News

Alstom last week pulled out of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), an industry group that advocates for the “robust” use of coal and advancement of cleaner coal technologies. The French company widely active in the development and testing of carbon capture technologies said it broke with the coalition because of its questionable support for climate legislation—the same reason Duke Energy cited when it withdrew from the ACCCE earlier in the week.

Competition for funding under the Energy Department’s Round 3 Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) heated up on Monday as Future Power PA Inc. (FPPI) announced it had applied for about $610 million for a proposed integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with carbon sequestration in Pennsylvania.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed an executive order on Tuesday directing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to adopt regulations by July 31, 2010, to increase California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 33% by 2020—one of the strictest in the country.

GE-Hitachi (GEH) Nuclear Energy last week said it had submitted a final design certification document for the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The submittal allows the regulatory agency to proceed with its evaluation of the third-generation reactor design.

An innovative project that uses algae to mitigate carbon emissions from a coal-fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS) has received a $70.5 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Exelon, the largest nuclear generator in the U.S., on Thursday signed a $1.2 billion contract to purchase separative work units (SWUs) from USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant to fuel its reactors starting in 2012.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed to throw out three aspects of the Texas clean air permitting program because they do not meet requirements of the federal Clean Air Act. Rejections could include the state’s flexible permit system, which allows power plants, factories, refineries, and other industrial plants to exceed emission limits in certain areas as long as they stay within overall limits.

Dominion Virginia Power said last week that a state air permit relating to mercury emissions for its Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center had been amended, and that the permit was now compliant with an order from the Richmond Circuit Court.

Japanese electronics company Toshiba Corp. could reportedly bid for French state-owned AREVA’s lucrative transmission and distribution (T&D) business. Toshiba, which acquired U.S. nuclear reactor maker Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2006, will likely enter a $5 billion bid, vying against a Chinese sovereign fund and other companies.

Last week saw several important developments concerning coal plants in Germany, Michigan, and Canada.

Two companies have announced setbacks to demonstration projects seeking to develop and commercialize enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technology. California-based AltaRock Energy shelved a project for which it had secured $36 million from the U.S Energy Department and had the backing of several large venture capital firms, citing “geologic anomalies.” Geodynamics Ltd., meanwhile, encountered a new set of technical difficulties and is reevaluating a 1-MW pilot project in the Australian outback.

Delays plaguing Europe’s first EPR nuclear power plant, the Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, could cost AREVA €2.3 billion, and the French state-owned nuclear engineering firm now says that it will only complete the plant’s construction if the plant’s buyer, Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), agrees to the company’s hardball proposals.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week issued an Early Site Permit (ESP) and Limited Work Authorization (LWA) to Southern Nuclear Operating Co. for its two proposed Plant Vogtle units in Waynesboro, Ga. The ESP, valid for 20 years, is the fourth issued by federal regulators—but the first based on a specific technology, the Westinghouse AP1000.

The U.S. Energy and Treasury Departments on Tuesday announced stimulus fund awards worth $502 million to energy companies to spur investments in renewable projects and provide “cash assistance” in lieu of earned federal tax credits.

The FutureGen Alliance on Tuesday said it had signed a $17.3 million cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy that covers preliminary design activities through the end of 2009, allowing for the continued development of the Illinois gasified coal power plant and carbon capture initiative.

Reports from the past week allege that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson is readying to release a formal “endangerment finding” that could regulate carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles—as well as from power plants and other stationary sources. These have prompted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to urge the EPA to hold a public hearing on the evidence—or face litigation.

The federal government and the state of Illinois on Thursday filed a suit against Midwest Generation, alleging that the company violated the Clean Air Act by making “major modifications” to six coal-fired power plants without installing required pollution control equipment.

NRG Energy is the latest power generator to solicit government funding for a proposed carbon capture demonstration unit. It is also the newest member of the Energy Department’s National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), an industry-based cleaner coal technology research center.

Emerson’s new 475 Field Communicator extends beyond device configuration functionality to provide advanced device diagnostic and troubleshooting capabilities in the field and on the bench so users can work more efficiently. Quick boot-up and fast operating time mean that jobs can be performed quickly and easily, while longer battery life ensures days — not hours […]

Industrial productivity solutions provider Atlas Copco Compressors introduced a new generation of integrated refrigerant dryers for use with the company’s GA, GA+, and GA variable-speed drive 50 to 125 hp oil-injected screw compressors. Compared to conventional dryers with similar cooling capacity, the new R410A refrigerant dryers (ID 95-285) reduce direct power consumption by up to […]

Emerson Process Management has enhanced its Rosemount Analytical OCX8800 oxygen and combustibles transmitter for advanced functionality and reliability in coal-fired applications, helping to improve burner efficiency and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The device, which features oxygen and combustibles measurement capabilities in a single design, now includes an improved sensor technology that reduces drift. Adaptable to […]

Gardner Denver Nash launched the NASH Vectra XL 750 as part of its liquid ring pump and compressor series. The NASH Vectra XL 750 offers vacuum pump operation of up to 28.5 in. HgA and compressor operation to 30 psig. It features O-ring sealing and ductile iron construction plus single-point inlet and discharge connections, which […]

ABB Instrumentation launched the WaterMaster series, a new range of electromagnetic flowmeters that is specifically targeted at water and wastewater markets. Part of the FlowMaster portfolio, the series includes the WaterMaster magmeter, which is available in sizes 1.5 to 84 inches. For sizes up to 8 inches, the new unit incorporates an innovative octagonal sensor […]

The new Ashcroft Type 5503 differential pressure (D/P) gauge provides reliable low – differential pressure measurement in high-static, wet-wet pressure applications. Equipped with wetted materials of 316SS, Monel, or Hastelloy C, the rugged Type 5503 D/P pressure gauge is specifically designed to monitor a wide variety of caustic liquids and gases. Four-inch and 6-inch dial […]

The board of South Carolina’s largest power producer, Santee Cooper, on Monday voted to suspend construction of the proposed $2.2 billion Pee Dee Energy Campus—a 600-MW coal-fired power plant— in Florence County, S.C.. The state-owned utility cited the recession, lowered power demand, and proposed federal government regulations as primary reasons for its decision.

The Tennessee Valley Authority—the largest public utility in the U.S.—is reportedly considering shuttering two of its oldest coal-fired power plants. At the same time, it is moving forward with plans to end wet storage of ash and gypsum at fossil fuel plants, with a goal of modernizing its facilities and impoundments.

Fatalities at the 6,400-MW Sayano Shushenskaya plant in southern Siberia rose to 71 on Tuesday after several bodies were recovered as water was drained from the turbine room that completely flooded following an explosion on Aug. 17 at the giant hydropower station in the Russian Federation. Four workers remain missing.

American Electric Power (AEP) last week said it would request federal funding from the Department of Energy’s Clean Coal Power Initiative Round 3 to pay part of the costs of installing the nation’s first commercial-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage system on its Mountaineer coal-fired power plant in New Haven, W.Va.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said on Monday it would award $27.6 million in federal funding to 19 projects that enhance the capability to simulate, track, and evaluate the potential risks of carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage in geologic formations.

The first federally licensed in-stream hydrokinetic power project in the U.S. began operating commercially on the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minn., on Thursday.