Photo Courtesy of Black & Veatch Related Links: 2014 ENR Top 500 Design Firms Overview: A Recovery in Need of Speed At about 1:00 a.m. on April 16, 2013, snipers hit and knocked out 17 transformers in 19 minutes at the Pacific Gas & Electric's Metcalf power transmission station near San Jose, Calif. This illustrates a nightmare scenario for electric utilities: A physical or cyber attack that disrupts power transmission.More and more utilities are bringing in engineers to examine the electrical grid's vulnerabilities to attacks."Our security consulting division is closely involved with our utility customers to find the best ways
Photo Courtesy of Sunpower Touted as the world's largest solar PV project currently under permit, Solar Star's Rosamand, Calif., 579-MW installation is a beehive of activity, with crews putting in place 5 MW each workday. Photo Courtesy of Sunpower Pre-fabricated design of solar modules facilitates rapid installation as crews become adept of repeating the process. Related Links: The U.S. Energy Policy Finally Emerges California Plant To Double U.S. Solar Thermal Power Production Rooftop Solar Set To Soar When the $2.2-billion, 377-MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California's Mojave Desert commenced commercial operation in December 2013, the facility became the
Related Links: The U.S. Energy Policy Finally Emerges Texas Bullish on Energy Low-Cost LNG, Stricter Air Rules Mean Fewer New Coal-Fired Powerplants Panda Power Funds, capitalizing on the need for highly efficient generating capacity in two key electricity markets, is building and planning more new natural-gas-fired combined-cycle units than anyone else in the U.S. right now. Working with some of the nation's top engineering-procurement-construction contractors in the energy arena, Panda, a Dallas-based private equity firm and independent power developer, is building three 758-MW plants to serve the Electric Reliability Council of Texas region and undertaking four projects, totaling 3,267 MW,
Related Links: The U.S. Energy Policy Finally Emerges California Plant To Double U.S. Solar Thermal Power Production Solar Sees Growth But Clouds Loom In December, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. placed the world's largest-ever order for onshore wind turbines, estimated at $1 billion for 448 units totaling 1,050 MW, to be installed on five Iowa wind farms. Despite its size, the large capacity is not unusual for Iowa, which already boasts 5,571 MW of installed wind capacity, generating 27.4% of its electricity mix.Amid growth in wind-generation nationwide, Iowa's is the highest proportion for any state. According to the Energy Information Administration,
Photo Courtesy of Southern Co. Four coal units at Alabama Power's Plant Gaston will soon burn gas. Related Links: The U.S. Energy Policy Finally Emerges Utility Seeks Union Assistance As Kemper's Troubles Mount Cost Pressures, Delay Worries Sour Two Southern Co. Projects For decades, Southern Co. has been one of the nation's largest electric utilities and one of the leading consumers of coal. Southern believes coal-fired capacity should remain part of its generation mix. Its Mississippi Power subsidiary—one of four utilities Southern owns—is building what may be one of the last coal-based units in the U.S.: a 582-MW integrated gasification
Related Links: Southern Co. Refuels Coal Fleet With Gas Panda Power Constructing Large Combined-Cycle Powerplants Clouds Start To Lift From the Solar Sector Prices Dropping as More Turbines Turn EPA Unveils Carbon Pollution Rule for New Powerplants Q&A: DOE Loan Officer Jump-Starts Clean Energy Technologies April 10, 2014 Analyst Sterne Agee Report: Support Behind Natural Gas Exports Increasing In January 2001, early in George W. Bush's first administration, Vice President Dick Cheney convened a blue-ribbon energy task force to formulate a U.S. energy policy. Public-interest groups excluded from the process attacked the administration's closed-door approach. When the National Energy Policy
Related Links: California Utility to Close Troubled San Onofre Nuclear Plant Safeguards Failed in Massive Power Outage in Western U.S., Mexico To replace 2150 megawatts of generation lost by the retirement of a nuclear powerplant, the California Public Utilities Commission has directed two utility companies to procure up to 1,500 MW of new resources. At least 600 MW must be from energy storage and “preferred resources,” which the state defines as renewable power, demand response sources and energy efficiency.Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), Rosemead, must procure 500-700 MW and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) 500-800 MW by 2022
Related Links: Cold War Cleanup DOE Looking at Cost, Schedule Problems at S.C. Nuclear Site The Dept. of Energy's $7.7-billion Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., isn't dead yet. But the Obama administration's March budget request to put the unfinished plutonium disposal facility into "cold standby" could sound the troubled project's death knell.The lack of an official cost and schedule estimate, lax oversight by the project owner and suspected unforeseen design challenges sent construction costs soaring, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Long-term operational costs have more than
Related Links: DOE Conditionally Approves $7.7B Oregon LNG Export Facility Platt's: Expedited Federal Export Approvals Don't Mean US LNG into Europe Soon, Panels Say Sterne Agee Highlights Recent Government and Private Sector Moves of U.S. LNG Exports Action on North American liquified-natural-gas export-terminal projects accelerated late last month as regulators advanced projects on the Pacific coast and U.S. politicians debated faster approvals as a "geopolitical tool" to counter Russia's moves in the Ukraine.On March 24, the estimated $7.7-billion Jordan Cove Energy terminal in Coos Bay, Ore., became the first LNG project on the West Coast—and the first greenfield project in
Related Links: Link to Jordan Cove LNG Project Link to DOE's conditional authorization of Jordan Cove CB&I and Japan's Chiyoda Win $6 Billion EPC Award for Louisiana LNG The Dept. of Energy has given conditional approval to export liquefied natural gas from Jordan Cove LNG terminal in Coos Bay, Ore.DOE's decision, announced on March 24, drew praise from construction unions but criticism from environmental organizations.The $7.7-billion Oregon project is the seventh LNG export facility in the U.S. to receive conditional approval since 2011. But it is the first U.S. greenfield project and the first on America's west coast, according to
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