News

Ascertaining the alignment of all machines in a multiple machine train has always been a cumbersome and time-consuming process. The new ROTALIGN ULTRA MultiCoupling feature allows the alignment of up to seven machines in a train to be measured simultaneously, with a single quarter rotation (or less) of the shafts. This saves time and resources […]

An energy policy should be the result of inclusive debate and a consensus approach to the means to leverage all of a country’s energy assets, including innovation and technology, to the advantage of its citizens. Current U.S. energy policy fails on all counts.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed its first-ever carbon pollution standard for new power plants, limiting carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from new fossil fuel-fired power plants to 1,000 pounds/MWh. The standard is achievable for new natural gas combined cycle units without add-on controls, but it would force new coal or petroleum coke units to install carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which is currently commercially unavailable, the agency acknowledged.

Southern California Edison (SCE), operator of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente, Calif., must understand and address unusual wear on steam generator tubes before it can be allowed to restart the beleaguered two-reactor nuclear plant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Tuesday. California officials are meanwhile preparing contingency plans to prevent power outages this summer that could result from the plant’s indefinite shutdown.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will decide on Friday whether to award a combined construction and operation license (COL) to SCANA Corp.’s proposed project for two 1,117-MW reactors at the site of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, S.C. If the SCANA Corp. project receives the NRC’s approval, it will be the second project in nearly 30 years to receive such approval.

Official notifications to regional reliability organizations PJM Interconnection and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) made last week by American Electric Power (AEP) show that the company will retire about 4,600 MW of coal-fired capacity to comply with a series of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules. The plan differs markedly from the 6,000 MW of anticipated retirements AEP announced in June 2011.

Bulgaria on Wednesday definitively abandoned plans to build the Belene nuclear plant based on Russian technology, saying it would instead build a gas-fired power plant on the Danube River site. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov cited soaring costs as well as a failure to find Western partners for the projects after German company RWE withdrew from the project in 2009.

Two natural gas–fired projects received key approvals from state regulators this week. The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved Florida Power & Light’s (FPL’s) proposed 1,277-MW gas unit for Broward County, Fla., and Louisiana’s Public Service Commission approved Entergy’s 550-MW gas project for Jefferson County, La.

Pushing for an “all-out, all-of-the-above” energy strategy, the Obama administration last week announced new funding to advance the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S.

In a major setback for Southern Co.’s 582-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) Kemper power plant that is under construction in Kemper County, Miss., the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed an order by the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) granting the project a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

In the past week, Ontario’s Bruce A restarted after 17-year hiatus, with hiccups; Indian state approval restarted work to complete Kudankulam; Vermont Yankee turned 40; and Entergy won a new legal round to keep the contested Vermont reactor operating.

NRG Energy last week filed a notice of intent with the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) to mothball Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 of its 635-MW Dunkirk coal-fired power plant near Buffalo, N.Y., by September this year until market conditions improve.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week conditionally approved an enforcement approach proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) that allows industry to self-report “low risk” reliability standard violations. The initiative will “free up resources and attention to address more serious risks to reliability,” FERC said in its decision.

An agreement reached between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Constellation Energy Commodities Group will require the company to pay $245 million to settle FERC allegations that the company manipulated power markets run by the New York Independent System Operator (ISO) and ISO New England between September 2007 and December 2008. The penalty is the largest ever imposed by FERC under the expanded enforcement authority assigned to the federal body in 2005.

Cap and trade programs to reduce emissions do not inherently provide incentives to induce the private sector to develop innovative technologies to address climate change, according to a new study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Enough capacity exists in deep saline aquifers in the U.S. to store about a century’s worth of carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants, a new study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shows.

After concluding that the Chinese government provided illegal subsidies to domestic solar panel makers, the U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday said it would impose countervailing duties on the imports of Chinese crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. But the tariffs were smaller than some solar companies had petitioned for, ranging at 2.9% to 4.73%, depending on which company manufactured them.

A bill introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday could force the government to provide rebates for $35.8 billion collected in the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund since 1983 to help build and operate the permanent federal nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, customers have been paying […]

Dynegy Inc.’s transfer of some coal plant assets to itself from its subsidiary Dynegy Holdings two months before the latter company filed for bankruptcy protection last November represented a “fraudulent transfer,” a court-appointed examiner in the bankruptcy case said in a report released on Friday.

Exelon Corp. and Constellation Energy on Monday completed their long-awaited $7.9 billion merger. The combined company, which retains the Exelon name, has a market cap of $34 billion, a 35-GW generation fleet, and activity in 47 U.S. states and some Canadian provinces. It is now the biggest power utility in the U.S.—until the $26 billion Duke-Progress merger is completed, at least.

A bill passed with a bipartisan vote of 265–154 by the U.S. House last week seeks to fast-track permitting for hydropower installations of 1.5 MW or less in canals and pipelines by minimizing environmental reviews.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) last week detailed its “FLEX” response strategy, a program that calls for more safety and emergency response equipment at each of the nation’s 104 commercial nuclear reactors. According to the trade industry group, “The initiative commits every U.S. company operating a nuclear energy facility to order or enter into contract for a plant-specific list of emergency equipment by March 31.”

A report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) claims that though the U.S. solar power sector was hard hit by policy changes and plunging global prices of photovoltaic (PV) panel prices, it installed 1,855 MW of PV capacity last year—more than doubling the previous annual record of 887 MW set in 2010.

The Department of Energy has made $15 billion in loan guarantees and conditionally committed to another $15 billion, but its loan guarantee program lacks much-needed consolidated data on application status, which could make easier efficient management and program oversight, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found. The report was released on Monday, just before Energy Secretary Steven Chu defended the Obama administration’s loan programs before a Senate committee.

Edison International last week said it was unable to secure financing for more than $700 million in scrubbers and other air pollution equipment required by state and federal regulations to continue operating the beleaguered 1,884-MW Homer City Generating Station Pennsylvania. The news comes on the heels of the announced closure of the firm’s two Chicago coal-fired power plants by 2014.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) on Tuesday submitted a revised open access transmission tariff to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), addressing situations that occur mostly in the springtime when the Columbia River surges and there is too much power available for delivery.

A new report released last week by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) finds that loss of reactive power is the most likely outcome from a severe solar storm centered over North America.  Significant losses of reactive power could lead to voltage instability, and, if not identified and managed appropriately, power system voltage collapse could occur, the report concludes.

A report presented to China’s legislature on Monday by Premier Wen Jiabao could have positive implications for the country’s centrally owned grid and nuclear firms, but they could leave "thermal generators out in the cold," experts said.

In the keynote address to the CERAWeek 2012 conference in Houston on Tuesday, Helge Lund, president and CEO of Norway-based Statoil, urged the oil and gas industry to embrace a greater sense of responsibility in facing its current and future challenges.

Three Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) between the U.S. government entities and private companies signed on Friday will seek to leverage Savannah River’s land assets and energy facilities near Aiken, S.C., to support potential private sector development, testing, and licensing of prototype small modular reactor (SMR) technologies.