News

The Department of Energy (DOE) last week said it was considering transferring to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) its authority to conduct congestion studies and establish a process for designating “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors” (NIETCs). But the move, which has been touted as a means to remove transmission-development barriers, could inhibit new power lines by creating uncertainty, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has countered.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Friday split 2–2, neither upholding nor rejecting a decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) last year that had ruled the Energy Department could not withdraw its license application for the Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository in Nevada. In a written decision, however, the NRC directed its licensing board to close out work on the project by Sept. 30, citing funding constraints.

New Hampshire’s State Senate last week fell one vote short of overriding Gov. John Lynch’s veto of a bill that would have withdrawn the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program whose participants include 10 states and provinces in the northeastern U.S. and Canada.

Just days after an investigation was launched into failed solar manufacturer Solyndra, a Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee recipient—the DOE announced a flurry of funding measures for new solar, offshore wind, and geothermal projects. The new projects will help achieve President Obama’s goal of generating 80% of U.S. power from clean energy within the next 25 years, the DOE said.

Along with several funding announcements for renewable energy projects, the Department of Energy (DOE) last week said it would back six projects that could lower the cost of producing power in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants using carbon capture. The $14 million in total funding will seek to improve the economics of IGCC plants and promote the use of the nation’s abundant coal resources, the DOE said.

Shifting from coal to natural gas would have limited impacts on climate—and it could even slightly accelerate global warming at least through 2050—suggests a new study from the federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Solyndra, the manufacturer of cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels, which had been granted the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first ever loan guarantee funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, on Tuesday filed for bankruptcy protection. The move follows the California company’s decision last week to shut down its Fremont factory and lay off 1,100 employees and contractors because it could not compete with low-cost manufacturers from other countries.

Louisiana-based engineering firm the Shaw Group on Tuesday said it would sell its 20% stake in nuclear plant company Westinghouse back to partner Toshiba—forcing the Japanese company to raise its holding to 87%. Shaw said it would continue to work as a consortium team member with Westinghouse in the deployment and commercialization of the third-generation AP1000 reactor currently under construction in China and the state of Georgia.

Analysis from research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan shows that the steam and gas turbines market in Europe—which has seen an all-time low in the past two years—is expected to pick up in the medium-to-long term, even though the sector has been hard-hit by uncertainties concerning carbon trading, power industry legislation, and commodity price surges.

All nuclear plants in the U.S. continued to operate safely, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said as it announced it had issued mid-cycle assessment letters to the nation’s 104 operating commercial nuclear plants.

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday awarded more than $145 million for 69 projects in 24 states to help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies as part of its SunShot Initiative. That announcement was followed yesterday by one concerning funding for a more established renewable power generation technology. The DOE and Department of the Interior announced nearly $17 million in funding over the next three years for research and development projects to advance hydropower technology.

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) last week signed into law a bill that extends an expedited permitting process previously limited to large-scale solar projects to wind and geothermal projects planned for installation in California’s Mojave and Colorado Deserts.

President Obama on Friday scuttled the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) smog rule, saying that he had underscored the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and uncertainty. The decision has dealt a blow to environmental groups—which are contemplating legal action—and won the Democratic president praise from Republicans and industry groups.

As it does for sectors such as global defense and transportation, nanotube technology holds great promise for the energy sector—and, in particular, for power generation. This July, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said carbon nanotubes showed potential as an innovative approach to storing solar energy, and Rice University scientists claimed they were closer to developing a unique wire that could transmit power with few losses.

Moyno introduced the Moyno 2000 WA and WB close-coupled pumps designed for lower-pressure, lower-flow applications that do not require the full features and benefits of the Moyno 2000 GI pump. The Moyno 2000 WA (shown here) and WB models are ideal for municipal and industrial applications that require the transfer of highly viscous fluids and […]

Cat Pumps launched a new series of glycol pumps developed to supply triethylene glycol for natural gas dehydration systems. System reliability, especially of the pump, is essential to minimize production interruptions and costly equipment failures. The TEG triglycol pumps have been field-proven in the most rigorous dehydration systems, Cat Pumps says. The electric engine–driven TEG […]

Air Liquide America Specialty Gases equipment group recently announced the introduction of a comprehensive line of “industrial grade” equipment for use with gases commonly used in welding, cutting, and other industrial applications, as well as with liquid cryogenics. The equipment is ideally suited for use with Air Liquide brands of industrial gases such as ALIGAL, […]

Utilities are scrambling to reconnect nearly two million customers in 14 East Coast states who have been without power for three or four consecutive days since Hurricane Irene pummeled the region.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has sent a more proficient inspection team to Dominion’s quake-hit North Anna nuclear power plant in Mineral, Va., to further investigate effects of the Aug. 23 5.8-magnitude quake whose epicenter was only five miles away from the twin-reactor station in Mineral, Va., after Dominion told the NRC that initial reviews determined the ground motion resulting from the quake may have exceeded the plant’s design basis.

On Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved changes to emergency preparedness regulations affecting existing nuclear power plants, those that might be licensed and built in the future, and research and test reactors.

The City of Alexandria, Va., and Houston-based GenOn on Monday agreed to shutter the company’s 482-MW coal-fired Potomac Generating Station (PRGS) by Oct. 2012. Community groups had fiercely opposed the 1949-built plant’s continued operation, citing concerns about its age and emitted pollution, but the plant has been seen as a key facility that maintains reliability for Washington, D.C.

Rural electric cooperative utilities in 14 states will receive up to $900 million in loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service to help them upgrade, expand, maintain, and replace power infrastructure in rural areas of the U.S. The funding, announced on Monday, is expected to support construction of nearly 1,500 miles of line and improve 1,700 miles of existing line.

Germany will not rely on reserve power from any of the seven nuclear power plants (with a total capacity of about 8,800 MW) that it shut down in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis for this and the following winter, the country’s energy regulator said today.

The Department of Energy on Friday finalized a partial guarantee for a $852 million loan to support development of the Genesis Solar Project—a 250-MW parabolic trough concentrating solar (CSP) facility located on federal land in Riverside County, Calif., that is expected to increase the nation’s currently installed CSP capacity by about 50%.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda could push for use of existing nuclear reactors in Japan for a longer period than advocated by outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) last week approved a transmission line on public lands that will connect a 250-MW solar power project to the grid in California. The line will connect to the Imperial Solar Energy Center West Project in Imperial County.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board on Thursday gave the federally owned corporation much-anticipated authorization to complete a nuclear unit at the federally owned corporation’s Bellefonte site near Scottsboro, Ala. However, the TVA may reportedly finance the $4.9 billion completion by selling and leasing its Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor—a project expected to be completed in 2013—as well as its John Sevier combined cycle gas plant.

Regulations proposed by Canada’s Ministry of Environment on Friday could force utilities, starting in July 2015, to shutter new coal-fired plants not outfitted with carbon capture and storage systems and plants reaching the end of "economic” lifespans to shut down—unless the plants’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels could be reduced to those of natural gas combined-cycle plants. The federal government said the new rules could gradually phase out traditional coal units, which would have a significant impact on reducing emissions from the coal-fired generation sector.

Solar Trust of America will convert the first 500-MW phase of its massive concentrating solar power (CSP) project under construction near Blythe, in Riverside County, Calif., to photovoltaic (PV) technology because market conditions currently favor PV, the company announced on Thursday.

The Department of Energy on Friday finalized a $197 million loan guarantee to SoloPower Inc. for the construction and operation of thin-film solar module manufacturing facilities at sites in Portland, Oregon, and at an existing site in San Jose, California.