Consulting engineers and construction contractors alike are looking forward to participating in the single-largest investment ever for modernizing the U.S. electric grid. The $3.4 billion of grant awards announced late last month by President Obama will be matched by utilities in 49 states for a total of $8.2 billion to install “Smart Grid” technologies. The Energy Dept. hopes that investment will put the country on a path to obtain 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and shave more than 1,400 MW off peak power demand. On the long-heralded Smart Grid, customers and electricity providers will be linked
A joint venture to develop up to 100,000 MW of solar power in Middle Eastern and North African deserts by 2050 was formed on Oct. 30 in Munich. The group DII GmbH is owned by 12 major firms, most of them based in Germany, including Siemens A.G., Deutsche Bank A.G. and the DESERTEC Foundation. DII ultimately aims to supply as much as 15% of Europe’s electricity demand and a substantial part of local needs.
NRG Energy Inc., Princeton, N.J., has purchased Bluewater Wind, Newark, Del., the first U.S. developer with a purchase agreement for the sale of power generated from an offshore wind farm. The deal brings the financial strength of NRG, which had $6.8 billion in sales last year, to Bluewater, helping the startup firm realize its dream to develop a $1-billion, 79-turbine commercial wind farm off the Delaware coast.
Development of two new nuclear units in Texas could be delayed or put further at risk after estimates for the reactors rose 30% last month to $17 billion. The price escalation shocked San Antonio, Texas, municipal utility CPS Energy, which has a 40% stake in the South Texas Project in Matagorda County. The company’s board of trustees ordered an investigation into whether information about the price escalation for the 1,358- MW advanced boiling water reactor units was kept hidden. “A cost estimate that exceeds our preliminary total project cost of $13 billion is not acceptable and will result in CPS
A new power-transmission project on the Texas-New Mexico border will facilitate movement of power throughout the U.S. from booming alternative-energy developments in the Southwest. One of those developments, a 600-MW Texas wind farm, will be built with funds and equipment from China. The announcements last month of the two projects strengthens the region’s position as a leader in renewable energy and highlights China’s growing U.S. investment. + Image Source: American Superconductor Corp. Tres Amigas Superstation The Tres Amigas SuperStation in Clovis, N.M., will link the Texas Interconnection to the nation’s other two electrical grids, the Eastern and Western interconnections. With
The Dept. of Energy has awarded $3.4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to modernize the electric power grid and boost its efficiency and reliability. Related Links: Grant Awards by Category (141 KB) Smart Grid Grant Locations (568 KB) The federal money will be supplemented by more than $4.7 billion in private-sector matching funds, DOE said. President Obama, announcing the 100 "smart grid investment grants" on Oct. 27 at a Florida Power & Light Co. solar energy facility in Arcadia, Fla., called the spending "the largest-ever investment in a smarter, stronger and more secure electric grid."
In an Oct. 15 letter, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has informed Westinghouse Electric Co. that it will have to modify design of the shield building for its proposed AP1000 nuclear reactor before the agency proceeds on its certification review. The NRC letter says Westinghouse must also retest any design changes to the shield building, the structure that protects the reactor’s primary containment from weather and other impacts, to make sure the structure meets safety requirements. NRC says it won’t know if and how the required redesign could impact the AP1000 review schedule until it meets with Westinghouse. In a
Construction now is under way on both the Shin Kori Units 3 and 4 nuclear powerplants. These units will be the first of a new generation of light-water reactors called Advanced Power Reactors in South Korea that use a domestic design developed by Korea Power Engineering Co. Both reactors will be 1,400 MW. The oceanfront site in Gori is located about 30 km north of Busan in southeastern South Korea. Excavation work began in January 2008, the first concrete for Shin Kori Unit 3 was poured in October 2008 and work on the reactor containment building currently is under way.
As the U.S. Dept. of Energy and its contractors rev up construction of permanent repositories for nuclear wastes now lingering in aging, corroded and heavily contaminated facilities at some of the agency’s former weapons-production sites, new technology is helping cleanup crews get at the nastiest and toughest-to-remove remnants. Photo: Washington River Proltection Solutions Robotic arm system, now being tested at the Hanford nuclear waste site, will reach deep into storage tanks and break up different forms of waste. At DOE’s Hanford site in eastern Washington, officials are using insect-like crawlers to prowl the radioactive floors of 177 enormous underground waste
The renewable-energy sector got a boost on Oct. 7 when the Dept. of Energy announced it will expand its loan guarantee program to commercial renewable-energy projects under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. DOE also unveiled a new Financial Institution Partnership program (FIPP) to expedite the agency’s loan-guarantee underwriting process and leverage private-sector expertise in funding eligible projects. Renewable-energy advocates say by expanding the loan-guarantee program to cover commercial, rather than just “innovative” projects, DOE will enable more renewable-energy projects to be built. But, they add, Congress should restore the $2 billion diverted from the loan-guarantee program to pay for