News

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

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.

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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.

An explosion thought to have been caused by a pressure surge in water pipes at Russia’s largest hydroelectric power station, the 6,400-MW Sayano Shushenskaya plant in southern Siberia, on Monday killed at least 12 people and injured scores of others. Dozens more are feared dead as a result of the accident.

Australia’s parliament rejected a government-backed plan last week that would have forced the country’s worst 1,000 polluters to buy carbon dioxide permits covering 75% of national emissions to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5% to 25% by 2020. The government struck a deal with opponents today (Aug. 19), however, to mandate that 20% of the country’s energy will be produced from renewable sources by 2020.

An agreement reached between the City of San Francisco and Mirant Corp. could permanently shut down a controversial 50-year-old natural gas–fired power plant by the end of 2010 and force the Atlanta-based company to pay the city $1 million to address pediatric asthma in nearby communities.

Progress Energy Carolinas said on Tuesday that it would permanently shut down three coal-fired power plants near Goldsboro and seek state regulatory approval to build a new natural gas–fueled facility at the site. The decision will ensure compliance with North Carolina’s Clean Smokestacks Act, which establishes more stringent emission-reduction targets in 2013, the company said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday issued final regulatory approval for Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s 77–wind turbine project with a nameplate capacity of 115.5 MW. The $250 million project, which will cover 30,000 acres about 15 miles south of Minot, N.D., could be the largest cooperative-owned wind farm in the nation when it is operational in early 2010.

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and media magnate Ted Turner have teamed up in calling for a utility sector “cash-for-clunkers” program, which they say could save money and reduce emissions right away.

A FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary has signed an official agreement with federal entities to repower two units at the R.E. Burger coal plant near Shadyside, Ohio, with biomass fuel—making it the largest coal-fired plant in the nation to do so—the U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Tuesday.

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels dropped 3.2% in 2008 and are projected to fall a further 5% this year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Emissions from coal will account for more than a half of this decline.

The UK should look to supply some 35% to 40% of its electricity needs with nuclear energy by 2030 to ensure energy security and cut carbon emissions, finds a recently released report that had been commissioned by the government.

Dynegy on Monday said it would sell eight power plants to LS Power, a private equity firm that is a major stakeholder in the Houston-based generation firm. The transaction, estimated at $1.5 billion in cash and stock, is expected to enhance Dynegy’s "strategic and financial flexibility."