POWER

In February, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) yet again missed an important opportunity to correct structural flaws that have plagued the state’s wholesale generation market in the wake of the 2001 energy crisis.

You may think of carbon capture and sequestration as a coal industry issue, but two forward-thinking companies are joining forces to make it work for gas.

The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant located in Kemper County, Mississippi, is a 2 x 1 plant that will produce 582 MW at peak and 524 MW fired on syngas, with ammonia, sulfuric acid, and carbon dioxide as by-products. The carbon dioxide will be used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Engineering was completed in Q3 2012, and the facility’s commercial operation date is planned for May 2014.

Paradise Fossil Plant Unit 2’s record-setting performance of 259+ days of continuous operation for a cyclone-fired boiler is attributed to excellence in plant operations and maintenance processes, a diligent and well-trained staff, and leadership that places high value on both. The Paradise experience proves that plants can’t help getting older, but they don’t have to get old.

Recent experience on the Deely 2 SCR retrofit project reminds us that the time spent in thoroughly planning a project prior to the start of construction is usually repaid with avoided construction delays.

Undergoing a NERC CIP audit is an ordeal, particularly when the ground rules are not clearly spelled out in advance. An experienced NERC CIP auditor lays out a comprehensive five-step plan that will show you how to prepare for a successful audit.

Dispatch competition between U.S. coal and natural gas plants has been a prominent feature of power markets since 2009. Gas prices have strengthened significantly over early 2012 levels, working to take pressure off coal plants for the upcoming year, according to a new analysis by SNL Energy.

The results of stack emissions testing conducted at several coal-fired power plants during the past three years have provided useful guidance for plant operators who are required to meet new federal guidelines regarding the release of particulate matter. The data and guidelines presented here will assist those who operate plants with electrostatic precipitators to develop a strategy for filterable particulate emissions control.

China’s installed wind power capacity has doubled for six consecutive years. However, along with the increased capacity come wind power accidents, incidents, and failures. Considering the sharply rising amount of wind power, the authors examine and sort wind technology failures by type and explore their causes in an effort to offer solutions.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will soon force many coal-fired plants to install mercury-specific emission control equipment. Planners can use particular characteristics of a plant to quickly screen for the best mercury removal technology.

Steam turbine rotors bend during operation, but the bearing and supports are designed to keep the static and dynamic forces under control. However, bending can cause impact between stationary and rotating parts—often cascading impacts. An operator of many utility-scale steam turbines shares its extensive field experience identifying the root cause of failures as well as […]

Nuclear power generation is well established, but efforts worldwide to develop permanent disposal sites for highly radioactive waste remain nascent at best. If this were a horse race, you’d have to say the smaller horses are winning.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., March 29, 2013 – I thought it was a joke, maybe an April Fools’ Day gag, or something from the Onion. An email landed in my inbox yesterday from a friend, asking if I’d seen that A123 Systems, the bankrupt battery maker and supplier to Fisker Automotive, the running on […]

A reliability plan approved by the board of directors of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) on Friday concludes that additional transmission and generation resources will be needed during the study period (2013–2022) to meet system reliability criteria, but several factors could raise new impacts on reliability. These include retirement of more generation units for economic or environmental reasons, or if the Indian Point reactor’s licenses were not renewed.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) on Tuesday rejected challenges by environmental groups to Progress Energy’s application to license two new nuclear plants in Levy County, Fla.

Seven European Union (EU) member states exceeded the EU National Emissions Ceiling (NEC) Directive air pollutant limits in 2011, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said last week. The European Commission is reportedly considering initiating infringement proceedings against the countries for exceeding emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week directed San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to procure up to 298 MW of local generation beginning in 2018, and authorized the utility to enter into a purchase power tolling agreement with Wellheads’ Escondido Energy Center. It declined, however, to let the utility enter into similar agreements with two gas generators, because they were bound to be delayed.

NuScale on Wednesday announced it would seek federal funding to accelerate deployment of the company’s small modular reactor technology, saying it would submit a letter of intent in response to a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) earlier this month.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., March 27, 2013 – Poor Ernie Moniz. The MIT academician and energy policy wonk — President Obama’s choice to be the next Secretary of Energy (there’s a career black spot for you) — is facing an onslaught from folks who think that trying to be an honest broker about energy […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Tuesday delayed approving a recommendation made by technical staff that calls for upgrades or replacements of "hardened" venting systems at the nation’s 31 Mark I and Mark II boiling water reactors (BWRs), giving staff a year instead to assess other options and produce a "technical evaluation" on the proposal.

In a letter to President Obama last week, four Senate Democrats expressed "continued concern" about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plans to issue greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standard (NSPS) rules for new fossil fuel-fired power plants. The proposed rules could ban "new state-of-the-art" plants from being built and hamper advancements that could benefit the nation’s coal power sector, the senators argued.

An explosion caused by a steam pipe rupture at the natural gas-fired AES Alamitos Generating Station rocked a neighborhood in Long Beach, Calif. on Wednesday morning. No injuries were reported.

Responding to a recent claim by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the Entergy’s Palisades nuclear power plant is at risk of pressurized thermal shock., the Louisiana-based company said the plant "is a safe and secure facility [and has a] license to operate … through 2031."

Southern California Edison (SCE) on Friday released a new technical evaluation that concludes steam generators at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Unit 2 can safely be operated at 100% power. The evaluation reinforces a more conservative plan proposed by the company to federal regulators to operate the unit, which has been shut down since January 2012, at 70% for five months.

A dozen environmental groups on Wednesday called on the U.S. Trade Representative to reconsider a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to domestic content rules and subsidies in India’s national solar program, urging it instead to agree to a solution that allows India to support and build its domestic solar industry.

Despite a sharp decrease of Chinese solar module shipments that are now subject to U.S. tariffs, solar photovoltaic (PV) prices continued to fall and installations nationwide grew 76% over 2011 to reach a total nameplate capacity of 3,313 MW in 2012 and an estimated market value of $11.5 billion, a new report from industry group Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) shows.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday denied a petition from Unistar Nuclear Operating Services to review an August 2012 decision by the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) that found the company was ineligible to obtain a construction and operation license (COL) for its proposed—and then abandoned—Calvert Cliffs 3 EPR because it was completely foreign-owned.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Coast Guard within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate with each other on the development of projects that generate power from waves, tides, ocean currents, and the flow of rivers. A group of bipartisan senators, meanwhile, introduced a companion bill to a recently passed House bill that seeks to expand hydropower in the U.S.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) on Wednesday approved three major renewable energy projects in California and Nevada that have a total nameplate capacity of 1,100 MW.