News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week instructed staff to address a potential problem at nuclear power plants around the U.S. where the containment sump—an emergency long-term cooling water source—could be clogged by debris accumulating after a high-pressure coolant break.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting requirements for carbon dioxide as they apply to biomass-fired and other biogenic sources of power will be deferred three years so that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could have enough time to better weigh the issue, the federal agency announced today.

In its last item of business before a new General Assembly took office today, the Illinois Senate rejected—for the second time since last week—a bill that would have procured $3.5 billion from ratepayers for the construction of Tenaska’s Taylorville Energy Center, an integrated gasification combined cycle power (IGCC) plant proposed for central Illinois. The vote puts the future of the controversial coal-fired plant in doubt.

North Carolina–based utilities Duke Energy and Progress Energy agreed to an all stock merger valued at $13.7 billion on Monday. The combined company, to be called Duke Energy, will be the nation’s largest utility. It will have a $65 billion enterprise value, $37 billion in market capitalization, and 57 GW of domestic generating capacity—including the largest regulated nuclear fleet in the country.

The past week saw a spate of nuclear-related news from around the world. Brazil said it would issue approvals for four nuclear plants and a massive hydropower dam in 2011; a Minnesota House committee voted to lift the state’s 20-year ban on new nuclear power; and a Chinese firm that owns the incident-plagued Hong Kong Daya Bay nuclear plant said it would boost operational transparency to quell public concern.

The 130-turbine Cape Wind offshore wind farm proposed for construction on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, Mass., on Friday received two key approvals—from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—completing its federal permitting process.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a Clean Air Act complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) alleging that owners and operators of the 2-GW coal-fired Homer City Generating Station in Homer City, Indiana County, Pa., violated New Source Review (NSR) requirements.

South Korean utility GS Electric Power and Services Co. is Siemens Energy’s newest customer for the German firm’s new high-efficiency H-Class gas turbine. Siemens said today that it would supply—for the first time—a complete combined cycle power plant equipped with the new-generation gas turbine.

Virginia’s State Corporation Commission on Monday denied a request by Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power to delay regulatory proceedings for a proposed 765-kilovolt, 275-mile transmission project from Putnam County, W.Va., to Frederick County, Md.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week said it had published its final Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last month approved Constellation Energy’s $1.1 billion acquisition of BostonGen’s five power plants in the Boston area, which have a combined capacity of 2,950 MW. The approval marks closing of the sale of the third-largest generating portfolio in the New England region.

As regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to curb greenhouse gases from power plants and other large stationary sources took effect for the first time this week, a federal appeals court temporarily stayed the federal agency’s plan to seize control of greenhouse gas permits from Texas.

Ormat Technologies last week said it would not proceed with Part II of a loan guarantee application for three geothermal projects in California and Nevada, shunning the opportunity for up to $330 million in federal funds. The Reno-based company said it had instead decided to “explore” commercial financing, citing uncertainties in the project permitting process and transaction costs associated with the program.

The German state governing council of Hesse last week partially approved a 1.1-GW coal-fired power plant proposed for construction by Germany firm E.ON at its Staudinger site. If E.ON receives clearance for actual operation of the plant, the plant will be the sixth block at the site, replacing three older units built in the 1960s and 1970s.

A novel technology that could help release some currently unusable energy in an estimated 2 billion tons of coal waste in the U.S. has been demonstrated by a Department of Energy–supported project, the federal body said on Tuesday.

The new Oil Eater all-in-one professional grade emergency spill kits are designed to contain and clean up hazardous spills as required by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Each kit contains absorbent pads, pillows, universal snakes, booms, protective gloves, oil-resistant and high-temperature disposal bags, and an emergency response instruction […]

Voith Turbo H + L Hydraulic’s hydraulic Closed Loop Differential Pump (CLDP) linear axis can be used for all direct linear movements—especially for applications that rely on dynamics, reproducibility, overload protection, and reliability. Compact, highly dynamic, and precise, the linear drive offers overload protection, high power density, and virtually wear-free operation. At its heart is an integrated […]

Moyno Inc. launched its Moyno 2000 Progressing Cavity Pump with a unique gear joint that allows the versatile pump to handle a wide range of applications, from shear-sensitive chemicals to difficult-to-process slurries and sludges. The crowned gear universal joint drive train configuration provides exceptional torque and thrust control, and the patented joint seals effectively protect […]

It’s time to pull my crystal ball out of storage, polish it up, and give you another round of U.S. industry predictions for 2011. I graded last year’s predictions B+ (for a complete rundown of how I graded each prediction, see page 32), but I’m convinced I’ll do better in 2011.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued its plan for establishing greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution standards under the Clean Air Act in 2011. The agency looked at a number of sectors and is moving forward on GHG standards for fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries—two of the largest industrial sources, representing nearly 40% of the GHG pollution in the U.S.

The General Electric Co. (GE) agreed last week to requirements established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final cleanup of PCB-contaminated sediment in the Hudson River. The second phase of the cleanup is to begin in late spring.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on Dec. 23 that a $17.1 million loan guarantee has been finalized for the AES Westover facility. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 20- MW energy storage system using advanced lithium-ion batteries.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced last Wednesday that it is accepting applications for a total of up to $74 million to support the research and development (R&D) of clean, reliable fuel cells for stationary and transportation applications.

In a news conference hosted today by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), presenters argued that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has overstated the economic benefits of recycling coal ash by more than 20 times and exaggerated the potential stigma on recycled fly ash that could result from tougher coal ash regulations. At the same time, the EPA is vastly underemphasizing the costs to human and environmental health of not regulating the substance, presenters said.

One of the key updates in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s early release reference case for its 2011 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) was an update of anticipated power plant capital costs that is good news for solar power and bad news for nuclear power.

On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted 9-1 to adopt a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that is scheduled to start in 2012. The program will affect power plants and other industrial facilities that emit carbon dioxide.

On Dec. 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is proposing actions under the greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program to address issues about the public availability of certain data that some businesses may consider to be confidential. The total emissions for each facility is still required to be reported to the EPA and released to the public.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced yesterday that it had finalized a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for building Abengoa Solar’s Solana, the world’s largest parabolic trough concentrating solar plant (CSP). The 250-MW project in Arizona will require a total investment of around $2 billion.

Advocates and developers of renewable power in the U.S. got an early Christmas present late Dec. 16 when the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing a one-year extension of the Department of Treasury Section 1603 tax grant program (TGP) as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010.

Last Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that a partial loan guarantee for a $1.3 billion loan has been finalized to support the world’s largest wind farm. The loan will finance the Caithness Shepherds Flat project, an 845-MW wind generation facility located in eastern Oregon sponsored by Caithness Energy LLC and GE Energy Financial Services.