Courtesy DOE Eleven offshore wind projects, totaling more than 3,800 MW, are in advanced stages of development. Related Links: First $1.8B Leg of U.S. Offshore Wind Transmission Link Is Set Statoil Pulls Plug on Maine Offshore Wind Project, but U. of Maine Venture Proceeds Despite low natural-gas prices that are dampening the competitiveness of renewables, the U.S. offshore-wind industry continues to gain ground. Eleven projects, totaling 3,824 megawatts, are in “advanced” stages of development, according to a U.S. Dept. of Energy study by Navigant Consulting.The 11 projects have either received approval for a lease in federal or state waters, conducted
Related Links: GEA release on global geothermal report Activity in the global geothermal market continues to pick up steam, with more than 670 geothermal projects under way in 70 countries, according to new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Geothermal Energy Association. The report, "2013 Geothermal Power: International Market Overview," found that more than 11,700 megawatts of new geothermal capacity, equal to that currently available from existing geothermal systems, are in the early stages of development or under construction, with the U.S., East Africa and Southeast Asia among the hottest markets. Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) Executive Director Karl Gawell says the
Norwegian oil-and-gas giant Statoil pulled the plug on its Hywind Maine offshore wind project due to commercial uncertainty, but the University of Maine is forging ahead with plans to build a 12-MW offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Maine by 2017.“Statoil will now focus on the Hywind concept in Scotland, a project we have matured in parallel with Hywind Maine during the last three years,” according to a Statoil statement released on Oct. 15.Trine Ulla, head of business development for floating wind at Statoil, says, “Regardless of our exit [from] Maine, we will continue to explore the U.S. offshore
Photos courtesy of SASOL Sasol existing chemicals plant in Lake Charles, La.; the South African firm's planned new facilities would be adjacent. Sasols flagship gas-to-liquids facility in Qatar, which it owns in joint venture with Qatar Petroleum, cost much more than its original $5-billion construction estimate, one Wall Street analyst says. Related Links: Sasol Advances U.S. Ethane and Derivatives Project Western Canada Eyes Gas-to-Liquid Production Facility South Africa integrated energy and chemical company Sasol is pushing ahead with its planned gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility and ethane cracker projects in Louisiana, with the latter's final investment decision expected by the first quarter
Photo Courtesy of GE Algeria has one of GE's largest installed equipment bases, including more than 400 gas turbines, 340 compressors and 35,000 kilometers of inspected pipelines. Related Links: East Africa Power Transmission Project Ready for Takeoff After Funding Approval Algeria’s national electricity-and-gas company, Sonelgaz, has, through one of its subsidiaries, signed three power-generation equipment-supply contracts with Fairfield, Conn.-based GE worth $2.7 billion as the country prepares to meet increasing domestic energy consumption, now estimated at 30.9 billion cu meters.The three contracts, awarded on Sept. 23 by Sonelgaz’s Société Algérienne de Production de l’Electricité (SPE Spa), are for the supply
Courtesy of EDF Planned new nuclear complex would be built at site of reactors built in previous decades (below). China’s state-owned nuclear industry has secured a major European foothold with deals announced on Oct. 21 for the first new plants in the U.K. in more than two decades.Construction of the two 1,660-MW European pressurized-reactor (EPR) water units, valued at more than $22 billion, is set to start next summer on the Hinkley Point C project, in Somerset, England, subject to final financing decisions next year by the French project developer EDF Group.The project would be adjacent to the site's existing
Related Links: Climate Change's Effects on Our Energy: An Interactive Map Price Tag for Repairs and Reconstruction from Colorado Floods Tops $1.3B Water Sector Takes the Brunt of Changing Weather President Obama's Speech on Climate Change at Georgetown University (Video) If governments and businesses ignored the realities of climate change on Port Fourchon, a spit of land on Louisiana's coast, the results could be disastrous.The port services as much as 90% of the Gulf of Mexico's offshore oil industry, and when it isn't operational, at least a fifth of the nation's domestic oil supply is blocked from delivery. Without work
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants CB&I to enact measures to improve the workplace culture related to quality control at a Lake Charles, La., plant supplying wall modules to nuclear-power projects in Georgia and South Carolina.
Photo Courtesy of Verengo Solar installation companies are forming alliances with electricity retailers. Related Links: Solar Sees Growth But Clouds Loom California Plant To Double U.S. Solar Thermal Power Production Two years after a boom in multi-megawatt, utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects in the U.S., utilities, solar developers and contractors are gearing up for new sector growth. This time, they have their eyes on smaller but mass-volume rooftop solar installations for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.While some commercial, industrial and institutional rooftop projects are relatively large—ranging from 50 kW to 5 MW in capacity—the real volume part of the business
Related Links: Works Starts on Record-Scale Carbon-Capture Powerplant Carbon Capture on Fast Track in U.K. Thailand-based integrated engineering firm Toyo-Thai Corp., or TTCL, has launched the first commercial-scale application in the U.S. of a new carbon-capture technology for industrial emissions.TTCL broke ground on Sept. 30 on the $120-million SkyMine project in San Antonio. The plant will use an electrolytic system, developed by Skyonic Corp., to collect CO2, acid gases and heavy metals from emissions and mineralize them into stable solids.TTCL is expanding the Capitol SkyMine facility to collect flue gasses from the nearby Capitol Aggregates cement plant and convert them