Star and Northeast Utilities have agreed to purchase 129 MW from the Cape Wind offshore wind farm as a condition of the utilities' pending merger, according to a deal announced on Feb. 15 by Massachusetts officials.
With federal approval to build the first U.S. nuclear reactors in 30 years granted on Feb. 9, two units in the state of Georgia set to generate 2,200 MW of power will proceed. However, the nuclear industry sees future growth in a more scaled-down version known as the small modular reactor, or SMR. Firms already are developing SMRs, ranging in size from 45 MW to 300 MW.
As detailed engineering progresses, Canada's Imperial Oil is evaluating plant contractor bids following its decision to rekindle plans to construct a $2-billion expansion to its Cold Lake facility operation in northeastern Alberta's oil-sands region. The revised plan includes a 170-MW cogeneration facility and a bitumen-processing plant to go on line by the end of 2014.
Construction of the first new U.S. nuclear reactors in more than 30 years will ramp up gradually following the Feb. 9 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to approve a combined construction and operating license for two new units at utility Southern Co.'s Vogtle nuclear plant near Waynesboro, Ga.
The construction of new hydroelectric dams, geothermal wells and biomass projects are threatened if Congress does not approve an extension of the production tax credit. Renewable energy interests provided a stark warning in a conference call on Feb. 8 as they pushed for an extension of the PTC, which is set to expire at the end of February.
After the Tennessee Valley Authority successfully completed a lease-purchase agreement in mid-January that infused it with $1 billion to spend on capital construction, the federal power producer expects to begin working on a second transaction this spring.
The first new nuclear plant in the United States in more than 30 years got the final green light on Feb. 9, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorized its staff to issue a construction and operating license for Georgia Power’s new nuclear units, Vogtle 3 & 4, near Waynesboro, Ga.
Under a settlement agreement reached on Jan. 20, the state of Florida will cease to oppose Progress Energy's plans to proceed with roughly $1 billion in repair work at its damaged Crystal River Nuclear Unit 3 in return for millions of dollars in refunds to customers and restrictions on funding for a proposed $20-billion nuclear plant.
Wave and tidal power could provide up to a third of the electricity in the United States by 2030, according to two new reports released on Jan. 18 by the Dept. of Energy.