POWERnews

Cape Wind, North America’s first offshore wind farm, got $200 million in conditional funding from a Danish pension fund on Tuesday to help it reach financial closure this year.

An airfoil manufacturing technology that could improve the performance of a wide range of next-generation natural gas turbines has been commercialized through research sponsored by the Department of Energy.

Several power companies, state commissions, and trade groups have filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging parts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Order 1000, a rule they argue will lead to high costs for consumers and diminish the authority of state and regional regulators. Meanwhile last week, the White House issued a memo directing federal agencies to improve siting and permitting process to help modernize the nation’s grid.

South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) last week announced that startup of the $6.3 billion nuclear extension under construction at its V.C. Summer plant could be delayed by up to a year owing to delivery issues. The SCANA Corp. subsidiary, which last year identified six coal-fired units that would be retired or switched to natural gas to comply with looming Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), also said it plans to accelerate retirement of two units by the end of this year.

A new order issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week gives 31 U.S. reactors a year to further improve their venting systems as a safeguard during potential accidents. Over the past week, the NRC also called for comment on foreign public ownership issues and issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Watts Bar 2 operating license.

A report recently released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) identifies policy goals—and their fundamental differences—identified in the 2012 presidential election and as highlighted in recent energy-related legislation. Among the nation’s energy priorities are to stabilize oil and gas markets, create natural gas pipeline infrastructure, dispose of nuclear radioactive waste, and replace conventional energy resources with renewables.

Southern California Edison (SCE) announced on Friday that it has decided to permanently retire Units 2 and 3 of its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), which have been shut down since January last year.

Duke Energy’s long-awaited but controversial and cost-overrun-plagued integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal plant began commercial operation on June 7 in Knox County, Ind.

The European Commission (EC) last week imposed a provisional antidumping duty of 11.8% on imports of solar cells, wafers, and panels from China. Manufacturers have welcomed the controversial move, but installers and developers have decried it, saying it escalates a trade war that could drive up the cost of many solar technologies and undermine investment in the sector.

A much greater coal power burn is expected this summer in reaction to an anticipated rebound in natural gas prices, suggests a recent reliability assessment from staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Among other key aspects of the new report is that while electric reliability for the rest of the nation will be adequate, Texas could see a significant chance of an energy emergency.