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Even for the rapidly expanding gas-fired power sector, Dallas-based Panda Power Funds has been making waves. On Dec. 20, the private equity firm announced another deal: It has completed the acquisition and financing of Moxie Energy’s planned 829-MW Patriot generating station, a combined-cycle project to be located in Clinton Township, Pa. (Figure 1). Construction is […]

The European Union (EU) cannot meet its 2050 carbon emissions goals without reform of its carbon-pricing scheme, according to a report from the European Gas Forum released on Dec. 13. While progress toward the goals has been made, the report warns that the pace of decarbonization will stall in the 2020s because low carbon prices, […]

The Democrat-controlled Colorado Senate on Jan. 15 blocked a bill that would have reversed the state’s controversial renewable energy mandate for rural electric cooperatives. Colorado has had a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) since 2004, when it became the first state in the U.S. to mandate a percentage of renewable generation in retail electricity sales, but […]

Witnesses from four federal agencies, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, answered pointed questions about the president’s June 2013–released Climate Action Plan (CAP) and associated rules at an oversight hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works today.  Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) began the hearing to review President Obama’s […]

Three Wyoming coal-fired power plants will be required to install costly controls to curb nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions under a regional haze rule that was finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week. The agency disapproved parts of a state implementation plan (SIP) submitted by Wyoming in January 2011 to address regional haze. It […]

A years-long drought afflicting California could put financial pressure on a number of the state’s hydropower generators, a ratings agency warns.  Fitch Ratings on Friday said that while the financial impact could be manageable, utilities that depend on hydropower generation for the most part may be forced to use more expensive generation and purchased power […]

A new bill authored by state Sen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, is designed to promote nuclear power development in Indiana, which doesn’t currently have any operating nuclear power plants. Senate Bill 302 provides that projects involving the construction of nuclear energy production or generating facilities qualify for the financial incentives available for clean energy projects. Current […]

With 16 reactors providing roughly 18% of the UK’s electricity needs, nuclear power is a vital part of the country’s energy supply. The trouble is that all but one of the aging reactors is expected to be permanently shutdown within the next 12 years. Recent developments, however, indicate that there is no reason for the […]

Important process variables that affect unit efficiency were reviewed in Part 1 of this two-part report. Many of those process parameters were also identified as related to boiler air in-leakage.  These stealthy combustion losses are difficult to identify or locate yet have a significant effect on boiler combustion efficiency. Keeping your plant operating at or near […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will today miss a legally set deadline to issue finalized standards for cooling water intake structures for all existing power generating facilities under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act.  The EPA’s 2004 Phase II Cooling Water Intake Structure rules were suspended in July 2007 in response to the Second […]