Latest

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended until Nov. 29 an administrative stay of a federal implementation plan to address regional haze under the Clean Air Act at PNM Resources’ 1,800-MW San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, N.M. The agency’s action last week  gave the utility 45 more days to consider an alternative proposed by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), but did  not extend the current September 2016 compliance date of the federal implementation plan.

The owner of one of Victoria’s largest coal-fired power stations announced on Wednesday it would cut output at the Gippsland-based Yallourn power station, saying the July 1-implemented carbon tax is driving up operating costs and that Australia’s renewable energy target is squashing wholesale power prices to uneconomic levels.

Louisville Gas and Electric Co. (LG&E) on Monday said it would shut down three coal units in Kentucky—a total capacity of 563 MW—eight months earlier than originally planned.

The Department of Interior on Friday finalized its Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), establishing an initial set of 17 solar energy zones totaling about 285,000 acres of public lands that will serve as priority areas for commercial-scale solar development. The initiative is part of the Obama administration’s goal to authorize 10,000 MW of renewable power on public lands.

Bruce Power on Tuesday synchronized its Bruce Power Unit 2 to Ontario’s grid, marking a milestone in its program to refurbish Units 1 and 2 at the Bruce A nuclear generating station. The company, which synchronized the 750 MW Bruce A Unit 1 with the grid on Sept. 19, said that first synchronization of Unit 2 will allow it to carry out final planned commissioning activities at the plant.

A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers from Pennsylvania on Monday urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider creating a separate subcategory for power plants that convert coal refuse into energy in its final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). Though waste coal plants made an important environmental contribution by reducing coal refuse piles, the hydrochloric acid (HCl) standard in the MATS rule could push them out of business, they said.

A123 Systems, maker of an advanced lithium iron phosphate battery and energy storage systems on Tuesday filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11, as Satcon, a provider of utility-grade power conversion solutions for the renewable energy sector, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday.

Czech utility ÄŒEZ on Wednesday told AREVA that a bid submitted to build two new EPR units at the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant—a site that already houses two VVER-1000 reactors built in 2000 and 2003—has been disqualified because it failed to fulfill “some other crucial criteria” defined in the tender. The decision, which AREVA said it would appeal, means only Westinghouse and an AtomStroyExport-led consortium remain as contenders for that project contract.

Global nuclear power capacity is expected to grow nearly 25% from current levels to 456 GW by 2030 according to low projections, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano told conference attendees in Kyoto, Japan, on Monday. The Fukushima Daiichi accident was a "big wake-up call" on nuclear safety, but it would not mean "the end of nuclear power," he said as he called on Japan to engage in dialogue about its stated policy to shut down all existing reactors by 2040.

Southern California Edison (SCE) last week outlined measures it had completed to correct issues identified in the steam generator tubes of its beleaguered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Units 2 and 3, as requested by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). As part of a restart plan also submitted to regulators last week, the company proposed to restart Unit 2 at 70% power for a five-month trial period.