POWERnews

The U.S. Energy Department last week outlined plans to invest $366 million in three key energy areas: production of fuels directly from sunlight; improving energy-efficient building systems design; and computer modeling and simulation for the development of advanced nuclear reactors.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week approved Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) application to build segments of  the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission (TRTP), a major transmission project and the first in that state specifically designed to access multiple renewable generation sources from remote renewable-rich resource areas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week said that its decision to regulate coal ash waste from power plants, expected this month, will be delayed for a “short period” because of the “complexity of the analysis” underway at the agency.

Duke Energy this week agreed under a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to spend $93 million to resolve Clean Air Act violations at its coal-fired 560-MW Gallagher Station in New Albany, Ind.

A motion submitted to an administrative judge last week by Seminole Electric Cooperative states that the Florida-based electricity supplier has decided “not  to go forward with construction and operation” of a 750-MW coal-fired unit planned for the Seminole Generating Station—a 2009 POWER Top Plant—in Palatka, Fla. The company cited regulatory and legal uncertainties.

A year-long 1-MW pilot test demonstrating postcombustion carbon capture technology for coal-fired power plants has reportedly captured more than 90% of carbon dioxide from a slipstream of flue gas at FirstEnergy Corp.’s R.E. Burger Plant near Shadyside, Ohio.

Texas has added some 3,140 MW of new generation capacity since May, mostly from coal and natural gas–fired power plants, the grid operator for most of the state said in a capacity, demand, and reserve update released last week.

World leaders have begun arriving in Copenhagen days before the international conference’s close on Dec. 18 to sign a comprehensive pact to curb climate change, but disagreements—mostly on rich-poor lines—among the 193 attending nations on issues from emissions reductions to technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) could mean there may be nothing to sign.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Monday said she would file a disapproval resolution to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) under the Clean Air Act.

Last week, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) unveiled a “basic framework for climate action” that combines caps on greenhouse gas (GHG) with offshore oil and gas exploration and an emphasis on nuclear power. At the same time, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine.) introduced legislation to cap the amount of fossil carbon sold but reduce the role of Wall Street in carbon markets.

NRG Energy’s $1.2 billion plan to build a 744-MW pulverized coal unit at its Limestone Electric Generating Station near Jewett, Texas, got a boost last week as the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ) approved air permits for the plant.

Sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants across the U.S. fell 52% compared with 1990 levels, and they are already below the statutory annual emission cap of 8.95 million tons set for compliance in 2010 under the Acid Rain Program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported last week. The EPA’s annual national analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory showed similar decreases by electric utilities for chemicals released into the air, land, and water.

Alberta will not stand in the way of new nuclear builds, but it will not invest public dollars in power proposals, the province’s Energy Minister Mel Knight said on Monday after a government-sponsored consultation showed that 45% of Albertans prefer that nuclear power plants be considered on a case-by-case basis.

General Electric last week won a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines for the 845-MW Shepherds Flat wind farm proposed by independent power producer Caithness Energy. If built, the 338-turbine Oregon wind farm would be the largest in the world.

A permit issued by Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) last week to Southeast Idaho Energy to operate a clean coal gasification fertilizer plant near American Falls is the first in the state and the nation to set enforceable greenhouse gas emission limits.

San Antonio’s CPS Energy on Sunday filed a petition with a Bexar County court to define the liability faced by the utility and NINA (Nuclear Innovation North America), a Toshiba-NRG Energy consortium, if both parties pulled out of a project to expand the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear plant near Bay City, Texas.

In a “push” to the economy and employment, the European Commission today granted €1 billion to six carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and €565 million to nine offshore wind energy projects.

The U.S. Energy Department last week said it would fund three carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects with a value of $3.18 billion to accelerate their development: American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) proposed Mountaineer demonstration project; Southern Co.’s Plant Barry demonstration in Alabama; and Summit’s Texas Clean Energy Project in Midland-Odessa.

India and Russia signed another key nuclear cooperation deal on Monday in Moscow, opening the way for Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom to play a major role in the subcontinent’s plans to expand its nuclear capacity tenfold by 2020.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday—opening day of the 12-day international climate change talks in Copenhagen—formally declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) threats to public health and welfare. The move responds to the Massachusetts v. EPA U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2007 that found that GHGs fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants.

Last week, President Barack Obama set a U.S. target for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% by 2050, while China separately said it would reduce the intensity of its carbon dioxide emissions by 40% to 45% by 2020. The announcements come weeks before the 12-day international climate meeting at Copenhagen, Denmark, which will begin on Dec. 9.

Australia’s parliament today rejected—for a second time—a climate change bill that would effect a carbon trading program. The world’s biggest coal exporter was proposing to reduce greenhouse gases by 5% to 15% of 2000 levels via a carbon trading system similar to Europe’s within the next decade.

French nuclear giant AREVA on Monday announced it would sell its lucrative transmission and distribution (T&D) division to Alstom and Schneider Electric—both French firms—for €4.09 billion, rejecting bids from U.S.-based General Electric and Japan’s Toshiba Corp.

The week brought news of more closures or cancellations related to coal-fired generation. Exelon Corp. said it would permanently shut down four older units—a total capacity of 933 MW—in Pennsylvania; Progress Energy announced the closure of 11 North Carolina units in a shift to burning natural gas; and cost increases for an Ohio plant are prompting American Municipal Power to consider a combined-cycle gas plant instead.

An analysis released today by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) projects that if Congress adopts climate change legislation based on a blueprint released by the organization earlier this year, the nation’s economy would grow about 70% through 2030 despite adopting carbon emission–curbing measures.

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) on Monday introduced a climate and energy bill that proposes to spend $20 billion over the next 20 years to fund a series of nuclear-oriented provisions. These include nuclear loan guarantees, workforce development, and reactor-lifetime extensions.

The current sluggish U.S. economy is now being reflected in the country’s overall production of electricity. On Nov. 13, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report that concludes net generation of electricity in the U.S. was down for the 13th consecutive month compared to the same calendar month in the prior year.

On Monday in his speech at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ annual convention, Exelon Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe said that current legislative proposals on climate will minimize costs to consumers while addressing the looming threat of global warming.

Held in New Orleans from Monday through Wednesday, the Brownfields 2009 Conference is the largest conference in the U.S. focused on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment of contaminated land, which are known as brownfields. This year’s conference focused several sessions on the topic of placing renewable energy projects such as wind farms and solar energy facilities on brownfields and old mining sites in order to make these sites productive again.

On Nov. 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced projects selected for more than $24 million in grants to research and develop technologies to produce biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value bio-based products. For this program, the DOE plans to invest up to $4.9 million and the USDA intends to contribute up to $19.5 million. Advanced biofuels produced through this funding are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% compared to fossil fuels.