Power Engineering Latest News

ABB completes acquisition of Thomas & Betts

Wed, 16 May 2012 20:42:00 GMT

ABB (NYSE: ABB) has completed the acquisition of Thomas & Betts, a Tennessee-based provider of low-voltage products.

The deal will double ABB?s addressable market in North America to approximately $24 billion. Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor to ABB and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as the main legal advisor. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. was the financial advisor for Thomas & Betts and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP was the legal advisor.

Dominic Pileggi will remain as chairman of Thomas & Betts, and Charles Treadway, previously the chief operating officer, is now the CEO in Pileggi?s place. The headquarters remains in Memphis. In addition, Thomas & Betts shares have stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Revised plan for clean coal power plant could save customers $437.7mn in 20 years

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:30:00 GMT

Under the revised "Power Block First" proposal for the 611 MW Taylorville Energy Center (TEC) in Illinois, electricity customers in the state could save an estimated $437.7 million over a 20-year period, including more than $250.6 million in the plant's first five years of operation, according to a rate impact analysis conducted by Pace Global LLC, a Siemens (NYSE: SI) business.

As TEC's power capacity is bid into the PJM auction in future years, hundreds of millions in additional savings for ComEd customers could also be realized because of lower resulting auction prices. PJM holds an annual auction for generating capacity contracts that begin three years into the future.

Using U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts of natural gas and power prices, and electricity demand growth, Pace Global found that adding TEC's power into the Illinois energy markets would reduce average electricity bills by $21.9 million per year over the first 20 years of the project. During the plant's first five years of operation, customers can expect $50.1 million in average annual savings.

The revised ?Power Block First? proposal would authorize construction of the initial stage of TEC. The first phase of the project would equip a combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant that would be equipped to accept substitute natural gas (SNG) from a potential future coal gasification unit. Should market conditions improve and the plant meets the General Assembly?s approval, the second phase of the plant would incorporate the coal gasification unit along a with carbon capture and storage system.

"The 'Power Block First' plan allows Illinois to take advantage of today's low natural gas prices to build a necessary new source of electric power resulting in lower overall rates," said Tenaska Vice President Bart Ford. "In the future, when economics favor the use of Illinois coal, equipment can be added to convert coal to clean SNG, capture carbon dioxide and provide for geologic storage."

The new plan also allows Tenaska to preserve the air permit and interconnection position for the initial natural gas-fired power plant. The ability to proceed with the SNG portion of the plant is preserved as a hedge against the possibility of increasing gas prices.

ERCOT: Texas increased renewable generation by 13 percent in 2011

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:20:00 GMT

Texas posted a 13 percent increase in renewable energy generation, from 28 million MWh in 2010 to 31.7 million MWh in 2011, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Wind generation was the largest share with 30.8 million MWh, followed by landfill gas with 497,645 MWh, hydro with 267,113 MWh, biomass with 137,004 MWh and solar at 36,580 MWh. Hydro generation was down from the 609,257 MWh recorded in 2010 thanks to ongoing drought conditions in the state, while solar more than doubled from 14,449 MWh the previous year.

Mexico will require $20bn investments in power generation through 2026

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:49:00 GMT

The energy minister of Mexico said the country would require $20.1 billion in power generation investments through 2026, according to BNamericas. More than three-quarters of the investments will go toward renewable energy sources, with hydroelectric generation increasing from 36 TWh to 44 TWh.

The generation mix in 2025 is expected to have 55.7 percent of capacity from fossil fuels, down from 80 percent currently. Hydro will make up 18 percent of the total, followed by wind at 6.9 percent and solar at 0.7 percent, the article said.

Areva qualifies safety seal system for nuclear power plants

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:21:00 GMT

Areva JSPM, a subsidiary of Areva, said it has successfully qualified a new hydrodynamic shaft seal system (HD seal) that can withstand station blackout (SBO) conditions for a period of 120 hours.

Areva said the new seal has an extended service life expected to reach a minimum of 10 years, spacing out the interval between inspections, and requires minimal maintenance.

