The construction of a new $10-billion nuclear reactor in Maryland seem to be dead after Constellation Energy told the Dept. of Energy that it is no longer interested in negotiating a federal loan guarantee to support the project. In a letter to DOE, Constellation said it was unable to continue negotiations after it was presented with a “shockingly high estimate” of the fee the company and its joint-venture partner, Electricite de France, would have to pay to obtain the loan—$880 million. “Such a sum would clearly destroy the project’s economics (or the economics of any nuclear project for that matter),
Canadian government officials expect to complete negotiations by year-end with potential buyers of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the national corporation that manages the country’s nuclear-energy research program, including its CANDU reactor technology. Controlling costs and positioning Canada’s nuclear industry to “seize domestic and global opportunities” are factors driving the sale, says a government spokesperson. Officials decline to disclose names of potential purchasers, but Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin confirms it is one of the bidders. A spokeswoman said a successful bid would allow the firm to expand its sector work from refurbishing facilities, but she declined to elaborate. Despite laudatory reviews, AECL
Several contracting and engineering companies involved in the current build-out of a new generation of nuclear plants have received $30-million contracts from the Dept. of Energy to study and make recommendations on the design of future facilities. The companies will report on new techniques for the design and construction of nuclear plants, provide analytical assessments and conceptual designs, and give advice on policy creation and research and development requirements. This program is about looking “10 to 20 to 50 years down the line,” says Craig Grochmal, Shaw Group’s vice president of business development. Shaw was awarded one of six group
Mounting an effort to combat the blackouts and brownouts that are familiar features of life in Cairo, the Egyptian government recently secured the final piece of financing for a new 1,500-MW, combined-cycle gas-fired powerplant designed to keep the capital city’s lights on longer. With Egypt’s electricity demand set to grow 50% by 2017, the planned $1.3-billion Giza North plant represents a small but critical step toward power sufficiency. A $384-million loan from the European Investment Bank completed financial requirements for the plant, which is 30 kilometers northwest of Cairo. The World Bank board of directors approved a $600-million loan for
Keen to reduce their region’s growing energy reliance on Russia, European financial institutions have thrown their weight behind the $10.3-billion Nabucco gas pipeline through Turkey. Map: Walter Kornegay And Sue Pearsall For ENR Nabucco pipeline would provide gas delivery route that avoids Russia. Russia is fighting back with two rival projects, the first already well into construction. Together, the three pipelines could pump 149 billion cu meters of gas per year into the continent. The 3,300-kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline will cross Turkey, continue through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and terminate some 50 km inside Austria at Baumgarten. It is planned to
American Transmission Co., Pewaukee, Wis., has proposed making $3.4 billion in Wisconsin-focused power-line upgrades—a portion of what could be a roughly $25-billion transmission build-out designed to deliver thousands of megawatts of renewable power from the Great Plains states across the Midwest. Map:Sue Pearsall For ENR Minnesota leads way in transmission line projects worth up to $26 billion. Source: American Transmission Co. The focus on expanded transmission capacity is driven by state renewable-energy requirements. A transmission assessment conducted in July by Houston-based Quanta Services estimated that 11 Midwest states would need roughly 47,000 MW of new wind generation to meet 80%
Bechtel Corp. moved into the renewable-energy sector in a big way on Sept. 14, announcing it would develop and own an offshore wind farm on Lake Erie with partners Cavallo Energy LLC and Great Lakes Wind Energy. The five-turbine, $100-million project, seven miles from Cleveland, could become the first offshore wind farm in the United States. “There is no question that renewables is a growth area … we are moving into,” says Sprague Cook, vice president and manager of renewable power for Bechtel. The San Francisco-based multinational engineering-construction firm is looking into both onshore and offshore wind development, he says.
On Sept. 15, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it is revising its rules to allow storage of spent nuclear fuel for at least 60 years after the licensed life of any reactor, doubling the time previously allowed. The fuel can be stored on-site or at independent spent-fuel storage installations without significant environmental impacts, says NRC. The change gives federal officials more time to find a permanent storage solution for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. Earlier this year, the Obama Administration stopped work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste depository in Nevada. An Obama-named commission is to recommend new options by
One of the largest distributed commercial solar retrofit projects in California required creative planning, design and logistics. In April, Sacramento-based HMH Builders completed the first of 15 1 MW photovoltaic additions to health provider Kaiser Permanente buildings up and down the state as part of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction agreement with San Francisco-based solar developer Recurrent Energy. Because the first application was on the 400,000-sq-ft rooftop of a regional distribution center in windy Livermore where gusts can reach 115 mph, HMH switched from a planned ballasted design that used weights to anchor photovoltaic trays to a connected system. Steel
West Coast solar power could get a major boost if the California Energy Commission approves as many as six of 13 proposed utility-scale solar projects in Southern California’s Mojave Desert by year-end. Photo: Courtesy Brightsource Energy Mirror arrays collect Southern California sunshine and convert water to steam to drive generators. Other systems under consideration use thin-film compounds and waterless thermal troughs. At a series of meetings in October and November, the CEC will consider authorizing construction for some of the largest solar installations since 354 MW went online in the 1990s. An additional 3,500 MW of capacity—an estimated $18 billion
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