The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to complete construction of the mothballed 1,200-MW Bellefonte nuclear unit 1 over the objections of environmentalists who said that it is unsafe to complete the unit, which has been dormant since 1988.“You’re forcing questionable technology into an old, aging facility,” said John Noel, of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy at the meeting on Thursday. But board members said their concerns had been alleviated after TVA staff and executives assured them the unit would undergo rigorous inspections and have to meet the latest standards and regulations.TVA estimates it will cost
Courtesy FERC FERC Order 1000 requires providers in neighboring transmission planning regions to coordinate on finding cost-effective solutions to mutual transmission needs. Related Links: Power Producers Validate One Bright Spot in Midyear Outlook FERC Floats Rule Changes To Promote Transmission A July 21 ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that reforms electric-transmission planning and allocation requirements is expected to support new solar- and wind-power development, according to two construction industry sources.“FERC Order 1000 is a huge development that will open up the transmission cost allocation process and spur development of transmission projects,” says Gerald Schulz, vice president of electrical
Related Links: Drilling for Treasure Hydrofracking and Water: No Place for Secrecy A Dept. of Energy advisory panel says that it accepts the “prevailing” view that hydraulic fracturing for shale gas is unlikely to contaminate drinking water sources, but called for the government and industry to take steps to ensure that the gas is retrieved in a way that minimizes negative environmental impacts. In draft recommendations released on August 11, the Shale Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board called for industry leadership in improving environmental performance, underpinned by strong regulations and rigorous enforcement of those regulations.The subcommittee was
Rendering courtesy of Enviromission The temperature differential between greenhouse-heated air at ground level and the air atop the tower creates a tremendous updraft that drives turbines to generate 200 MW of electricity. Rendering courtesy of Enviromission The solar tower's design does not require any water during the power production cycle, an attractive quality in the desert Southwest. A solar tower planned to rise just 100 ft shy of the world's tallest building took a major step forward with the selection of Phoenix-based contractor Hensel Phelps Construction Co. as construction services provider under a guaranteed maximum price.EnviroMission USA, a subsidiary of
The Dept. of Energy on August 5 finalized a $967-million loan guarantee to Agua Caliente Solar LLC for a 290-MW solar facility being built in Yuma, Ariz., by NRG Solar, Princeton, N.J.The Agua Caliente solar project will deploy fault ride-through and dynamic voltage regulation, technologies that are new to photovoltaic solar powerplants and which are expected to improve the reliability and predictability of the electricity supplied to the electricity grid.
Photo courtesy of Chattahbox News Blog Iraqi oil field near the Iranian border is not among fields foreign oil companies plan to further develop. Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan last month moved closer to pushing a new round of oil and gas infrastructure building in Iraq after signing an initial energy development deal with the oil ministry to process more than 700 cu ft per day of gas now flared at three domestic oilfields.According to an Associated Press report, the 25-year deal could be worth at least $12 billion, but it still must
The province of Alberta, Canada, agreed on July 27 to give $297 million toward a $1.6-billion project that will create synthetic gas out of coal in Whitecourt, Alberta, that can't be mined. Then, the gas will be used to generate 300 MW of electricity.Construction of the Swan Hills in situ coal-gasification project, 177 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, is projected to begin in 2013. By 2015, Edmonton, Alberta-based Swan Hills Synfuels expects to capture 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide from the gasification. That CO2 will be used for enhanced oil recovery in the area.The Swan Hills Synfuels project will use
Image courtesy Bechtel Corp. Construction of a 120-hectare liquefied-natural-gas processing plant in Soyo, a coastal city, should be finished by the end of this year. Angola is revving up to start exporting liquefied natural gas, with a key phase of a $9-billion project nearing completion.Construction of a 120-hectare processing plant in Soyo, a coastal city in the southern African nation, is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2012, following the completion earlier this year of two offshore pipelines with a combined total distance of 385 kilometers.Bechtel Corp. is serving as the general contractor and construction manager. The
The House has approved legislation that would require the Obama administration to accelerate its decision on whether to build a $7-billion, crude oil pipeline that would run from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast. But the White House opposes the bill, calling the measure "unnecessary," and some observers say the bill has little chance of passing the Senate.The State Dept. must issue a special permit for the 1,700-mile TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, because it would cross international boundaries. The measure, which the House approved on July 26 by a 279-147 vote, would require the State
Image courtesy Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan plans to build a new aluminum smelter in northwestern British Columbia. Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan’s plan to invest $2.5 billion in a new aluminum smelter in northwestern British Columbia has created a stir among engineering and construction contractors in the region. Last month, 300 local contractors attended a meeting in Vancouver, where plans to rebuild the existing Kitimat plant were presented.Built in the 1950s and powered by the nearby Kemano generating station, the Kitimat plant is undergoing $300 million of preliminary work this year. The work includes a contractor village, cleaning and
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