As a key element of the reactor coolant pump (RCP), which circulates the primary coolant between the core and the steam generator, Areva said the shaft seal system ensures the leak-tightness of the primary circuit.

Part of Areva?s Safety Alliance program, developed to help utilities demonstrate and upgrade the safety of their nuclear plant fleets, the new HD seal system has been designed to be installed in existing RCPs as a replacement for the current hydrostatic seals, as well as in third-generation RCPs for new nuclear power plants. It is suitable for both installed base and new-build markets.

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Fluor names new VP

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:12:00 GMT

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) said Lee C. Tashjian, vice president, Corporate Affairs, will retire from the company effective June 29. Tashjian will be succeeded by R. Clifton Webb, vice president of corporate communications for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). SRNS is a joint venture managed by Fluor that oversees operations at the Savannah River site on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Webb will assume his new responsibilities effective June 1.

Tashjian first joined Fluor in 1995 as vice president of Corporate Communications. After serving as vice president, Corporate Communications at Atlantic Richfield and as vice president, University Relations at The Ohio State University, Tashjian returned to Fluor in 2002 in his current role.

In joining Fluor, Webb brings more than 35 years of experience in government and public affairs roles. Prior to joining SRNS, he held senior-level roles in DuPont where he most recently served as vice president, Government Affairs.

Fluor said Tashjian will continue to support Fluor in a consulting role with responsibility for managing the company?s relationship with the World Economic Forum.

Westinghouse establishes JV to provide cranes, nuclear fuel-handling equipment in China

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:08:00 GMT

Westinghouse Electric Co.?s PaR Nuclear Inc., a supplier of fuel-handling equipment and nuclear cranes, has signed agreements to establish a joint venture with Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group Co., (TYHM), manufacturer of cranes, forging equipment, excavators and other heavy machinery.

The new company, PaR-TZ Nuclear Co., Ltd., will provide the assembly, testing and sale of new crane components and fuel-handling equipment, as well as the associated services and spare parts of these to the Chinese commercial nuclear market.

Currently, China has 15 nuclear power plants in operation, more than 25 under construction and more about to start construction. By 2020, the country expects to increase its nuclear capacity to 70 to 80 GWe.

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Survey: U.S. citizens willing to pay more for renewable energy sources

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:03:00 GMT

A new survey finds that Americans are willing to pay more in their electric bills in order to support the switch to renewable energy sources.

The survey was conducted by researchers at Harvard and Yale in 2011 and published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change. The report says that the average U.S. citizen is willing to pay $162 a year more to support a national policy that requires 80 percent ?clean? energy by 2035, representing a 13 percent increase in electric bills nationwide.

However, the support reportedly dropped off when ?clean? energy was expanded to include natural gas or nuclear, seemingly because of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan and controversy over natural gas drilling, a process known as hydraulic fracturing, according to The New York Times.

The researchers ? Joseph E. Aldy, Matthew J. Kotchen and Anthony A. Leiserowitz ? ran a what-if exercise and found the current level of public support insufficient to overcome opposition in Congress, the article said. The researchers found that the annual added cost per household of a clean energy policy would have to drop below $59 a year to pass the current Senate and below $48 a year to pass the current House, or a less than a 5 percent increase in electricity rates on average.

According to the article, the survey suggests lawmakers in many states may find the public willing to bear the burden of higher electric bills if the goals seem achievable.

To read a summary of the survey, click here.

Western Wind acquires 4,000 MW wind energy pipeline

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:47:00 GMT

Western Wind Energy Corp. has executed a term sheet with Champlin/GEI Wind Holdings (CGEI Wind) to acquire the rights and title to a 4,000 MW wind energy development pipeline for $20 million. The pipeline includes near-term projects in Hawaii and Utah, and additional projects in California and throughout the U.S.

The acquisition is made payable by the issuance of 8 million common shares at $2.50 per share. The term sheet will be subject to regulatory and company approvals.

CGEI Wind is jointly owned by Good Energies and Champlin Windpower LLC.

House subcommittee hears testimony on hydropower regulatory legislation

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:40:00 GMT

By Michael Harris, online editor, HydroWorld.com

The Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on draft legislation that would improve the regulatory framework for hydropower development earlier this week.

