In May, the U.S. Energy Dept. approved plans by Cheniere Energy Partners, Houston, to expand its Sabine Pass Liquefied Natural Gas terminal to export domestically produced LNG to any country in which trade is permissible. Cheniere is planning to spend about $2 billion to expand the terminal. The owner will add equipment to clean up the gas from domestic pipelines and cool it to 260ºF. The company has scheduled construction to begin next year and selected San Francisco-based Bechtel as contractor. DOE will allow Cheniere to export up to 800 billion cu ft a year.
This month in the Pacific Northwest, when runoff from a heavy snowpack coincided with extremely windy conditions, the federal Bonneville Power Administration system suddenly had an abundance of alternative energy feeding its system. BPA chose to limit wind-driven power in favor of hydroelectrity during peak water and wind events. The operational policy is likely to chill construction of new wind farms in the Pacific Northwest, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Iberdrola Renewables Iberdrola's Big Horn wind farm, in Washington state, is subject to shutdown when the Columbia River is running high through federal hydro dams. Related Links: Old
Two U.S. steel fabricators and a German pipe manufacturer have announced the formation of a joint venture to produce components for the 130-turbine Cape Wind farm in development off Nantucket Sound and other offshore wind farms emerging along the East Coast. EEW Group Monopile foundations at at EEW's Rostock, Germany facility, similar to the facility that will be built in Massachusetts to serve nascent offshore wind industry off the U.S. Atlantic coast. Related Links: Building Cape Wind Wont Be a Breeze Offshore Support for Onshore Wind “The announcement signals the beginning of a domestic supply chain that will create new
Without solid commitments from potential customers and the emergence of North American shale gas as a price-competitive energy source, the proposed $35-billion Denali pipeline in Alaska, owned by subsidiaries of BP and ConocoPhillips, has called it quits. Backers abandoned Denali, but TransCanada line's backers say they'll push forward. “As far as Denali is concerned, we are finished,” says Scott Jepsen, vice president of business services for Denali – The Alaska Gas Pipeline LLC. “The focus of Denali has always been to move natural gas from the North Slope. Our work here is over."Denali will also withdraw its Federal Energy Regulatory
Carbon-free power is getting a double boost in Europe. France is about to procure an estimated $14 billion of offshore wind farms. Across the Channel, the U.K. is setting itself tough greenhouse gas targets, increasing its reliance on renewable and nuclear energy. Installations planned off north coast of France would lead toward goal of 6,000 MW from offshore power by 2020. Three of France’s biggest engineering companies formed an alliance to bid this month or in June for a slice of 3,000 MW of offshore wind power the government plans to have in operation by 2015. Another 3,000 MW is
Regulators are putting the design of nuclear reactors slated to be built in the U.S. under additional scrutiny following the March disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Related Links: Searching for Clues in Quake-Maddened Seas Japan's Tsunami Debris Offers Wealth of Data Nuclear Rebirth On May 20, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a statement that Westinghouse must resolve design issues around the shield building of the AP1000, as well as the peak accident pressures expected within containment. The NRC is expected to conduct additional review of the design at the end of May, and that Westinghouse would submit additional
After 50-plus years in the making, the Alaska state Legislature recently gave the Alaska Energy Authority approval to build and own a new dam on the Sustina River in the Watana area. The 600-MW hydroelectric dam will be the first of its kind built in the United States in more than two decades. Photo By Google Courtesy Of Alaska Energy Authority The Sustina River dam site was first proposed in the 1950s, but the project was stalled by cost estimates. Gov. Parnell supports its revival as a component of renewable-energy goals. Preliminary work on the $4.5-billion Sustina Hydroelectric Power Project,
Although there may be a rush to take advantage of federal production tax credits for wind power before they expire in 2012, Peter Kelley, vice president of the American Wind Energy Association, says the end of the wind-power building boom is nowhere in site. “There are good prospects for the tax credit being renewed,” Kelley says. Wind power is creating manufacturing jobs throughout the country, which politicians like, and wind farms are creating an economic boom in the communities where they are built, he adds. AWEA is getting ready for its annual conference on May 22-25 in Anaheim, Calif. Four
Construction of what will be the first large-scale commercial carbon capture and storage project in the world began just hours after the Saskatchewan government gave SaskPower the go-ahead on April 26 to build the $1.24-billion plant. The project, at SaskPower's Boundary Dam coal plant, is notable not only for its size but also because it is moving forward at a time when other CCS projects are not because of CCS's high cost. Photo:Courtesy Of SaskPower SaskPower started work last month on the $1.24-billion job at its Boundary Dam coal plant. Mike Monea, a vice president of Sask- Power responsible for
Ten capped landfills will be reused as solar fields under an agreement between Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative, located in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, and American Capital Energy, North Chelmsford, Mass. The 18.3-MW project on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, the largest of its type in New England, is expected to produce 22,500 MWh per year, enough energy to power 3,132 Cape and Vineyard homes, according to the cooperative. Energy produced from the project will provide about 1.1% of electric power for cooperative customers. A construction date for the $83-million project has not yet been scheduled. The federal government
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