The long-awaited nuclear renaissance appears to be closer to reality. The Obama administration continues to send strong signals of support for nuclear power as part of the nation’s “clean-energy” future. On Feb. 16, the administration announced the first-ever $8.5 billion loan guarantee for a new nuclear plant and said it had introduced plans to triple the amount of nuclear loan guarantees in the fiscal 2011 budget. Photo: Unistar Unistar wants to build a new facility at its Calvert Cliffs site in Lusby, Md., and is hoping for a loan guarantee The loan guarantees to Atlanta-based Southern Co. and its partners

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council�s latest energy plan calls for 85% of new energy needs over the next 20 years to be met through efficiency. Area utilities aren�t so sure of its feasibility. Portland General Electric spokesperson Steven Corson says that the 85% goal can�t be met �cost effectively� and is not realistic with current technologies and Suzanne Hartman of Seattle City Light says that it is �uncertain� if that goal can be met region-wide, although SCL will save enough energy in the next five years to equal the capacity of a new power plant. The Sixth Northwest Power

The Obama administration announced on Feb. 16 the first of what it hopes will be several loan guarantees for the construction of new U.S. nuclear facilities. The U.S. Dept. of Energy says it will offer a total of $8.33 billion in conditional loan guarantees to build and operate two new nuclear reactors at Atlanta-based Southern Cos.’ existing Alvin W. Vogtle plant in Burke, Ga. The project, the first U.S. nuclear powerplant to break ground in nearly three decades, is expected to create approximately 3,500 on-site construction jobs. Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group and Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Co. are providing engineering, construction

Equipment maker Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., said on Feb. 8 that it would join the FutureGen Alliance, a public-private partnership set to build a 275-MW clean-coal powerplant in Mattoon, Ill., although it did not disclose the amount of its investment. Caterpillar’s announcement follows a similar move on Jan. 30 by Chicago-based Exelon Corp. Caterpillar, which manufactures coal mining equipment, says the alliance will help demonstration carbon-capture and sequestration technologies that are “absolutely essential” to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. It is the alliance’s 11th member. FutureGen still awaits word from the U.S. Energy Dept. on whether the agency will back the $1.5-billion

The switch barely has been flipped on the flow of stimulus-related electricity projects across the nation. Most contractors say that 2010 marks the beginning of a three-year push to construct transmission lines to carry—and smart-grid technology to manage—renewable power. Related Links: As Federal Dollars Pour Out, A Second Stimulus Plan Grows Transport Sector Sets Rapid Pace Water, Cleanup Sectors See Mixed ARRA Prognosis Buildings Project List Still Long “What we have seen is a lot of projects out there that are getting into the funnel, and there’s an effort to push them out and get them going,” says Tim Gelbar,

The Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power is developing a plan to turn the dusty dry lake bed of Owens Valley, Calif., into an 80-sq-mi, 5-GW solar park. The sea of photovoltaic cells could serve a double purpose, also helping the agency’s efforts to mitigate dust and alkalinity problems. Since 2000, DWP has spent more than $500 million trying to comply with federal clean-air standards to calm the dust from the dry lake bed, which is stirred by local wind conditions that can reach up to 60 mph. Some think the low, densely spaced solar panels could act as

Six marine energy developers in the U.K. have been allocated $35 million of government funding to accelerate prototype production of offshore devices used to convert waves or currents to energy by the not-for-profit company Carbon Trust. Photo: Courtesy of Aquamarine Power A quarter of the world’s wave and tidal technologies are being developed in the U.K. By reducing marine energy costs closer to wind-power levels, “thousands” of devices could be operational around the U.K. by 2020, say CT officials. “Getting the first commercial projects in the water is critical to ‘de-risk’ the technology and attract the necessary private sector investment,”

Federal and contractor management failures are to blame for delays and cost overruns on a $300-million powerplant project in Afghanistan, says a new report by the U.S. Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction. The 105-megawatt, dual-fuel Tarakhil Power Plant near Kabul was supposed to be finished by last April. It is now expected to be completed by March 31, a year late and about $40 million over budget. The Jan. 20 report blames the U. S. Agency for International Development and lead contractor Black & Veatch Corp., Overland Park, Kansas. It notes that, “under pressure of political urgency,” the original

Samsung C&T, Korean Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and the province of Ontario announced on Jan. 21 a $6.6-billion deal—the largest of its kind, they claim—to build, own and operate facilities in the province to produce 500 MW of solar power and 2,000 MW of wind power by 2016. Samsung also will build four manufacturing plants for wind- and solar-energy parts by 2016 and oversee all facility and equipment engineering, construction, procurement and financing. KEPCO will design and connect facilities to the transmission and distribution systems and operate them. Ontario will help procure land. An Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure

Florida’s transition to more efficient and clean energy production hit a speed bump last month when Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group said it would immediately halt work on approved nuclear and modernization projects that collectively totaled as much as $20 billion. The sudden move came on the heels of the state Public Service Commission rejecting FPL’s requests for rate hikes totaling more than $1 billion. FPL Group Chairman and CEO Lew Hay cited the decision as evidence of a deteriorating regulatory climate in Florida that “is increasingly hostile to investment.” The largest projects are two additional nuclear units at the