The bipartisan bill -- called the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2012 -- was introduced by representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Diane DeGette (D-Colo.).

Contained in the bill are measures that would "facilitate the development of hydropower and conduit projects through several common-sense reforms," including:

Updating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license exemption standard to streamline the development of more hydro projects;
Giving FERC the option to exempt hydro projects with a capacity of less than 10 MW and conduit projects with capacity between 5 and 40 MW from the permitting process; and
Allowing FERC to extend the terms of a preliminary permit for up to two years, for a total of five years, in order to allow a permittee sufficient time to develop and file a license application.

Currently, the licensing of hydropower projects can take longer than other forms of renewable energy, according to testimony given by former National Hydropower Association (NHA) president and Grant County Public Utility District official Andrew Munro.

Other resources -- including wind and natural gas -- have shorter approval time frames, putting hydropower at a competitive disadvantage when securing investment, Munro says. "Simply put, conducting business as usual will not work," Munro says. "The Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act is an immediate step forward that congress can take to improve regulatory efficiency and tap into our nation's undeveloped renewable energy resources in a pro-active and balanced approach."

NHA, citing a recent U.S. Department of Energy study, says more than 12,000 MW of hydropower potential exists at the America's 54,000 existing non-powered dams.

A Navigant Consulting report shows 60,000 MW of hydroelectric capacity and 1 million jobs could be created by 2025, should the nation make hydro power development a priority.

"Our bill is timely and targeted," McMorriss Rodgers says. "It will create jobs and bolster America's competitiveness in the energy sector."

The bill is similar to one co-sponsored by senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) that passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a voice vote in April 2011.

The House also recently voted on the "Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011", which seeks to remove certain requirements from conduit projects built on U.S. Board of Reclamation properties.

NHA Director of Government Affairs Jeff Leahey discussed many of these pieces of pending legislation at NHA?s Annual Conference last month in Washington, D.C.

Eclipsall to supply solar photovoltaic panels to Uganda

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Eclipsall, a provider of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules based out of Toronto, Ontario, has entered into an agreement to supply 3 MW of solar panels to the Government of Uganda, Ministry of Health.

The panels will be used for planned solar installations on 100 medical clinics throughout the Republic of Uganda. The medical clinics are located largely in remote areas of the country. The installations will include both grid tied and off-grid systems and will include battery back-up and related services to ensure that the systems continue to operate in a stand-alone fashion.

The project represents one of the first major export contracts for Eclipsall.

Depleted uranium to be converted into nuclear fuel

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:23:00 GMT

USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) said it has entered into a multi-party arrangement with Energy Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to extend uranium enrichment operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky. The Paducah plant, owned by DOE and leased and operated by USEC, is the largest uranium enrichment plant in the United States, accounting for nearly all current U.S. enriched uranium production, and has operated for almost 60 years.

Under the agreements, DOE will provide high-assay depleted uranium hexafluoride, or tails, to Energy Northwest. Energy Northwest has contracted with USEC to re-enrich the tails into low enriched uranium. Energy Northwest will utilize a portion of the low enriched uranium for its 1,150 MW Columbia Nuclear Generating Station in Washington, and will sell the remainder of the U.S.-origin low enriched uranium to TVA for use in TVA?s reactors.TVA will supply the power for the re-enrichment under an agreement to extend the existing USEC-TVA power contract.

The DOE approved the transaction on May 15 following approvals by the USEC, TVA and Energy Northwest boards of directors. Both Energy Northwest and TVA plan to use the enriched uranium in their reactors over many years, so as to not have a material adverse impact on the markets.

The agreement calls for DOE to provide Energy Northwest with approximately 9,000 metric tons of high-assay depleted uranium. USEC will enrich the tails to make about 480 metric tons of low enriched uranium. The work, combined with other ongoing USEC commercial obligations, will require approximately five million separative work units (SWU), a standard measure of uranium enrichment that represents the effort that is required to increase the concentration of the U-235 isotope in the uranium.

