POWERnews

The AREVA-Siemens consortium that is building the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor in Finland, and the plant’s owner, Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), have again increased claims and counterclaims for billions of dollars in costs and losses, which they say are caused by delays afflicting the world’s first EPR project. At the end of 2003, TVO […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Oct. 23 that the EPA can move forward with implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) following the April ruling from the Supreme Court upholding most of the rule. The D.C. Circuit had previously voided the rule in December 2011, but […]

Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 23–24, the European Council (EC) agreed on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework for the European Union (EU), calling on all countries to come forward with ambitious targets and policies. The EC endorsed a binding EU target of at least a 40% reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions by […]

Compliance cost estimates for a revised ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) soon to be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “will be little better than guesses,” the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says in a recent document.  The NAAQS does not directly impose emission controls on industry, “but it sets in motion a process […]

Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have remained at record levels during 2014 as its entire fleet of nuclear power plants remains offline, according to recent data from the Japanese government. Japan’s reliance on fossil fuels for power generation—particularly LNG—jumped substantially after the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which led […]

Xcel Energy formally notified state regulators and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator that it plans to close the two remaining coal-fired units at its Black Dog Generating Station in Burnsville, Minn., by April 2015. The Black Dog plant has 232 MW of coal-fired generation in its Units 3 and 4, which have been operating since […]

Allison M. Macfarlane, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), announced on Oct. 21 that she will leave the NRC effective Jan. 1, 2015, to take a position at George Washington University. Macfarlane took over the chair in July 2012—completing the last year of Dr. Gregory Jaczko’s term—and was confirmed for a second term in […]

Decommissioning the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant will cost up to $1.24 billion, owner Entergy Corp. said in a study submitted to Vermont regulators on Friday.  Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) plans to shutter the reactor in late 2014. The decision to close the plant stems from a settlement agreement negotiated by several Vermont state agencies […]

The stalled Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository will meet regulatory requirements when permanently closed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has found in a long-awaited safety evaluation report (SER).  The federal regulatory body on Oct. 16 issued Volume 3 of the five-part SER on the underground geologic nuclear waste repository proposed to be built in […]

A fire broke out in one of Didcot B power station’s cooling tower modules on the evening of Oct. 19, resulting in the shutdown of one of the plant’s two units. RWE Generation said that no RWE personnel or emergency services responders were injured during the incident, and that all employees have been accounted for. […]

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The energy storage sector is taking off its training wheels. And while that may be a good thing, it comes with some risks. Two senior executives in the energy storage industry who spoke to POWER at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Jose, Calif., Sept 30–Oct. 2, described a promising—but challenging—future. John […]

Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released emails between top officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which they say demonstrate a “very close working relationship” between the two organizations. The emails are associated with the development of the EPA’s proposed carbon rule, […]

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) reports that energy efficiency is the second-largest power resource in the Pacific Northwest region, ranking only behind hydroelectricity. The NPCC—authorized through the Northwest Power Act to develop and maintain a regional power plan, and fish and wildlife program, to balance the Northwest’s environment and energy needs—bases the claim […]

With a warmer winter projected this year, according to recent forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), last year’s record upheavals in the natural gas market appear unlikely to recur. Especially in the eastern and northeastern U.S., this winter should be substantially warmer than 2013–2014, when the Polar Vortex hammered much of the […]

A mix of lucky timing and post-Fukushima recalibration appears to be responsible for a general mood of optimism at the first biennial World Nuclear Exhibition being held just outside of Paris this week. The event, organized by the Association of French Nuclear Industry Exporters (AIFEN) has attracted 495 exhibitors and an estimated 7,000 visitors from […]

San Antonio’s CPS Energy on Monday announced a new agreement to buy power from Summit Power’s  proposed integrated combined cycle coal gasification (IGCC) plant that will include carbon capture, utilization, and storage. The municipally owned utility will buy 200 MW of power from the the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP), which is about half the […]

On Oct. 8, the European Commission (EC) decided that the state aid included in the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant construction proposal is compatible with European Union state aid rules. The approval allows key elements of the agreement between EDF Group and the UK government, including a guaranteed “strike price” of £92.50/MWh ($148.76/MWh) for power […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up industry’s challenge to a federal court ruling that upheld the Bush administration’s air quality standard for ozone.  The high court’s denial leaves intact the D.C. Circuit’s July 2013 decision upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) last revision of its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) […]

American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) Ohio unit has asked the state’s Public Utilities Commission for permission to essentially charge customers for costs to operate nine unregulated coal-fired units, a move the company says will address market volatility and ensure the economic viability of Ohio’s generation.  AEP Ohio on Oct. 3 proposed an “expanded” power purchase agreement […]

Booming natural gas production, mostly in the Northeast, will continue to confound traditional North American gas market dynamics in the near future, said speakers at the LDC Gas Forum—Rockies and West in Los Angeles Oct. 7-8. “Northeast production is flipping the market on its head,” said Luke Jackson, an energy analyst with Bentek. Gas production […]

The first full-scale commercial post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project at an operating coal-fired power plant is now online in Estevan, Saskatchewan, roughly 10 miles north of the U.S. border. The heart of the $1.4 billion project at Boundary Dam Power Station is the rebuilt 110-MW Unit 3, originally commissioned in 1970. The project, […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday issued a draft solicitation that would provide up to $12.6 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear projects. The agency identified four technology areas of interest in the draft solicitation: advanced nuclear reactors, small modular reactors, upgrades and uprates at existing facilities, and front-end nuclear projects. The draft solicitation […]

Despite record low temperatures and widespread generation outages during the polar vortex, bulk power system reliability was maintained, says the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) in a newly released analysis of the extreme cold weather event that engulfed most of the nation this January.  The Jan. 6–7, 2014, weather condition that resulted in temperatures […]

If you’re a power sector professional and you haven’t thought much about energy storage, rest assured—you will soon. At least, that’s if the numerous companies working in this field and presenting at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Jose, Calif., this week get their way. But, as Craig Horne, chief strategy officer […]

After more than a year of deliberation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Dominion’s proposal to construct and operate liquefaction and export facilities at its existing Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal located in Lusby, Md. The proposed export facility will be contained within the existing footprint of the 131-acre import terminal […]

The U.S. power sector has seen a number of developments on the regulatory front in recent months. Here’s where major federal rules stand today. (For a more dynamic and graphic version of this article, see http://powermag.com/long-form-stories/bw-power/ .) GHG Rules New Power Plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 2013 revised a 2012 proposal to […]

Dominion Virginia Power found two damaged nuclear fuel rods in Unit 2 of its North Anna Power Station located in Louisa County northwest of Richmond. The discovery was made during a regularly scheduled refueling outage that began on Sept. 7. The company believes the fuel rods were damaged as the result of “baffle jetting.” The […]

Several countries and companies at the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit 2014 in New York City pledged action to address climate change by slashing carbon emissions, mobilizing funding, or putting a price on carbon.  The one-day event on Tuesday was designed to raise political momentum and spur transformative action ahead of COP 21, the December […]

The U.S. should ensure that Canada does not build a permanent nuclear waste repository in the Great Lakes Basin as proposed, a U.S. Senate resolution introduced last week proclaims.  The resolution introduced by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and co-sponsored by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) on Sept. 18 calls […]