Business

Droughts, unreliable gas imports, and protests against proposed projects have hampered the Chilean power sector and its largest economic driver, the copper-mining industry. Recent policies designed to foster more reliable supplies are a move in the right direction, but remaining obstacles are formidable.

The natural gas and electricity industries have entered into an increasingly codependent relationship as coal-fired electricity gives way to natural gas–fired generation. Both industries are firmly committed to providing reliable service, although each goes about its business in different ways. Utilities, regulators, and stakeholders are searching for ways to align interests and expectations.

Plentiful supplies of low-cost natural gas have changed unit dispatch orders across the U.S., led to thermal stress–induced maintenance issues at cycling coal plants, and resulted in management challenges at coal and gas units alike. This scenario is unlikely to change so long as gas holds its competitive edge over coal.

Belgian Cabinet Votes to Prolong Tihange 1 Reactor Life. Belgium’s cabinet in early July approved plans by GDF Suez subsidiary Electrabel to keep the 1975-built Tihange 1 reactor operating until 2025—almost a decade longer than planned—but it rejected a proposal to delay by a year the planned 2015 closure of Electrabel’s two 1975-built reactors at […]

Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has postponed restart of its troubled 478-MW Fort Calhoun nuclear plant for the third time since it was shut down 16 months ago. Restart of the reactor, located 19 miles north of Omaha, Neb., requires regulatory approval, and that is now tentatively anticipated early next year.

Exelon on Tuesday said it plans to withdraw its Early Site Permit (ESP) application for construction of a new reactor at an 11,500-acre tract of land southeast of Victoria, Texas, saying “low natural gas prices and economic and market conditions . . . have made construction of new merchant nuclear power plants in competitive markets uneconomical now and for the foreseeable future.”

The U.S. Trade Representative on Monday asked the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to investigate how U.S.-provided renewable energy services affect development of renewable energy projects worldwide. The ITC’s report, expected by June 28, 2013, will focus on the development, generation, and distribution of renewable energy—specifically onshore and offshore wind and solar energy.

Hurricane Isaac soaked the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi after making landfall Tuesday night with sustained winds of up to 80 mph, leaving thousands without power in five states. On Tuesday, Entergy took its Waterford 3 nuclear plant offline as a precautionary measure.

Gas production by hydraulic fracturing has upended the global energy markets, and talk of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports has major producers astir. But on the horizon is another game-changer: enormous floating LNG platforms that could again reset the equation. 

These are heady days for gas-fired power, as record low prices have turned natural gas from an also-ran into possibly the leading source of electricity generation. But lurking in the background is a potential roadblock—the pipelines that bring gas to the plants, which have lagged behind in capacity. 

Gas is up and coal is down. The why of it is not so clear, nor is the degree to which it’s likely to continue. Here’s a review of the nuts and bolts, which suggests coal may be poised for a comeback.

Building almost any kind of power plant takes a lot of careful public relations. But NRG Energy has traveled a long and winding road in its attempts to replace a coastal plant in Southern California.

A report that examines and compares sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of the 100 largest power producers in the U.S. based on 2010 generation numbers says those companies produced 88% of the nation’s total power plant emissions of those pollutants.

FP&L to Increase Output at Turkey Point. Florida Power & Light (FP&L) on June 19 received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to increase the power generating capacity of Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Units 3 and 4 by 15%. The power uprate for the pressurized water reactors will increase each unit’s capacity from approximately 700 […]

“It is a new month. I want you all to work very hard to fail less than previous months. I’ll be measuring. Failures will not be tolerated. Anyone caught doing so will be disciplined by his or her peers and/or leadership.”

From success stories to war stories, members of the Women in Power Panel Discussion shared their insights about working as women professionals in the U.S. electric power industry at the 2012 ELECTRIC POWER Conference in Baltimore on May 16. The gathering featured lively exchanges between panelists and a large number of attendees (Figure 4). The panel discussion was organized by co-chairs Angela Neville, JD, senior editor of POWER, and Colleen Campbell, business development director at CH2M HILL.

“If you build it, they will come” has proven a risky strategy for some smart grid projects. One of California’s largest investor-owned utilities faced the opposite challenge—customers whose behaviors necessitated a smarter grid. Customer involvement in and support for smart grid plans is a major reason SDG&E’s smart grid efforts continue to garner accolades, including the 2012 POWER Smart Grid Award.

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday announced it would award $7 million to eight projects to advance the development of transformational oxy-combustion technologies capable of high-efficiency, low-cost carbon dioxide capture from coal-fired power plants. Leveraged with recipient cost-sharing to support about $9.4 million in total projects, the awards are expected to support the development and deployment of “carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)” by focusing on further improving the efficiency and reducing the costs associated with carbon capture.

Global solar trade tensions escalated on Friday as the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China announced it would launch both anti-dumping and countervailing investigations on imports of solar-grade polysilicon from the U.S. and an anti-dumping probe on South Korean polysilicon imports. Germany on Friday, meanwhile, said it would support its solar industry in anti-dumping action against China.

The $2 billion Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) may be canceled this fall, a project analysis update from PJM Interconnection suggests. The grid operator for 13 states suspended the 765-kV project last year pending further analysis.

In addition to low prices for coal and natural gas, prices for uranium oxide are also gently falling. New supplies of uranium and enriched fuel should keep nuclear fuel prices stable for years to come.

Some of the ripest targets for cyber soldiers and techno-terrorists are bland, non-descript boxes sitting inside electric utility generating, transmission, and distribution systems, controlling many of the operations of the utilities. The computer technology, once state-of-the-art, is decades old, and that’s part of the problem.

As electric power utilities look ahead, they see the need for major financial investments, but also view a more difficult world in which to raise the needed funds for financing generation and transmission. That’s the conclusion of the 12th annual survey of global power and utility firms by PwC.

Renewable energy sources have increasingly become a focal point of U.S. regulatory and financial institutions as well as trade associations and legislatures. One area of particular interest is programs that have been established by local and state governments to encourage homeowners to become more energy efficient through the use of Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) loans.

When did the term “management” change from a corporate organizational level to be achieved to a leadership model that must be mastered?

Do you communicate to manipulate or to change behavior?

The U.S. has been blessed with enormous quantities of natural resources yet has long been a net energy importer. The shift from global purchaser to global supplier of fossil fuels is accelerating.

In a bid to spur the construction of new power plants and offset a power crunch, the regional grid operator has forecast, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas last week voted to raise the wholesale price cap for electricity prices on Aug. 1 by 50%, to $4,500/MWh from $3,000/MWh.

As U.S. utilities seek to increase the percentage of carbon-neutral biomass used in their generation portfolios, they must deal with a number of complex challenges unique to this fuel source. Several breakthrough technologies are poised to help promote greater use of biomaterials.