The work will take about 12 months and supports a one-year extension of Paducah enrichment operations.

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Nuclear power plant maintenance contract awarded to Shaw

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:14:00 GMT

The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) said it has signed a new contract with Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp. to provide maintenance and other support services to its single-unit, 1,200 MW nuclear power plant northeast of Burlington, Kan.

The undisclosed value of the three-year contract will be included in Shaw?s Plant Services segment?s backlog of unfilled orders in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012.

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp. is a subsidiary of three owners: Kansas City Power & Light, a Great Plains Energy company (NYSE: GXP) that owns 47 percent; Kansas Gas and Electric, a Westar Energy company (NYSE: WR) that also owns 47 percent; and Kansas Electric Power Co-op (6 percent).

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Study evaluates MISO challenges for MATS compliance

Tue, 15 May 2012 20:04:00 GMT

In a study commissioned by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), economists at The Brattle Group evaluated the feasibility of complying with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?s (EPA?s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule.

The study found that the projected amount of retrofits on coal units and the amount of new generation to replace retiring coal units in the MISO region will exceed the historical maximum achieved for simultaneous deployments of retrofits and new builds by 51 to 162 percent, based on MISO?s current projections of retrofit requirements and announced projects. For nationwide retrofits, the requirements imposed by MATS would be below historical maximums if the EPA?s projections are correct, or up to 93 percent above historical maximums if industry estimates are more accurate.

With respect to the timeline needed for retrofits, the study revealed that some types of upgrades can be completed before 2015 without difficulty, including activated carbon injection (ACI) and dry sorbent injection (DSI), which can be implemented within approximately a year and a half. Most projects, however, have a longer lead time of approximately three to four years, including wet and dry scrubber, baghouse, electrostatic precipitator (ESP), and selective catalytic reduction (SCR), as well as new gas combustion turbines (CTs) and combined cycles (CCs). Some of these longer lead time projects may not be completed by the MATS compliance date (April 2015, with a potential one-year extension) to the extent they have not already started.

The study evaluated the potential for craft labor to become a bottleneck that could introduce project delays and increase costs. Comparing the projected labor needs against the current labor supply for each craft revealed that boilermakers are the most likely bottleneck. As many as 7,590 boilermakers (or 40 percent of boilermakers currently employed nationally) could be needed to complete the projected retrofits and new generation construction by 2015. This potential demand is more than four times the number of boilermakers currently employed in the Utility System Construction Industry. Therefore, meeting the projected demand for boilermakers will likely require a combination of adjustments on the supply side, including training new labor, relocation, extending work hours and attracting craft labor from other industries.

With respect to the incremental outage periods necessary to implement the projected retrofits, the study estimates that some upgrades, such as dry scrubber, DSI, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR), and ACI, require that the outage duration need only be extended a few days or a week, although some types of upgrades impose much longer outages. Wet FGD, baghouse, and SCR retrofits are likely to require that outages be extended by approximately three weeks. Considering the fleet-wide impacts of these outages, it appears that MISO may have to schedule approximately 45 percent more megawatts of coal outages per season for MATS compliance by fall 2015, assuming that many plants will gain a one-year compliance extension. These additional outage requirements appear to be feasible to implement under MISO?s low-retirement scenarios without causing system reliability concerns. The study notes that implementing the incremental outages under scenarios with higher coal retirement scenarios (12 GW and 19 GW) would likely require a combination of extending the six-month outage season to nine months and requesting an additional one-year reliability extension to 2017 for MATS compliance.

The study, ?Supply Chain and Outage Analysis of MISO Coal Retrofits for MATS,? is available for download here.

Nuclear waste storage tanks filled as part of operational closure

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:57:00 GMT

Two underground radioactive waste tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina have been filled with more than 1 million gallons of grout as part of the operational closing of the tanks.

Filling on tanks 18 and 19 started on April 2. More than 1 million gallons of specially formulated cement-like grout have been pumped into the two 1.3 million gallon tanks, putting the closure of the tanks ahead of schedule, SRS said in a release. During the grouting process, as many as six cement trucks an hour were operating as many as 10 hours a day, five days a week, delivering the grout to fill the waste tanks.

