psig. It features O-ring sealing and ductile iron construction plus single-point inlet and discharge connections, which […]

TVA scales back plans to revitalize new nuclear construction at its Bellefonte plant, suggesting that it will scrap plans for new units at the site and perhaps focus on its unbuilt unit that has been mothballed for 25 years.

The Edward W. Clark Generating Station, which has supplied electricity to the Las Vegas Strip for more than half a century, has learned the secret of life in the desert: adaptability. The plant’s early years featured conventional steam plants operated around the clock. By mid-life, Clark had been upgraded with two combustion turbine combined-cycle power blocks operated as intermediate-load resource. Today, the old steam plants have been replaced with fast-start peaking gas turbines.

ABB Instrumentation launched the WaterMaster series, a new range of electromagnetic flowmeters that is specifically targeted at water and wastewater markets. Part of the FlowMaster portfolio, the series includes the WaterMaster magmeter, which is available in sizes 1.5 to 84 inches. For sizes up to 8 inches, the new unit incorporates an innovative octagonal sensor […]

“Engagement” was once the buzzword for employee satisfaction. That was then, say some HR gurus, but these authors argue that engagment is as important as ever.