Savannah River Remediation?s (SRR) grouting of the underground tanks, ancillary piping and equipment will continue until late summer before the tanks are operationally closed.

SRS is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. The SRS Liquid Waste contract is managed by SRR, a team of companies led by URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) with partners in Bechtel National, CH2M Hill and Babcock & Wilcox (NYSE: BWC). Subcontractors for the contract are Areva, Energy Solutions and URS Safety Management Solutions.

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Chile's Supreme Court halts start of 640 MW Cuervo hydropower project

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:57:00 GMT

By HydroWorld.com staff

Appeals by environmental groups have stymied construction of Chile's 640 MW Cuervo hydroelectric plant less than a week after work on the project appeared imminent.

On May 9, the Cuervo hydropower facility had been approved by Chile's Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA), but that decision was denied by the country's Supreme Court on May 11.

The Supreme Court said SEIA acted illegally in approving the Cuervo project and ignored the Chilean National Geology and Mining Service's recommendation that project developers conduct a new soil survey.

This survey must be completed, the Supreme Court says, before the project will be eligible for approval.

The delay is the latest in a nearly three-year string of stops. The project's developer, Energia Austral, originally anticipated the plant to be approved some time in 2011.

GE-Tamoin consortium signs wind turbine service agreement with Iberdrola

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:40:00 GMT

A consortium including GE (NYSE: GE) and Spanish energy services company Tamoin Energías Renovables signed the largest single GE wind turbine maintenance agreement in Europe with Iberdrola Renovables S.A. of Madrid. The contract with Iberdrola covers servicing 310 GE wind turbines installed in Spain.

The agreement is set for three years with an option to extend for two additional years and provides the foundation for a long-term relationship among Iberdrola, GE and Tamoin. GE will act as the technology partner in the consortium to provide high availability and reliability for the installed GE wind turbine fleet by supplying parts, specialized labor and technological support, while Tamoin will supply skilled labor.

The scope of the agreement includes planned and unplanned maintenance for the GE wind turbines at the following Iberdrola wind farms: Cuesta Colorada, Cerro Calderón, Cerro Palo, Muela 1, Maza, Calleja, Isabela and Sierra Quemada y Gavilanes.

Martifer Solar to build solar PV plant at GM facility

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:33:00 GMT

Martifer Solar signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with General Motors Brasil to build a 300 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) project at GM?s Joinville industrial complex in southern Brazil.

Martifer Solar has also opened a new subsidiary in Brazil. The company currently has branches in Chile, Mexico and Ecuador.

As part of the solar installation, Martifer Solar will perform the design and execution of the project, supply the 235 W Mprime modules and other PV equipment and install the monitoring system.

The facility is expected to be completed at the end of 2012.

Brazilian company to invest more than $4bn in new power projects

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:44:00 GMT

Brazil-based CPFL Energia (NYSE: CPL) plans to spend 8.3 billion reais ($4.17 billion) on new power projects over the next five years, according to BNamericas.

About 1.68 billion reais ($841.4 million) are being earmarked for new generation projects, including six wind farms, four thermal plants, a hydroelectric facility and the 1 MW Tanquinho solar substation in Campinas.

CPFL reportedly said the investment plan was based on predictions of electricity demand leading up to the 2016 Olympic games, the article said.

Solar modules to power redevelopment in New Orleans

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:40:00 GMT

Mage Solar is supplying 3,300 solar modules to a redevelopment project in New Orleans.

The Mage Powertec Plus US modules will be used in six housing projects. Other segments include the city?s River Garden Apartments and the Bonne Terre Apartments in Houma with a combined 564 kW of solar energy spread out over 69 rooftops and 26 parking canopies.

The project was designed, engineered and executed by Pontchartrain Mechanical of New Orleans, a mechanical contractor in the Gulf coast region and a provider of environmental systems, and the developer is HRI Properties.

Funding for the project was made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the EmPower Louisiana initiative administered by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Net metering arrangements have been made with the local electric utilities.